ME: (still sitting back watching the stampede after the characters with a satisfied little smirk) Perhaps that will teach them to mess with me. If an authoress glomp is not enough to keep them from causing trouble this will.
Kuwabara: Whoa! Some red-head nearly got her hands on Ghost. The only thing that kept her back was another girl tripping her.
Yusuke: Yeeesh, these girls may kill each other to get their hands on them.
Kurama: (shaking his head) This is by far the worse punishment either of those two could endure.
ME: (lounging back devilishly) Of course, why do you think I did it? Anyway, let's get to this chapter shall we? I'm excited to bring up the new plot twists and such.
Kuwabara: She doesn't own anything except for her characters.
ME: (cackling) Chapter Start.
-Chapter Start-
Chapter 36: Sheer Dumb Luck
I shrugged it off and made my way into my own room where I decided to pack everything of mine in the bag before falling onto the bed. It wasn't very long until I was myself was nodding off to sleep as well.
-Sometime Later-
Something in the back of my mind drew me out of my sleep and I slowly sat up on the bed feeling as if I had been hit by a tank… I guess Toguro's aura had taken more out of me than I thought. When I cleared the sleep from my eyes, I noticed my arm felt almost…better? I glanced down at it and though the nerves were still pretty much fried, I could tell that someone had paid it some much needed attention that I neglected. I blinked and glanced around to see that my door was wide open and everyone else still seemed to be sleeping soundly. I got to my feet and stepped out of the room. The very first thing my eyes set on was Hiei who was still sleeping on his perch looking out the window.
It was pure instinct. My feet shuffled quietly to his side, and I leaned over him and watched his peaceful expression as he slept. I couldn't explain what possessed me to think it was a good idea, but even though he had been riding my case ruthlessly as of late, I just wanted to give him the smallest kiss…So I leaned down and just as I was about to brush my lips against his cheek, his eyes flashed open. Before I knew what was happening, my back was laid flat against the ground and Hiei's katana closely pressed against my throat. Meanwhile Hiei was crouched on the ground just over me and his hand was firmly placed on the ground next to my head. His almond shaped eyes were alight with the instinct to fight and I watched as the fire slowly calmed as he realized it was only me who had been hovering over him in his sleep. Once his mind had caught up with reality, Hiei took his eyes off of me to glance around the room to see if his sudden movement and my body connecting with the floor had woken anyone in the room. It hadn't and when he returned his attention to me, there was a clear suspicion in his eyes.
"What were you doing?"
"I…I…I was just trying to…" I stammered not really sure what to say. Yes, Hiei had kissed me once before, but I didn't exactly seem him as the type of person to be open to such physical shows of attention. Then again, if I didn't tell him what I was trying to do, he might misconstrue it as something else, so I pulled my determination back together and replied, "I was going to give you a kiss."
He blinked and then using speed only he could achieve, Hiei was on his feet and the sword was replaced in its sheath. I managed to push myself up and arched my eyebrow at him curiously. It didn't matter if he had a hard time dealing with emotions. I didn't need to be thrown to the floor and then ignored. Yet, just as I was about to storm, he turned to me and said, "What have you been hiding in your pocket that has kept you so distracted as of late?"
I blinked, "Are you seriously still on that tangent?"
"I don't appreciate being lied to," Hiei answered in a deadly whisper. My jaw dropped and I felt irritation swell in my chest. Before I could respond though, Hiei drove the knife in even further with his cold calculating voice, "And frankly, you've been lying since you arrived among our group. It does not seem to have an end."
"You…you…bastard! You know full well why I have kept as much secret from you all as I have and yet you want to hold that over my head. Look what happened when they found out about how much I knew! I never lied to you out of spite! Or do you forget how much you wanted to slit my throat when you found out I knew about Yukina?"
By this point, Kurama had awakened and was paying very close attention to what was being said between us while the rest slept. Hiei noticed this however, and advanced even closer to hiss quietly at me, "Watch yourself, onna. You're treading dangerous waters."
"Tread this, Hiei. If I'm such a damn burden and always lying you won't have to deal with me as soon as the boat drops us back home. I'm out of your hair. I thought you were beginning to… I don't know maybe admit there was some small emotion between the two of us, but you know, screw it. And if you're so damn concerned about what I've been hiding, here it is. I don't know why I attached to it in the first place," I snapped and reached into my pocket where the black jewel continued to rest in my pocket. Tears of frustration threatened to spill over my eyes when I threw the jewel at his forehead and moved to go back to my room, but not before I threw one final insult over my shoulder, "This is what I get for falling into my own disillusioned fantasy. Who was I to believe in such a pathetic human sentiment?"
