ME: Alright fans! It's time to stop chasing Ghost and Hiei around. Give them a bit of rest. (waits for the boys to run past a point and then presses a button that creates a glass room around them)
Yusuke: Ok…you saved them…but why is the room they're in separate from us?
ME: I said I was calling off the fangirl stampede…I never said I forgave them yet.
Kurama: I imagine that room is to be a form of…solitary confinement, for lack of a better term.
ME: (grins) Exactly! Payback is still coming!
Kuwabara: Wow you sure hold a grudge!
ME: (shrugs) They have it coming. I'll let them out next chapter. Anyway, thanks for being so patient readers and here's the next chapter! By the way, this time around, Rin gets smart! It's a miracle. I hope you enjoy!
-Chapter Start-
Chapter 37: Revenge is Syrupy Sweet
"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.
-Some Much Needed Rest Later-
I became aware of a very soft pillow beneath my head and warm blankets pulled over my body. At first all I wanted to do was roll over and drift back to sleep, but I could faintly hear scuffling and upon paying closer attention I could hear pots being moved in a kitchen. Curious as to what was going on, I slowly forced my eyes open and blinked to clear away the sleep. Light was falling in through the windows and it became instantly apparent that I was no longer in my apartment. Although, after looking around at the mess that was the room I was resting in…I think my apartment looked a little cleaner despite being destroyed. Pushing myself into a sitting position, I looked around and realized where I was. It was Atsuko's new house after the original one burned down.
So the one rattling around in the kitchen was Atsuko. That was one mystery solved. Now there were just two more at the top of my list. The first was how did I even get here? The second was how bad my injuries were after my confrontation with Morte and Azra. I threw back the covers and looked over myself carefully. Apparently the broken bones in my leg has healed up, but still were a little sore. The swollen bruises on my face seemed to have gone down and the major injuries around my body were nothing more than aches and pains now. Except for my arm that is; for some reason it was still broken. It had been wrapped and somewhat casted. Pain shot through the arm whenever I moved the wrong way. It didn't make any sense. When Toguro attacked me in the arena and broke through my shield, he had completely eradicated not only Ghost's stone, but the shadows that had been absorbed into my arm as well. For all intents and purposes, he purified my arm, which meant that it should've healed normally. Instead, it was as though the arm had been completely taken over and now was refusing to even react to messages sent from my brain. I shook my head and inspected the rest of my body. Most of the bruises had receded and I found that I was dressed in a plain red t-shirt that seemed a little big for me and some jeans that were only a little big for me. Considering whose house I was in, it was almost safe to bet that the jeans belonged to Atsuko and the shirt belonged to Yusuke…Weird.
Deciding it would do me no more good to lie about lazily, I got to my feet slowly and stumbled out of the bedroom. My eyes were struggling to comprehend the world around me, but soon my vision cleared and Atsuko was standing five feet away with her hands on her hips and a goofy smile on her face.
"Hey there kido! How are you feeling?" she asked as she walked over and gave me a gentle pat on the back. I smiled and felt safe for once.
"I'm feeling like I got wailed on but other than that I'm ok. How long have I been out? How'd I get here? Where's-"
"Hold on tiger! I bet you have a million questions for me, but let's get some food in you first. It's only been two days, but I think that's enough without sustenance," Atsuko laughed as she shook her head and lead me to her kitchen. The sight was almost amusing to see how hard she tried to really cook something worthwhile to eat. The kitchen was a complete and utter mess altogether and there on the counter was a simple breakfast for the both of us. It was laughable how a small meal such as this caused her so much trouble.
"I'll make a deal with you, Atsuko. You fill me in on everything I missed while we eat, and then I'll help you clean up this whole apartment? Deal?" I said holding out my good arm to shake her hand. For a moment she seemed surprised and then broke out in a smile that rivaled her son's.
