Solaris: And here is the last chapter. I think that this is the longest chapter so far; at least it is on paper.
Foxglove: -Strolls in, looking at Solaris- Solaris, what'd you do? Your legs are soaked. And you smell like pond water!
Solaris: Uh… I fell. Okay, I actually made sure the stupid narrator dude was gone for good. Even Houdini couldn't escape those constraints! Well, read on and review please! Here's the conclusion!
Chapter 4: The Escape
"Not so fast…" Joshi said evilly. "You don't think you can escape so easily, do you?" he asked, then opened his eyes. "AHHHH! IT BURNS!" He held his hands over them. Solaris picked up another bottle of perfume and splashed it into his eyes. His shrieks, if possible, worsened.
"There! More pain for you!" she gloated. Youko picked her up and took off and she made sure to hold the purse tightly.
"If I didn't know better I'd say you were enjoying that in the most sadistic way possible!" he said, almost shocked.
"I was," Solaris replied lightly. "Goons dead ahead." She threw mini mace at them as they approached, stopping them, and repeated it with every goon they met.
--
Meanwhile, Yusuke's group had gotten a bit lost. Foxglove was sure they had passed the same painting of a dolphin several times. When they passed it again, she stole a stub of pencil from Kuwabara and graffittied the corner of the picture. Sure enough, they had passed the same picture, so they tried a different direction.
"I hear footsteps." Hiei said quietly. They all got ready for a fight. The footsteps ceased right around the corner, and everyone jumped out. Yusuke's fist was inches from Youko's stomach before he realized who it was. Solaris was poised to grind the mini mace into Kuwabara's eyes.
"Oh, it's you two. Thank god we found you!" Foxglove sighed. Solaris put the powder back into the purse and hugged her muse.
"You don't know how glad I am to see you guys! Listen, Joshi is temporarily blind, I added perfume to this mix and hit him in the eyes with a whole bottle of perfume, but if he finds running water, we're done for!" she explained frantically. Suddenly, evil laughter exploded into the corridor.
"Oh, yes, you are. To think I loved you for your spunk. The lesson in life today for you, Solaris love, is that the rebellious ones perish! If you had just gone along with my plan, you and your friends would have lived. Oh, well. Can't be helped." Joshi laughed.
"Ew, what caused your eyes to get all red like that? YUCK!" Foxglove said in disgust.
"My mini mace. I'll give you the recipe when we get home." Solaris said, then hurled a handful at his eyes. He blocked it quickly. "My mix!" she wept. Youko stepped in front of her to shield her from any attack. Hiei did the same for Foxglove. Suddenly, Solaris stepped from behind Youko, a handful of powder in her hand, and she ran up to Joshi, grinding the mixture into his eyes while he was in shock. "GO TO HELL!" she screamed. He laughed and grabbed her wrist, laughing maniacally.
"You walked into that! I may be blind, but I have you! And I can kill you!" he laughed. Solaris took a deep breath, then began to sing loudly.
"itsuka umareru mae kara kitto
kawaranai MONO sagashi tsudzukete ha
mitsukete ushinatte toki ni
hito o KIZU tsuketa yoru mo atta…" she sang, in a loud lovely soprano voice. Joshi released her wrists and covered his ears. Solaris kept singing, and Foxglove chimed in, the two sopranos chiming and ringing in the hall.
" moshimotatta hitotsu dake negai ga kanau nara
moshimotatta hitotsu dake negai ga kanau nara
kimi ha nani o inoru
kono sora ni kimi ha nani o inoru …" they sang. Youko recognized the song as something by Ayumi Hamasaki, and pitched in.
"tsuyoku hoshigaru kimochi no soba de
doko ka akirame oboe hajimete ha
mitsukete tebana shite toki ni
jibun o KIZU tsuketa yoru mo atta…" he sang. Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara looked at him oddly. Hiei got it first.
"The noise is too much for him! His ears are hypersensitive. It's not that Youko thinks that way, it's the song! Follow their lead!" he said, then started singing too.
"moshimo kimi ni sashi daseru MONO ga aru to sureba
moshimo kimi ni sashi daseru MONO ga aru to sureba
kawaranu tashikana omoi…" everyone sang. Solaris knew they'd eventually demolish Joshi ; he'd always worn earplugs during performances, and had learned to read lips in case of ad-libbing. Her throat was getting tired, Youko could tell. He came up behind her and pulled her into a hug from behind. This reassured her, and she kept singing.
"hon no sukoshi demo waratte kureru nara
mada KOKO ni ikiru imi mo aru yo ne
hon no sukoshi demo motomete kureru nara
mada KOKO ni ikiru koto yurusareru kana…" rang in the corridor, six voices melding into one harmony. Blood began to seep through Joshi's hands; his ears were bleeding, and he was on his knees in pain. Solaris, never once stopping her loud song, picked up a heavy glass bowl and used it to hit him over the head, shattering it into a million pieces. He fell over into unconsciousness. Solaris stopped singing, a few seconds after everyone else. She wasn't used to singing so loudly and for so long, and she was tired. As she began to fall, Youko caught her and picked her up.