I stomped into my room and snatched up the bag I had everything packed in. Without even thinking about it, I swept out of our team room and made my way down the hall. I was surprised the button on the elevator didn't break after how hard I jammed my finger to take me down to the bottom level. Biting down on the corner of my lip, I blocked all of my emotions and refused to think about what just happened. After all, I wasn't originally a part of their story and thinking I could fit it was foolish. I knew that now. When the doors to the elevator opened up, I found that it was completely empty. There was not a soul to be found. It would still be some time before the boat came to take everyone home and that meant there would be time for me to kill. I was unsure how Hiei and Kurama would explain away my absence for the rest of the group but at the same time, I forced myself not to care. Adjusting the bag over my shoulder, I began making my way down the hall and out of the building.
From that point, my mind remained on autopilot and I wasn't aware of where I was until I was standing on the beach, in the exact spot that the boat would arrive. It was uncanny how my subconscious took me where I needed to be so I dropped my back in the sand and kicked off my shoes. Not particularly caring about the water, I stood knee deep in the waves and closed my eyes allowing the thoughts to wash away. Well, more like forced the thoughts to wash away and recede with the water. There were way too many thoughts going through my head and some I really didn't want to face. Some, however, I was afraid to face and that made me feel worse than ever. Admitting that only meant that, to a small degree, Hiei had a point about me being weak. Considering that was something I wasn't willing to give into, I threw the thoughts from my mind and though of the apartment I now called home.
I really looked forward to getting there and sleeping in my comfortable bed. I could even try my hand at cooking again to make sure I wasn't beginning to get rusty. I smirked and imagined relaxing. Perhaps even, for a short time, not worrying about having to dive into a fight. Maybe, I could get at least a three day reprieve from all this insanity…although as much as I desired it, I highly doubted it. Soon, I left the water and returned to the sand to lie out and wait for the boat. It was only a matter of time before I heard the group's voices and looked to see the approaching boat. I quickly hid among the lining of the trees and watched the reunion between the group and Genkai. It was amusing to see Yusuke react as he did and it was good to see Genkai alive once more. No matter what happened, I would always care about that slave driving old hag. Even when she was to play her trick on the group later.
As soon as the boated stopped I waited for the group to board first. Then, I made my way onto the boat without them noticing. Well, almost without them noticing. Genkai, Kurama, and of course it didn't need to be said that Hiei as well, were quick to hone on my position even though it was well hidden from everyone else. I knew without a doubt that Hiei would not advance on my position, but I could not be sure about Kurama or Genkai. So in the meantime, I lounged back and watched the sky above me. Soon it lulled me into a very unwilling sleep.
-Some Undeterminable Time Later-
The blaring of the boat's horn shook me awake and I jumped from my hiding spot to land with a soft thud on the deck of the boat. Fortunately, the group was too focused on being almost home to notice me and I was able to fade into the shadows before they got distracted once again. It was a long ten minutes before the boat finally landed again and I was beginning to wish I had been in a disagreement with Hiei so I could stand with the rest of them. Unfortunately, my stubbornness wouldn't allow it and I was forced, by no one but myself, to endure it alone and in silence. Yusuke and the others looked around presumably trying to find me, but I couldn't bring myself to show them that I was close by. It didn't matter though, they knew I was there, otherwise they wouldn't have left the island. Although as to why Genkai didn't drag me to my senses, I was unsure.
The boat landed and the group lingered for a moment, no doubt waiting for me. Hiei on the other hand, made his way off of the boat the second it landed and I watched him fade from sight. I was almost positively that he had completely washed his hands of anything dealing with me, and my chest felt cold. Despite popular belief, I didn't exactly enjoy causing him so much trouble, but at the same time, I wasn't up for constantly being reminded how much of a burden I may happen to be. After so many times, I make it a point to walk away and leave them to their own devices. In this case however, I knew something would take my right back into the open arms of the group. That was just how this was going to be, but until then, I was going to try to enjoy my downtime while I had it. It wasn't long before the rest of them disembarked and I made my way off the boat as well and quickly darted to a hiding spot. They we making their plans for what would happen next and I offered a grateful glance to them before sneaking off to head back to my apartment.