"Well, I don't usually take offers like that from someone who just got their ass kicked, but considering it's you, you bet I will!" Atsuko completely ignored my outstretched hand and slapped me hard across the back. I yelped and stumbled into one of her kitchen chairs and she laughed while she retrieved the food. I grumbled about being happy to amuse her, but she ignored that as well. As soon as she placed the food in front of me and I caught a whiff of it, I realized how hungry I was. Without waiting for an invitation, I dove into the food and Atsuko followed suit, diving into getting me up to date, "Well, apparently that short one, Hiei's his name? Anyway, he found out something strange concerning you and asked Yusuke if he had heard from you. At that point I think they got the whole group together and went over to your apartment. They found it completely destroyed with a piece of paper saying something about living on borrowed time. They figured you had been ambushed on your way home and were beginning to get a plan together when you stumbled into them. They didn't know how to handle you being as messed up as you were. So they couldn't very well leave you in that apartment to recover and Yusuke volunteered our place. If I had known I would've tried to make the place a little better for you. As it is, you've been resting in Yusuke's room for the past two days, healing faster than any of us thought you would. My house has been like a public meeting ground since you got hurt. The only one that hasn't come by is Hiei."
"Oh," I said quietly looking down at the glass of juice she had set down in front of me. When Hiei had caught me before I hit the ground, I saw something in his eyes that I had not seen before. Something that made me think that maybe, he had decided to try something new… but then I guess it had just been my imagination. Some things just don't change I suppose. Before thinking to heavily about it, I dove back into the food.
"Anyway, they were all worried about you. The entire first day you didn't move and it took a while to get all that blood off you… Yusuke was so angry that you had gotten into such a situation…" Atsuko drifted off and looked out the window. The rest of our meal was finished in silence. It felt as though Atsuko was brooding over something, but I couldn't tell what. It wasn't until we started cleaning up, that I pulled the courage together to ask her about it.
"Atsuko…is something troubling you?" I asked as I swept the table clean of beer cans and tossed them into a trash back. The black-haired woman straightened up and looked over at a picture of Yusuke she had on a table. I noticed it was the one she had used at his wake and I wondered if that was the only real picture she had of him. Knowing how Yusuke was, I wouldn't be too surprised.
"Yusuke has really changed…my boy was always a fighter…but it wasn't until this last fiasco that I realized how much he has changed… He was always alone…except for Keiko, Yusuke didn't have anyone he could relate to. Not even his own mother," Atsuko whispered running her hand through her hair thoughtfully. I froze on the spot and watched her in awe. The Atsuko I came to know from the anime was just a hopeless drunk, but the woman standing before me was not just a drunk, but a concerned mother who knew she was so distant from her son and regretted it. She was…sad to say the least. She looked over at me with her hurt eyes and continued, "I am a total screw up as a mother. No one has to tell me that…although Yusuke likes to remind me of it now and again. But…he's become such a good friend…he cares dearly about people and fiercely protects those he calls his friends…I hope that some small shred of my good intentions have helped him become the man he is today…Although I'm inclined to believe he only became that way from having to clean up my messes…"
"Atsuko…" I said not quite sure how to react. I couldn't be sure, but I was inclined to believe that she had definitely made Yusuke the man he was today, with both the good and the bad. He protected people so fiercely because he learned from a young age to do so. Though I could never accurately argue my point, I was almost sure that, Yusuke did owe a lot to his mother. I walked over to her and put my hand on her shoulder with a smile, "Yusuke may not ever admit it, but not only does he love you, but he knows you have done good for him in his life. Your parenting style may not be orthodox or even the best, but Yusuke is as strong, caring, and compassionate as he is today, because of the way he grew up. Take that for what it's worth and forget this gloom you've seem to have fallen into."
With that I continued cleaning her apartment. Just as I reached the window, I thought I saw a shadow flashed across the sunlight and I looked up to see the branch of a tree moving. I narrowed my eyes for a moment, but couldn't see anything other than a few disturbed leaves falling to the ground. Deciding that it was a medium sized bird I was about to turn around until Atsuko called my name. I turned to look at her and there was a flash that caused me to jump. There she stood with a polaroid camera and I realized that she had done what I dread. Someone getting a picture of me.
"Really Atsuko! I hate cameras!" I growled swatting at her, but she cackled and dashed away with the photo in hand. She quickly hid it from my reach and I simply finished cleaning her house. It was at that point, I decided I wanted to return to my own apartment…and plot. It was a notion that occurred to me in the midst of cleaning the apartment. Morte and Azra caused whatever was wrong with my arm…and I wanted it fixed. So it was on now. I looked around at the apartment and said, "Ok Atsuko. I'm gonna be heading over to my apartment now alright? There's some things over there that I really need right now. Be seeing you soon."
