Thank you, thank you Kittengrl! Thank you so much for the review! I didn't realise that you'd reviewed for me. Ah well… At least there's ONE fan out there. *Grins*
This is the second last chapter. Next one's the last, and then the epilogue. Ja!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The blast came out from nowhere. One minute people were standing there, some walking and laughing with their friends, when the next, they were being blown away, literally. At the sound of the blast Karen thought at first it was merely something going off in the building. She quickly ran outside the small bookshop where she worked, pulled the glass door shut behind her and locked the door, pocketing the key as she ran. The bookshop was nestled in a corridor, which meant that Karen had to run down the short end of it to see what was going down below. It was not good.
There were rubble and other ruins about the destroyed area, but what struck her most was the fact that there was no smoke. None. She could easily smell smoke a mile away, but there was none. This was no bomb! A bomb left smoke… What was going on here?
"Naoko! Behind you!" someone shouted. Minami, she thought. Instinctively, she ducked.
The hands missed her. Turning, Karen saw a pair of huge legs behind her, and launched herself to the side on her knees. The problem was she was now lying full-length on the floor, where the man had only to kneel and get hold of her ankles. She quickly pushed herself up, but he grabbed her. Damn reflexes! I'm slow! she thought.
The man laughed and pulled her towards him, but Minami was already there. He kicked the guy in the face to a side, and then turned to her in the same heartbeat. "You okay?" he asked her. She nodded as she got up, but she doubted the huge monster of a man could be defeated so easily.
"We've got to get out of here!" Minami said. To her credit, Karen didn't even ask him why. She just knew.
"Follow me!" she said, leaving him to follow her as she led the way to the escalators. There was no use using the stairs as she rarely used them and they could not take the chance of getting lost now.
"Roar! You're not getting her away from me that easily, kitsune!" a familiar voice said.
Without knowing why, Karen said something under her breath and instantly the man, who had begun to follow them, was smitten by a hundred insects. "When in doubt," she muttered, "Do it small." She didn't realise she had said those things, but Kurama was, and he looked at her as they ran in some surprise.
"Karen!" one of her ex-schoolmates who also worked at the Mall called out to her, "What the *bleep!* is going on?"
"Keep that guy off me if you can! Thanks Sean!" she said, not bothering to go down the escalators the conventional way. She slid down its handles. Her mind remembered nothing, but her body did.
When they reached the car park, Kurama drove them out of there. I don't know why I should mention this, but he also managed to pay the parking fee while he was at it. In the car, Karen closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She concentrated on the sensations of her body, allowing them to tell her what her mind could not catch. Kurama did not concentrate totally on driving, but observed the young girl discreetly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as Hiei disappeared from her sight, Sukina fainted. On the other side of the world a Sentinel breathed a shuddering sigh of relief. Her sister spoke up.
Are you alright, dearest sister?
Yes. I had to use her body to send Hiei the message. I hope Mukuro gets there in time.
What does Mukuro have to do with us?
We have a tie with Mukuro that goes beyond time, beyond fate. The Creator herself tied the string that binds us together.
What about the others? Karen is still in danger.
Don't worry about your other self. Karma was right. Her body remembers what her mind forgot. What we need to do now is to find Rumen.
Yes. He's the one who caused this all.
An eye for an eye.
Our destinies for his.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sukina awoke to find a horribly-disfigured woman kneeling over her in concern. She did not know the woman, but she was not about to scream out either. In her eyes were concern and anxiety. Sukina felt reassured by her eyes.
"Daijobu?" Mukuro asked Sukina in her softest and gentlest voice, not caring that her face might scare the Ninjen. Sukina nodded.
She sat up and then caught sight of Shuura. Her eyebrow rose as she realised that he was no ordinary human. What human would have unusually pointed ears and horns on his forehead? She did not question though, realising that Mama Ikari, the head of the orphanage who was on the other side of the bed, did not seem to object to their presence.
As she nodded in answer to Mukuro and Ikari's questions, she was aware of a malevolent glare coming from a corner. Turning, she saw Hiei. She recognised him, of course, as the man who had saved her. "You!" was all she could say when there was a huge burst of golden chi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phew! Wow! If this keeps up this will be the first fanfic I've finished in two weeks! Yipes! Well, please read and review, and tell me what you all think of it. I'm going to sleep for now.