It was time for me to get some proper rest and I yawned at the mere thought of it. It was nice to see Genkai knocking sense back into the group and as I hoisted my bag over my shoulder, I thought about the next time I would see them. The way I figured it, I had at least three days until the next major war broke against the demons. Besides the muscles in my arms were beginning to stiffen up and it was about time for me to rewrap it anyway. It was slightly distressing that my arm felt so heavy like it was made of lead, but it felt somewhat… "better" since Toguro had "purified" it. I wasn't sure how yet, but I was determined to fix it on my own; after all, the others had plenty of other things to worry about.
I finally made my way back to the outer rim of civilization and it dawned on me how much farther I really had to go. Exhaustion was rushing over me and I decided that it was time for me to splurge a little to buy a train ride home. I knew of one that would get me a ten minute walk away from my apartment and figured that it would not only cut down on both the time I took to get there, and the energy exerted, but also manage to keep me out of trouble along the way. I quickly found the station and made it onto the train two minutes before it left its station. My eyes honed on the empty seat and I plopped down feeling my bruise body relaxing. I glanced at a nearby person's watch and saw that I had a lazy four hour ride ahead of me. Yawning, I leaned back and almost nodded off to sleep until I sensed something that froze the very blood in my veins. Ceasing all movement, I looked out of the corner of my eyes as I watched a large figure with the hood of their hoodie covering their face sit down in the seat just opposite of me. Humans couldn't sense anything wrong about it, but being a demon it was easy for me to sense the fighting aura I knew all too well. It left me with only one unanswered question.
If Azra was sitting right there before my very eyes, where the hell was his demonic bitch of a sister, Morte?
Forcing myself to remain calm as I possibly could, I glanced around the train intently. It was apparent that they wanted to keep a low-profile, or they would've launched into a full out assault against me by now. Now that could be viewed as a good thing, or a very, very, very bad thing. It was a good thing because we were surrounded by innocent humans and they would no doubt end up dead if Azra decided to get violent here. It was an extremely bad thing because I was alone and at this rate, they would be able to ambush me without any of my comrades to safe my butt if it were needed. I reached out with my mind, hoping against hope to find Kurama or even more unlikely yet Hiei, but instantly recoiled upon colliding with a mental wall. My eyes widened in shock and I cradled my arm against my breast as a shot of pain seared through it. I bit down on my lip as a new ominous revelation dawned on me and it of course meant nothing good in the long run.
Morte had become extremely proficient with her Jagan and had effectively isolated me from everyone else. It was just Morte, Azra, and me…and I was in no shape to fight. I hadn't gotten any proper rest since before the tournament started. I attempted a calming breath and telepathically reached out to the both of them, "What exactly are you two playing at?"
"Just thought we would check up on you, pup. It's been a little while and we just wanted to see you again," Azra answered as the figure with the hoodie moved to look at me. My spine seemed to freeze and I cursed my stubbornness. Why the hell did I go off on my own when I knew these two would be waiting around the corner? I didn't want to cause the group anymore trouble and I needed to stand on my own…but look where that landed me! Damn it! This was easier when I only had to worry about Morte, but now I had to worry about her accursed brother as well!
"Check up on, my ass!" I hissed angrily. Azra only chuckled and glanced away at me shaking his head. I withdrew into my panicked thoughts and the rest of the train ride was quiet except for the occasional chatter among the humans. Azra pretended to fall asleep and every time I reached out my mind to find my friends, I was slapped back by Morte's Jagan. I was officially screwed. The world around me went about its normal way and not a single scream broke the calm. What the hell were they doing? They were demons! Demons didn't just ride trains with their enemies! Aside from the act of isolating me, there weren't any other aggressive moves made. They were biding their time, and the fact that I didn't know what was coming next, made it worse. The hours inched by and my head was throbbing with anxiety by the time we were three stops from where I had previously intended getting off at. I watched the doors open and I was overwhelmed by the urge to run. I side-glanced at Azra to see he was staring at me. He knew what I was thinking and I just watched the doors close.