"Don't get yourself into another mess alright? I don't wanna be held responsible alright?" Atsuko called as she was heading for the fridge and it didn't take long for me to hear the clink of some beers. I shook my head.
"Trust me. If all goes according to my plans, I'll have the upper hand!" I laughed waving as I exited her apartment. I began making my way down the street to the bus stop and was making a mental list of things I would need to pull this plan off. After I took some time at my apartment, I would head straight to a store that specialized in construction. That would have everything I needed. It wasn't long before I reached the bus just as it was about to leave and jumped on a quickly as I could. There was nowhere to sit, so I grabbed one of the hanging grips and patiently waited for my stop to come up. It was a relaxing ride and I looked around, wondering if Morte and Azra were close by. Of course it was broad daylight and not only were there more people on the bus, but every street was completely full of humans. There would be no easy, unseen escape and abduction. Which worked to my advantage.
It wasn't long before I reached my stop and after fighting to protect my injured arm, I stepped out and looked up at the window I had broken when I leapt out to escape Morte. It had already been replaced and I wondered how the inside of the apartment would look. I reached my hand into my pocket and was pretty happy to find that my keys were still there. Smiling, I walked into my building almost like nothing happened and my limp had stopped on the bus ride. All the while I was using some of my power to sense the surrounding area. I couldn't find Morte or Azra's power anywhere close and I felt alright putting my keys in the door and throwing it open. That is…until I saw the destruction that was still left over.
"Fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuu," I groaned shaking my head. I kicked the bag from the Dark Tournament out of the way of the door and shook my head. My chakram were still lodged in the walls, there was glass and blood all around the floor and the only difference was the window was completely taken care of. I guess that was because they didn't want humans asking any questions. Glaring around the room, I muttered, "Just standing here isn't going to fix anything… Might as well get to cleaning this too."
I walked over to the kitchen and after dodging through some glass, I found the broom and a bucket I could put water in and soap. So I swiftly brushed all the glass into a dustpan and tossed the shards into the trash can. From there I went to straightening up the place and making it look presentable once more. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would, but that just meant I would probably spend more time working in the living room, which was far more destroyed than anything else. Then I began taking stock of the things I would need to replace and moved into the living room. That part was going to be a little more difficult. I shook my head and went to pulling my weapons out of the wall. It was a tad difficult, considering Morte had thrust them there with some decent force, but I was able to dislodge them with a little maneuvering. However, I fell back and lost my balance, thus toppling over my fallen couch and luckily landing on the one spot on the carpet that didn't have glass spread across it.
I howled in pain as my arm smacked into the floor and cradled it to my chest, cursing my own clumsiness. It was then that I heard rapid footsteps and my front door was quickly thrown open. I rolled over onto my side and peaked my head over the couch to see Kurama and Hiei standing there looking ready for a fight. I lifted my head a little more so they could see me and held up my good hand saying, "Hiyah."
This caused both of them to sweat-drop and Kurama to pinch the bridge of his nose. I slowly got to my feet, dusting myself off as I went and placed my chakram on the dining table that only had some glass across it from a broken vase. I moved some of the hair from my face and tilted my head to the side questioningly. I imagined Kurama was there to be checking up on me if he had heard from Atsuko that I had decided to head over to my apartment all by my lonesome. As to why Hiei was there, was absolutely beyond me. We left each other on foul terms and I highly doubted he'd be willing to reconcile with me so quickly. It was Kurama who was first to speak, "I don't know whether to be relieved that you're moving so well on your own, or aggravated that you continue to put your well-being in danger by doing the simplest of tasks."
"Ouch Kurama…Thanks. I'm fine by the way. Just bumped my arm when I hit the ground. I was trying to clean up the apartment after Morte and Azra made it a point to make such a mess. Then…well…I was going to…turn the tables you could say," I chuckled darkly at the still forming plan in my mind. If everything went according to plan, Morte and Azra wouldn't know what hit them.
"Before we delve into what your mischievous mind is plotting, how about I aid in you cleaning up your apartment while Hiei goes to deliver the message to our comrades that you're up and moving around?" Kurama suggested side-glancing at Hiei who was staring at me with an unfathomable expression. Although I was perfectly fine with Kurama helping me about the apartment, I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to get rid of Hiei just yet. I mean, he had been a complete and utter ass the last time we spoke, but I had the hope that maybe…we could go back to at least being civil with one another.