Two more stops were left. I couldn't bring myself to stare at Azra and my heart started pounding to match the throbbing in my head. What was I going to do now? Those two could take me down without even trying and if I wasn't able to let anyone know what was going on, there wouldn't be a snowball's chance in hell of finding me. I closed my eyes and prayed for a miracle to descend on me. My stomach was churning with anxiety and the train was slowing. There was movement directly across from me and I looked to see Azra leaving like he couldn't possibly care less that I was still on the same train as he. Once he was fully past me, a piece of paper fell from his hoodie to land at my feet. I turned to see him exit and then pulled together the last pit of courage I could muster to pick up the wad. My arms were trembling beyond control as I unfolded the note and my heart skipped a beat. The scrawl was chilling but the message was far worse.
"You're living on borrowed time and your hourglass is nearly empty."
The train began moving again and I found my chest was tight. Shit just got real. There was no way Morte and Azra would bluff about something like that. Now, the possibility of me not seeing tomorrow became very real. I tried one final attempt at reaching out to Hiei and was once again denied. Damn! I could feel cold terror creeping through my veins, freezing me from the inside out and there was a ticking clock in my head counting down the time I had left. What in God's name was I supposed to do now? It wasn't much longer before my stop and I balled the paper up in one hand while I grabbed my bag with the other. As the train began to slow, my mind raced through my options and when the doors open, I dashed off the train as quickly as my legs could take me. Once I was safely away from any human eyes, I leapt onto the closest rooftop and used what excess energy I had stored up to practically flew to my apartment. The action didn't exactly make sense seeing as I knew Morte and Azra were most likely already there waiting, but the instinct to leave something behind in hopes that my friends could track it back to me overwhelmed all other good sense.
Finally, my feet skid across the roof of my apartment building and I stumbled into the staircase. It was a complete shock that I hadn't fallen down the stairs leading down from the roof and just as I reached the hall that held my door, my keys were magically in my hands. It was only seconds later that I was standing in the threshold of my apartment and I dropped everything in my hands, horror struck with what I saw. Everything had been torn apart and utterly destroyed like a war had occurred. Shattered glass glinted in the darkness and it looked as though the fight broke out in the middle of the room. I quickly glanced around to see that the living room wasn't the only place to be destroyed either. Things were spilled all about in the kitchen and I could even see broken furniture leading back to the room in which I slept. Morte and Azra had done a very thorough job of tearing up my apartment and making it look as though a struggle had broken out. I hesitantly took a step further into the living room and at that exact moment a shadow appeared in the light behind me. There was a metallic clang and before I even had the chance to turn around a blade was shoved straight through my right shoulder. As I choked out a muffled cry of pain, I heard a satisfied giggle from Morte as she purred, "Now the final piece of the puzzle has been laid out. All we needed was you blood to show that you really had been ambushed in this exact spot. No way of faking it."
"Damn you, Morte," I growled as she ripped the blade from my shoulder and kicked me in the small of my back. My body flipped over the up-turned couch and I slammed into the broken coffee table. This effectively stunned me and in the struggle regain my control, I felt blood slowly oozing out of the wound. It was obvious now. Morte wanted my group to stumble upon this and in preparation for that, she wanted her scene to look as dramatic as she could possible make it. No doubt she would then flush me out and cause me to run right into her brother's clutches. I grit my teeth as I pushed myself into a sitting position and reached for my chakram on my hips. Morte was quick to notice this however and in an instant two of her damned shadow fiends forcibly pinned me to the ground. Their mistress strolled over and opened her Jagan wide. My lungs felt as if a hundred pounds had been forced against both of them and I was rendered helpless as she reached down and ripped my own weapons from my hips with a twisted smile.
"I think leaving these here will pull the scene together nicely," she cackled as she threw them into two different walls and stayed upon impact. Then the demoness stepped back and motioned for her lackeys to bring me to my feet. Tired of playing her game anymore and furious that she trespassed in my home, I allowed a surge of lightning to fly through my arms aimed directly at the shadows. I was released and slammed them into the ground as I leapt to my feet, but of course I didn't get far. Just as I looked over at Morte, she buried ten different knives into various spots on my body. Instinct kicked in. I needed out and Morte was blocking the obvious exit. My mind honed on the window directly behind me. At this time of night, no one would be walking along it and I was losing valuable time just standing there.
"You still underestimate me, Morte. That's why you'll never get rid of this thorn in your side!" I sneered as I spun around and dove through the glass without a moment's hesitation. A startled cry broke out from Morte as I flipped in the air and landed on my feet. Two of her knives dislodged themselves from my flesh as I ran from the apartment and darted down the street. I grimaced in pain and struggled to figure out where I could go to get some help. Going to Kurama was out of the question. It would endanger Shiori and no matter what, I couldn't allow that to happen. There was no guarantee that Yusuke or Kuwabara would be anywhere that I could reach them for a few more hours. I had no idea where Ghost or Genkai would be and as for Hiei…well he was better at finding me than I could hope to be at finding him. On top of that, I had no way to make contact with anyone of the Rekai either. Perfect and absolute isolation.
As it stood, I was alone and all that was left for me to do was survive. Hopefully, the group would catch on that something was wrong. I dashed into a nearby alley and witness one of Morte's shadow minions materialize out of thin air. I glared at the creature in frustration and ripped a knife out of my shoulder shouting, "Go to hell!"
I launched the knife right into the face of the creature and watched it die before my very eyes. This didn't faze me however and I quickly made my way onto a nearby rooftop. I forced myself to keep running even though I could feel Morte's Jagan bearing down on me. My lungs were searing in pain and it was like enduring the worst asthma attack I had ever had. My feet fell out from under me and I collapsed on my knees of a rooftop, struggling to breathe. There was a rhythmic pounding drumming in my head and I knew that this wasn't going to end well. I was still on my knees when six different shadows surrounded me on the roof and with one look, I could tell, no pun intended, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they were different from the rest. I tensed and growled, "What the hell do you fools have hidden up your sleeves?"
"I believe you would call it self-awareness," one of the creatures said as it cocked his head to the side as it looked over me. My heart plummeted to my stomach and I blinked. You have got to be kidding me! Since when did these creatures go from mindless drones to self-aware fighting minions? Another of the creatures laughed ominously and the first continued to speak, "You taught our creator a valuable lesson in the Dark Tournament. Her mindless shadows are not useful when fighting someone like you. However, we are not mindless, but we are still ready to throw our lives on the line for our master!"
"Well, ain't that just peachy," I hissed grabbing another knife and pulled it from my flesh. I held it out before me with the intent of using it in defense and focused on stopping my body from trembling as violently as it was. This was going to be one hell of a night. I took a calming breath before saying. "Self-aware or not, I'm going to lay you all flat! Bring it!"
"Indeed we shall!" was the unified response as the lunged at me in unison. I dove to the side and spun around just in time to bury the knife into a creature's throat. Then, none too gently, I ripped it out and flipped away from another oncoming attacker. They didn't seem disturbed in the slightest by the death of their comrade and converged on me once again. I grit my teeth and plunged the knife into the chest of the closest enemy, before initiating a fist fight with the other four. It was all I could do to keep them at bay and no matter how hard I tried, I didn't have the chance to land any hits of my own. The five of us danced around the roof of the building and I could feel my power beginning to exhaust itself. I growled in frustration and decided it was time to play a little dirty. Dodging to the side, I slammed my foot down the closest shadow's foot and threw him back into the others. Three of them got tangled up together, but the last was quick and flipped over them like it was effortless. I rolled to the side as the mass of shadows hit the ground and bounced to my feet trying to find where the fourth had gone. Just as I found him, his fist was flying toward my head to land one destructive sucker punch. Reacting on the instincts I had gained from Judo, I grabbed his fist and then rolled onto my back while kicking my foot into the middle of his gut. Using his own momentum, I threw him over my head and watched as the creature went flying over the edge of the roof. I got up and looked to see the shadow disappear upon making contact with the ground. I heard the other shadows scuffling behind me and took what little time I had to rip the rest of the knives out of my skin.
"It's about time we finished this!" I screamed as I lunged back into the battle. At first, I'm ashamed to admit, I was getting my ass handed to me on a golden platter. One of my ribs had been cracked, my lip was busted and blood was pouring down my face from a gash in my forehead just above my left eye. The creatures continued pounding away and I noticed that my vision was beginning to blur. I needed to nip this battle in the bud and do so quickly. So I focused my lightning into my hands and grabbed two of the shadows by their throats, effectively killing them both by the sheer power of electricity. Without missing a beat, I tackled the final enemy and wrapped my arms around his head. With one swift jerk, I twisted it until I heard a sickening snap and the creature faded out of my hands. I rested on my knees for a moment and wiped the blood from my face. Somewhat satisfied with myself, I smirked and said, "Self-aware or not, I still kicked your ass and you ended up dead. Any questions?"