"Hn," was his only response before the speed demon disappeared. I felt guilty for throwing the black jewel at his face and wondered if he'd ever give me the chance to apologize for it. However, Kurama didn't give me long to think about it, as he closed the door behind him and stared at me intently.
"We have quite a few things we need to discuss, Rin. Namely, what I witnessed between you and Hiei at the end of the Dark Tournament is near the top of the list, but before we get to that let's discuss this latest attack by Morte and Azra? It would seem that you are going to need a personal body guard or you will no longer be permitted to stray from the group," Kurama stated seriously causing me to flinch and flush with embarrassment and anger.
"I don't need a babysitter, Kurama! Yes, I admit it. I haven't been good at defending myself whenever it concerns the two of them, but I'll be damned if I have someone protecting me night and day like a damsel in distress. Anyway, I already have a plan to turn the tables on the two of them and all I need to do is regain a little more of my strength before I can do it. I'm tired of getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter. So knowing that the two of them only see me as a harmless pup that they can manipulate and toy around with, I can outwit them and ensnare them in a cleverly laid trap-"
"And what exactly does this plan entail?" Kurama asked sharply causing me to flinch. I hadn't realized it before, but I was almost sure that Kurama was angry with me…and I wasn't entirely sure why.
"Uh…well, I haven't gotten the specifics nailed down just yet, but I was hoping with the aid of your plants, I could stun them and temporarily paralyze them in place. Then using some wire, rope, and a conductive sheet of metal that I planned on purchasing after I cleaned up this place a little bit, I was going to ambush them with a makeshift cage. Then interrogate them using some shocks of lightning as incentive to answer me…" I mutter quietly looking at the ground. Sensing his anger diminish some, I glanced up to see Kurama shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Aside from being blatantly suicidal, your plan has some merit…if it were thought out fully…" Kurama sighed and crossed his arms as he looked down his nose at me. I could tell that he was thinking it over himself and that made me perk just a little bit. If I could get Kurama to "ok" my madness, then that meant I actually was beginning to outwit my opponents. Which could easily turn the tables in my favor. I leaned in closer to him when he sighed heavily and looked at me seriously, "Alright. I'm willing to help with your plan so long as we fix a few minor details and you allow me to…improve on a few certain points."
"Deal! We can discuss it while we clean!" I laughed feeling better than I had in couple of days. We set to work on pulling the room back together and trashing the things that were beyond saving, like my couch that had been ripped in two and would have to tell Koenma that the walls would need some fixing. Kurama explained some finer points in my own plan while I scrubbed the blood off the walls and even told me of the perfect plant that he had in mind for this particular plan. As we continued to clean and talk, I figured out something that would work even better. If I split my power in half and used the doppelganger as a distraction, the siblings would be more likely to attack and fall into the trap. Now, all that was left was nailing down the things to get the plan accomplished and regaining enough strength to effectively deal with them if things went astray. The plant that Kurama would give me would knock them far enough off their game that I could easily put them down like the dogs they were. Just as we finished up cleaning what we could at the apartment, we sat down to a cup of Oolong tea and me writing down the provisions I would need Kurama to secure for me while I rested up. In the meantime, I could sense Hiei just outside the apartment building, waiting.
"So," I stated casually causing Kurama to glance at me curiously over the kitchen table, "…when do you think Hiei will step foot in my apartment again?"
Kurama merely chuckled, "I'm sure you'll have your chance to speak with him once I leave. He…took your incident with Azra and Morte a little too personally. What were his words again? Oh yes… "If that damn onna hadn't been so focused on such trivial quarrels she might've had the good sense to get out of there before becoming a useless punching bag." I think I remembered that right."
"So it becomes my fault?" I laughed in astonishment.
"Naturally. Is there anything else I should get you while I'm out? A pint of chocolate ice cream perhaps? Or maybe a new couch to be thrown over?" Kurama smiled causing a very subtle vein to pulse on my forehead.