For once, irony and instant karma didn't feel the need to respond to my claim and it gave me some time to straighten my thoughts out. One thing was clear. I still needed somewhere to hide. I couldn't be sure how long the fight lasted and how long it had been since the group left the boat. Which once again meant I had no secure possibilities of gaining help. I couldn't return to my apartment to get my weapons. That would be suicide. Despite my hopes otherwise, I was sure not one of my friends had even been alerted to my absence either. Where could I go? Where? I was getting desperate and I knew there was a highly unlikely chance that I could possibly find Kuwabara or Yusuke…it was a hope in vain. I knew that, but it was a hope. I began to make my way to Yusuke's house, but as I entered a dark alley, I collided with a very strong, muscled chest that I knew didn't belong to anyone I called friend. My heart froze and when I stepped back and looked up to the face that belong to the chest, the last of my hope died on the spot. Azra placed on hand on my shoulder and raised the other one saying, "Good to see you again, little pup. Unfortunately for you, you won't be alive much longer to regret it."
-Sometime Later-
I was faintly aware of a dull pounding in my head and my mind and body struggled to catch up to the present. Soon, my thoughts were clear as crystal and I realized that my hands were bound in front of my and there was a gag over my mouth. My eyes snapped open and I somehow pushed myself into a sitting position despite the awkward maneuvering caused by the binds. The wounds I had sustained were now caked in dried blood and there were dozens of bruises all over my stiff, aching body. I winced with every movement and cursed how I allowed myself to get into such a situation. After doing a final check over myself and being satisfied that I was going to survive for the moment, I looked around, analyzing everything that I saw. There were hundreds of crates and boxes stacked on top of each other and the building reminded me of the warehouse I had once hidden away in before I became an official member of the group. Damn. People didn't normally frequent places like this unless they were gangs and considering this place didn't seem to be disturbed, I knew this wasn't the case. The chances of being found were dwindling and so I focused on freeing myself. I managed to remove the gag and using my teeth, began to pull at the ropes around my wrists. It was only a matter of time before I was on my feet and searching for some way out.
My eyes instantly honed on four service entrances and three large truck entrances. I cursed angrily as I found each of them locked and retreated to give the windows a look over. They were extremely high up and I would have to be creative to find a way to get up to them in the first place. I hissed and ran my hand through my hair.
Suddenly a familiar presence entered my mind and I felt hope rise in my chest. Seconds later, I was comforted to hear the aggravated snap of Hiei saying, "Where did you disappear to baka onna? Koenma wishes to speak with you and they seem fixated on the fact that I can find you."
"Hiei! I was attacked! Morte and Azra-" I began to exclaim until the connection was severed and high pitched laughter broke out from directly behind. Cursing my own gullibility, I slowly turned to see Morte and Azra standing there leering at me with smug expressions. I swallowed my fear and mustered my courage to stand proudly before them and say, "I'll ask it again. What the hell are you two playing at?"
"We're switching things up. Trying to strategies," Azra responded conversationally before disappearing from his sister's side. His aura quickly materialized behind me and before I knew what was happening, his hand was wrapped tightly around my bad arm. With a simple jerk and twist, I was sent to my knees hissing in pain as he pressed it to the middle of my back. Tears welled in my eyes, but I did my best to hold them back and glared defiantly at Azra out of the corner of my eye. He merely smirked and continued, "Let's see how you fare when I enter the fray."
"Great. One more cockroach to exterminate before it decides to reproduce," I spat through the pain as I fixed him with the fiercest. Azra didn't even blink. Instead, he twisted my arm even further and effortless snapped it clean in half. I couldn't stop from screaming in pain and watched as Morte advanced on me.
"Your tough act is useless here. You're outnumbered and clearly outmatched. Your friends have no idea where you are and not to mention the simple fact that you haven't been able to rest and recharge yourself after the Dark Tournament. The two of us, however, are at one hundred and ten percent. By my count, all your resources have been used up," Morte cackled contemptuously and launched a swift kick into the middle of my chest. This knocked all the wind out of me and Azra allowed me to fall quite unceremoniously flat on my face. Rage was boiling in the middle of my chest and despite me being at the disadvantage, I wanted nothing more than to beat both of them into the ground.