"Thank you for your humor, my friend. Now kindly remove yourself from my home before my foot up your ass does it for you," I growled rubbing the side of my head. Apparently, Kurama had spent far too much time with Hiei and the rest of the guys. He was beginning to gain their shared amusement at my expense. The kitsune merely waved his hand dismissively and left the apartment to get the things I had asked him to. I was surprised when told me not to worry about the costs of it. He would take care of everything, but when I asked him what he meant, he just smiled. I bit the corner of my mouth and twisted my face in annoyance. I was so tired of them all knowing so much more than me…and then rubbing it in my face.
After he left, I returned to my tea and waited. I wouldn't need to invite him in. Hiei knew how to get in without my help. It didn't take long for me to hear his feet softly land on the carpet and the window shut. Then he moved into the kitchen where I was. I reached out for another mug and just as I was pouring him tea, Hiei walked into the kitchen. At first he merely stared at me and then I held out the cup of tea to him saying, "Here…It calms hot-headedness."
"Hn. Then it would seem you need as much as you can get," Hiei responded, but took the cup nonetheless. We sat down at the kitchen table and silently drank. Finally it got to be too much and I put my cup down.
"Listen Hiei…the things I said back on the island…I didn't…I didn't mean them ok? I was angry and…spoke carelessly. Also…I should've have thrown the jewel at your face…That was uncalled for," I stammered out in a rush. I felt better after apologizing, but I realized that I could not undo what I had already done and frankly, I didn't blame Hiei if he would forever hold that over my head. So I was surprised when he reached across the table and plopped something down in front of me. I blinked and picked it up. It was a small, humble package of a brown paper bag with the opening rolled down near the end. It was tied closed with some string and just by holding it I could tell there was a small square box inside and a small bottle that reminded me of medicine. Yet just as I went to open it, however Hiei stood and began to make his way out of the apartment. I stood up and held my hand up to him saying, "Wait, Hiei! Don't go yet…"
"I have some business I need to take care of. However those herbs will help regain your Demon Energy. Try not to do anything stupid and stay two steps ahead of those siblings. I'll be back to check if you're still alive later," Hiei replied swiftly leaving the room. Just before he left through the window, I heard the faintest whisper, "The answer to a question you asked a while back…that I never answered…Yes."
I froze on the spot and blinked. In that second, Hiei was gone and when I came around the doorway, the window was closed, effectively leaving me alone. The only question that came to my mind was when I asked him if he created tear jewels when he cried…I spun around and threw myself at the package, somehow opening it without shredding it to bits. Instantly, I placed the herbs gently on the table and picked up the small box. After turning it over in my hands a couple of times, I had the stomach to pull it open and froze on the spot.
There resting on a cloth was the black jewel that I had thrown at Hiei's face, but it wasn't just a normal jewel anymore. Now, it had a little base set of it that had a dark crimson and black cord running through it. I stammered in shock. Not only had he returned the jewel back to me, but he put it on a cord so that I could wear it as a necklace. My free hand wandered to my locket and without even thinking about it, I quickly added the new necklace to join my locket and hid them both beneath my shirt. After standing in the kitchen with a goofy smile plastered on my face for a couple of minutes, I turned my attention to the herbs Hiei had provided me. Despite the fact that he had been the one to give them to me, I was almost sure that ultimately they came from Kurama and the neat scrawl describing how to use them confirmed that the kitsune had something to do with it. Feeling renewed and happier than I had since the fight with Hiei, I set to work on brewing a single dose of the herbs into another glass of Oolong Tea and upon taking the first sip, already felt the power beginning to flare in my veins. However, it was strange that none of the power in my messed up arm even reacted to the herbs that I was taking. I wrinkled my brow in thought. Was it possible that what happened to my arm before, was now making it difficult for my Demon Energy to even work?
I yawned slightly and glanced at the time. Realistically, it would take Kurama only a couple of hours to get the things I asked him to get and we had effectively cleaned the entire apartment. All that was left for me to do was rest and regain my strength while I waited. So, I headed back to the bedroom and quickly changed into a set of my own clothes. I folded up the ones I had unwittingly borrowed from Astuko's apartment and spread out along the bed. As soon as my head touched the pillow, I was out like a light.