"Like I've said before. Who's acting?" I roared kicking Azra in the kneecap and jumped to my feet. I focused some lightning into my good arm and when I spun around, I sent an electric shock straight through the middle of his chest. Yet, when I turned around to face off with Morte, she was a lot closer than I had anticipated and she landed yet another well placed kick to my chest. This attack sent me flying through the air and slammed into a crate that collapsed in on itself with the contact. I was severely dazed, but through pure stubbornness, managed to get to my feet and stumble away. Azra recovered a lot faster than I did and I soon found myself dangling in midair as he held me up by my throat. His fingers tightened around my windpipe and I choked on the lack of oxygen. There was nothing but murderous intent shining behind my enemy's eyes.
"I will show you why no one crosses me and lives, pup," he growled before launching into a full out assault. It was officially the most brutal beat-down I had ever endured in my life. Not even Genkai or Hiei had gone to such great lengths to beat me to submission or even cause as much pain as Azra did. He purposely would go the little extra mile and put in the extra effort to inflict as much torture and pain as he could while effectively stopping any form of retaliation from his prey. I quickly understood why it had been Morte fighting me this entire time all the way up until now. Had it been Azra, and I had pissed him off past his point of control, he would've easily destroyed me and from there the plans they had made would've been compromised. Azra would not have hesitated in making me reach a point worse than death and letting me suffer in it before putting me out of my own misery. It was little wonder why Morte kept him in reserve.
I couldn't say how long the beating lasted, but by the time that it ended, I could barely stand on my own two feet and my eyes were nearly swollen shut. I staggered away from them and cursed my luck to the deepest bowels of hell. Why did I have to be so pathetically weak? The whole time Azra had been wailing on me, I had only managed to land a grand total of three damaging hits, which included his hyper-extended knees, a horribly scorched wound on his shoulder, and a nice black shiner that had effectively swollen his left eye shut. Yet, there was only one thing going through my head. Why did he let me stumble away? He has threatened to kill me more than once? So, knowing it wasn't the smartest idea, I still decided to voice this realization. I coughed and wheezed, "Why am I still standing? I thought you were going to kill me?"
It wasn't Azra who answered me. He merely turned his back and moved toward his sister. Morte however advanced on me like a cat who finally cornered the mouse that had been teasingly alluding her this entire time.
"It would seem that there's been a change of plans… Try to escape alive, pup. It would be rather tedious if we had to bring another to finish your purpose, but don't misunderstand us. Just because we'd rather not bring another, we won't hesitate in killing you if the need arises. See you soon, pup!" Morte was standing directly in front of me with her hands ready to strike. Two open palms slammed into the middle of my chest and my body was sent flying through the air like a ragdoll. I toppled a tower of crates and lied in the destruction in a daze. There were dull sounds all around and I could faintly hear both of the siblings' voices. I couldn't, however, make out what was being said in any meaningful way. I closed my eyes and drifted away.
My consciousness was stuck somewhere between being out of it not to know what was going on around me and being aware enough to know that I needed to get the hell out of dodge and out of harm's way. I laid there for only lord knows how long and was finally able to regain my senses when I inhaled smoke instead of oxygen. Coughing uncontrollably, I sat up and noticed flames all around the warehouse. It was difficult to move, let alone breathe, but I forced myself into action and began looking for some way out. All the doors I had previously seen were covered in flames by this time and I was forced to look to higher ground. In that moment I saw what could be my saving grace, but before I had the chance to get to it, something frustrating happened.
A box completely coated in flames, fell from the towering stack beside me and before I could even blink it caught me square across the back of my neck, bringing me to the ground once more. Flames ran along the entire left side of my body and I struggled to pull myself away from the wreckage. It was difficult but after using another piece of box that was destroyed before it, I rolled away and realized that I had another problem. For some reason, I couldn't put the flames out on my clothes and upon further inspection realized that the flames seemed to have a black tint to them. No matter what I tried, my control over flames was useless and as the pain began to get too unbearable, I did the only thing I could think to do. I hit the ground like a ton of bricks and smothered the flames to the best of my ability. It took some time, but where the flames were gone, I searched around to find the ladder that I had thought to be my saving grace. I made my way over to it as quickly as I could, given my condition and felt my heart plummet when I saw the metal rungs of the ladder. By now the flames had made it scalding to the touch, but I resolved it was a small price to pay for the possibility of reaching safety. The skin on my hands seared and blistered as they connected with the middle but determination pushed my ascent. I was easily three stories high and although, if only for a moment, I was free from the flames. This relief however was quickly dashed as I was hit with the heat from the fire and choked by the smoke rising in the air. Using my good arm, I pulled my shirt over my nose and breathed carefully as I limped down the catwalk to inspect one of the large windows.