-A Few Hours Later-
There was a soft knock at the door to my apartment. After growling and dragging myself off the bed, I trudged down the hall to answer it. There stood Kurama with a variety of different bags. I arched my eyebrows. I knew for a fact he had gotten some things that had not been on my list. I stepped aside and watched him put them down on the table in the kitchen. Closing the door and locking it behind him, I called out, "So, I take it that not only did you make my plan more effective, but most likely more full-proof so that even someone like me couldn't screw it up."
"Of course," Kurama chuckled with a mischievous smile. Scowling somewhat I put my hands on my hips. The red-head shrugged and went to placing the things on the table as he continued, "As far as I'm concerned Rin, you have this coming considering every time you leave the group you get into trouble. In a sense, Hiei was right to be concerned about you, although his way of approaching the subject was flawed. Taking that into consideration, I am surprised that he was so willing to let you go about on this crusade. Speaking of, how did those herbs work for you? Supposing you took the correct dosage and the time you rested, I would imagine that you're nearly back to your old self correct?"
"Hmm…Almost…For some reason my right arm seemed to be disconnected from the rest of my aura and my Youki hasn't been able to heal it. Other than that, I seem to be otherwise healed from my previous injuries…How bad exactly was I when I collapsed in the apartment?" I asked dodging the matter that Hiei may have had a point. Kurama noticed this, but humored me nonetheless.
"You had slight burns about your body. Nothing serious considering you had already begun to heal them, your right arm, as you know was broken, and your left leg was broken, while your right merely had fractures. You had various other breaks and cuts about your body, but apparently your stubborn nature had already set itself on healing yourself. While you were better off than you were after your fight with Morte in the tournament, we were still concerned that there could still be complications. Luckily, that was not the case," Kurama answered as he reached for the herbs I had placed on the table and prepared another dose. I sat down at the table and absently looked over the things he had bought. Hiei was still on the forefront of my mind.
"How did he handle what happened when I left?" I asked quietly bowing my head in shame.
"Ah, that. Well, he was stunned, needless to say. As soon as he realized what you had thrown at him however, he closed up and refused to even speak with me on the matter. I have never seen him act like that and until he found me saying that something had happened to you, Hiei wasn't speaking to any of us. I'm inclined to think that you hit a sensitive spot that not many know of," Kurama replied as he placed the cup of tea in front of me. I obediently went to drinking it and thought over what I had done… I doubt Hiei knew even how to react when I threw that jewel…his jewel in his face and he knew that I knew what it was…that was why I had clung onto it after all… The kitsune sat in the seat beside me and began arranging the tools in front of me as well as a detailed piece of paper that told me exactly how to set the trap, step-by-step. I cocked my head to the side as I inspected the paper. It all looked simple enough, but the end result was a cage that wouldn't exactly be easy to weasel out of and especially not after the stun spores that Kurama was going to let me use.
"I hope he doesn't hate me too much," I muttered running my hand through my choppy hair. Then I looked over the plans and thought of something, "Wait a minute, Kurama…do you plan for me to spring this trap in the warehouse they burned down after kidnapping me there?"
"I thought it would be appropriate. No humans are permitted in the area to interfere and the police have abandoned it, unable to figure out anything that happened to it. Plus the owners of the warehouse had foreclosed. At the time of the fire, no one cared about the building. So it's the perfect place to exact the taste of revenge you have planned. Not to mention you can use the ash and debris to your advantage in concealing all of this," Kurama said with a knowing smile. I shook my head at him and laughed. So we poured over the plan in detail and Kurama lead me through everything I would need to do and how I would react. There was a chance that I would accidentally breathe in some of the stun spores so he placed the antidote in my hands and I hooked it onto my belt, where it would be easy to access.
"I have to do this alone, because if they sense someone else, they won't come…but on the chance they…retaliate, would there be some way for me to reach any of you? After all, Morte smothered my ability to get a hold of you guys last time. What happens if she does it again?" I asked tilting my head to the side.
"I was wondering when you would think of that. We've already planned for that. Hiei went to the warehouse prior and set a little trigger of his own that will alert him if Morte's eye is in current use. I don't quite understand how it works, but if the same thing were to happen again, we will arrive shortly and aid you in any way we can," Kurama answered reassuring me. I flushed in surprise. Despite what had happened between us, he still was there for me.
"Thank you, Kurama," I smiled appreciatively.
"Happy to help. Now I'll leave you to your devices and remember, if you find yourself in trouble, do let us know. I'll be waiting to see how this goes," Kurama said patting my head as he left. I growled somewhat at being treated like a child, but figured, until I turned the tables of Morte and Azra, I had it coming. So, I quickly finished off the tea and packed up the supplies. Then while I was thinking about it, I subdued my aura and hid it to the best of my ability. Then I darted out of the apartment to head to my destination, the very warehouse I had been ruthlessly beaten not even three days ago.
As soon as I stepped up to it, the smell of ashes was so thick that I nearly choked. I looked over and saw that the flames Morte had used were so hot that a lot of the steal and metal that made up the structure had begun to melt. There were piles of charred boxes and I immediately looked to the ladder I had climbed to reach safety. It was now melted and there would be no way for anyone to climb up it once more. After a little more inspecting the place, I realized that it was a great idea to use this place. It was close to where the group could get me, but the fire had effectively caused all humans to avoid it like the plague. Even humans could sense there was something unnatural about it. Jitters caused me to tremble in anxiousness, but I pushed it aside and set to work on rigging everything up the exact way Kurama had taught me to. The spores were easy enough to conceal on top of the metal plate with all the ashes on the ground and the wires, cords, and other things to snap the cage up when it was triggered blended in perfectly with the surroundings. After setting everything up, I stepped back to review my handiwork.
"Not half bad," I mused, almost proud of what I had done. I looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun was beginning to set. Night time would be the perfect time to set the trap and I set to work on fixing up a hiding place for me to use until the exact moment when I would reveal what I was doing. That took about thirty minutes and by the time I was done, it was dark and the perfect time to set the trap. So I focused all my power together and considering I had already done it twice before, it was getting even easier to split my power and put half of it into a doppelganger. Proud of myself once again, I made the copy of me stand exactly in the perfect spot to be ambushed and it made its power pulse out, luring the siblings to me.
I didn't have to wait long. Soon I heard Morte's silk like voice laughing and Azra appeared directly in front of the doppelganger before backslapping it to the ground. I winced somewhat and watched as Morte stood directly behind the doppelganger. Azra clucked his tongue contemptuously as he said, "You know pup, after what happened to you the last time we met, I am disappointed that you would rush into a confrontation such as this. Especially as weak as you are. Did you even try to recover yourself before attempting to call us out?"
"I'm inclined to doubt it. The pup here was never good at actually planning things out before jumping into battle. It's sad really," Morte cackled as she slammed her foot down on the stomach of the doppelganger. At that moment the two of them moved into the perfect position and the doppelganger sprung the trap before dissipating and reabsorbing into my own body. I stood from my hiding spot as the stun spores flew into the air around them and the wires hummed as they positioned themselves. Kurama's plan worked perfectly and once everything had calmed, a makeshift cage surrounded the siblings and the inside of the cage was like the web of a spider, wound tightly around them keeping them in place. The two didn't even know what hit them and the second they breathed in the spores, their nervous systems froze and according to Kurama would stay that way for at least two hours.
"So what did you think of this plan, Morte? I had a plan this time!" I called out, taking a dose of the antidote before I walked into plain view of the siblings. The two glared at me from their position and I crossed my arms over my chest in satisfaction.
"So you finally got smart. I do believe a miracle descended," Azra snorted causing me to flush in anger.
"I've had enough of your mouth," I snapped rearing back and launching a ball of electricity into the cage. The next thing I heard was Azra and Morte giving out brief, but loud exclamations of pain as the electricity shocked them relentlessly through the conductive cords that wound all around their bodies. It was over soon after and I growled, "This time, the game is played by my rules and I have questions. You're going to answer me or I will sit here electrocuting you until either I get them, or your hair will permanently stand on end from static. Your choice and now your move. What's it gonna be?"
Oh it was so nice holding all the cards in my own hands for once. Sweet, sweet revenge.
-Until Next Time-
ME: While Kurama has been spending too much time with the other guys, Rin has been picking up on some of the kitsune's wit. Maybe if she keeps this up she'll start winning these things by herself.
Kurama: That was indeed a slick plan. Definitely not something we'd expect from Rin.
ME: Yeah Yeah Yeah. Well I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Drop me a review and let me know what you think. Thanks again for reading and I'll see you next time!