"Damn," I choked in dismay. While these windows would be perfect for a quick escape, it overlooked a busy street and a crowd was beginning to form as the humans saw that the warehouse was on fire. There would be no plausible way of escape so long as they stood there. I needed to find another way out and do so quickly as the smoke was getting thicker and thicker by the minute. I looked around frantically and saw another set of windows across the catwalk on the complete other side of the building. With blurring vision, I moved as quickly as I could on a bruised leg and reached the other side. What I found was not exactly appealing, but it would allow for an unseen escape.
The windows overlooked a decent hill that ended with a river at the bottom. The grass was somewhat wild on that hill and it seemed that not many humans would have any reason to go back there. I was beginning to contemplate jumping when I could feel myself fading out. It was make or break time and I wasn't ready to die. Everything was automatic. Covering my face and tensing my body, I jumped through the glass and somehow kept the glass from damaging my skin too much. It was amazing to breathe fresh air and it felt great to have the sun on my skin. For a moment I was freefalling and it ended all too soon when my left leg broke, more like snapped in half, when I landed on the ground. My body pitched forward and I rolled down the hill completely unable to stop. It was obvious how this was going to go.
After rolling for what seemed a good minute, I smacked into a ridge and was launched into the river. Immediately, the current swept me away and I struggled to get above the water. After struggling and fighting, I finally grabbed a dangling tree branch that was skimming the surface of the water and I hauled my head up to breathe. I gulped in the air as quickly as I could and noticed a lone figure standing on the bank of the river. It took a minute, but I recognized it to be Kuwabara. He stared at me in shock before running toward me to try to help me. I did everything I could to hand on, but my limits had been reached. Kuwabara didn't even make it to the water before I blacked out.
-Later-
"…Rin…can you hear me?"
"Answer us, baka onna…"
The voices bounced around in my head. The first was soft and concerned. The second was harsh and sharp in annoyance. Slowly but surely, my senses came together and I realized it was Kurama and Hiei. Somehow…I was alive. I slowly opened my eyes and found the right one to be completely swollen shut. It was dark and the stars were shining bright over my head. Apparently the river had dropped me off at some random embankment and even more surprising, after inspecting it, I found it was only five minutes from my apartment.
"Rin! If you can hear me, please respond!" Kurama persisted.
I growled back at them, finding it difficult to form a more coherent thought. It would only be a matter of time before they found me and not wanting to be any more of a damsel in distress than I already was, I somehow pulled the strength together to get to my feet. Balance was practically impossible and I'm sure my movements resembled something like that out of a zombie movie as I fumbled my way back to my apartment. It was dead in the middle of the night and I didn't meet anyone along the way. My body ached, but at least I could move. Soon, I was in the building of the apartment and I could faintly sense at least six different auras in my apartment. It was a miracle I was still standing by the time I threw open the door to my apartment.
"Rin!" a chorus of voices rang through my hearing as I blinked at the scene around me. The destruction of my home looked worse in the light and my knees gave out from under me. Instead of hitting the floor though, I fell into the warmth of a pair of muscled arms. I blinked a few more times to see Hiei lowering me to the ground and Kurama kneeling to look over the wounds. His green eyes were wide in shock.
"How'd you manage to get yourself in and out of this much trouble so soon? It hasn't even been two days since the Dark Tournament," he asked shaking his head.
"Sheer dumb luck…and I'm never taking the train ever again," I grumbled before blacking out.
-Until Next Time-
ME: Well, that was kinda a fun chapter now wasn't it?
Yusuke: You are insane.
Kuwabara: After going through all of that, you go and call it fun? You have serious issues.
Kurama: Be that as it may, she does have a talent for throwing things that you don't necessarily see coming, a lot like the fangirl attack on Hiei and Ghost.
ME: Yes, I will stop that attack during the next chapter. I suppose running for this long has been torturous enough for the two of them. Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I hope to see you in the next chapter! See ya later!