"Yusuke, call Koenma. Kuwabara, watch that idiot. Youko, mix something to keep him out. Solaris, shut up. Foxglove, find some water." Hiei rasped. Everyone rushed off to their job. Pretty soon the mass case of throat rasp was gone and they were making a report to Koenma.
"You don't mean to tell me…" Koenma began.
"Yes, we all just sang and he was in pain. His hearing is hyper sensitive." Solaris nodded.
"Well, that accounts for the bleeding of the ears. But what about the lump on the back of his head?" Koenma asked.
"I sorta shattered a glass bowl over his head. To knock him out." Solaris smiled uneasily.
"Hey, this guy didn't have red eyes when he escaped," an ogre said.
"Solaris's mini mace. She ought to market that." Foxglove said as she helped pick up fragments of glass.
"What's it made of anyway? Sure, it isn't home, but I wanna know!" Kuwabara asked.
"Well… technically, I am sorta home, so… the ingredients are ash, the warmer at the time you get it, the better, Uhm… face powder, like the uber-white kind I'd be wearing if I were still in bridal arraignment…" Solaris paused for a moment, thinking. "Hm… table salt and if you really want a sting, perfume it. But not too much, or it won't work!" Jorge the ogre wrote that down at Koenma's nod.
"From the looks of it, you really attacked his eyes." Yusuke said, sounding confused. "Why was that?"
"You fight, you should know that the eyes are the weakest point of someone's face. A little dirt can give a person someone the time to escape. Come on, Solaris, let's go." Youko said, grabbing Solaris's wrist, and the two took off running. As soon as they had gotten away from the group, he slowed to a stop and turned to the smaller fox demon. "Okay, couple of questions. First, why couldn't you give me a thank you kiss? I saw the priest, but I'm still not sure I get it." Youko asked.
"That was supposed to be the guy to marry me and Joshi. If I had kissed you then, he might have thought I was marrying you. And that would be a problem. Recall, our human forms are 16, and you can't really marry at 16. Also, you can't hold that form forever; I'm amazed you've held it this long." Solaris answered. "And I'm sorry, but I have no desire to marry anyone at this point in life. I still have several good years of life before I wanna settle down!"
"Okay, thanks for crushing my hopes and dreams there." Youko sighed. "Next, will you ever thank me for pulling your fluffy little tail out of that?" Solaris smiled at Youko's question.
"Arigatou!" she grinned, then stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. (A/N: She'd have to, considering that she's shorter than he is by a good foot and nine inches.) "Happy now?" Youko replied by pulling her into an embrace.
"I'm about to have to give control back to Shuiichi, and I'm sure this is going to have exhausted him. Just help him back to… Sanctuary, right?" Youko asked, whispering into her ear.
"Yeah," she nodded.
"Okay, help him back to Sanctuary, and make him get some rest. Don't let him do anything. Just be your normal sweet self, and everything will be all right. See you next time I get control." He said, leaning over to kiss her. As soon as he had given her a parting kiss (and made a mental note to add a notch to the pencil later, he went back to his human form.
"Whew… and I thought I was dizzy before…" he said as he leaned on Solaris.
"I'll get the portal open." Solaris smiled. She didn't think he could walk all the way back to the group, he had just exhausted his spirit energy, and she was about to exhaust hers. In no time the two were back at Sanctuary and on the second floor. "Just lie down, I'll open a window. Lord knows my room is the only one that gets any fresh air…"
"Solaris? Before you go, a bit of advice: hide that mace stuff. Koenma would take it out of 'dangerous hands', AKA yours." Kurama said.
"Tch. Like it wouldn't get stolen from him in less than a week." Solaris scoffed. "His security for stuff like that sucks."
"True. And I almost forgot." He said as he handed her a little glass bottle. "The perfume you took. And apparently…" he began as he held out stings of rubies, diamonds, pearls, and amethyst, "Youko stole a little bit more than that perfume for you. She smiled and took them.
"Thanks. Now you get some sleep. I'm gonna take my own advice." Solaris yawned. As soon as she left the room, Kurama fell asleep.
--
Later, Kurama woke up to see the early evening glow. He contemplated going home, but decided to make sure Solaris would be all right. Besides, his mother expected him to be gone for a while; Solaris had a 'stalker', right? Quietly, he slipped down the hall to Solaris's sign-laden door. Ignoring her 'keep out' and 'trespassers butchered' signs, he silently opened the door to see her sleeping peacefully, the sheer black curtains waving in the breeze from the balcony and the sunset glow creating a sort of halo. It was easy to see why Joshi thought she was pretty; for a demon, she looked like a sleeping angel. Suddenly, she woke, sat up, and blinked toward the window.
"Oh! I thought I'd wake up earlier than this! I have to make dinner!" she cried as she jumped up from her bed. Not being fully awake or watching where she was going, she accidentally ran smack into Kurama. "Oh! Sorry." She apologized. He smiled a little, and pushed at one of her shoulders gently.
"You rest, I'll get dinner. Traumatic experiences call for rest." He said. She planted her heels firmly in the lilac carpet.
"I'm used to Joshi's stunts. The idiot tried to give me a micromini skirt for my 148th birthday. I used it for fuel for that night's fire. You, on the other hand, haven't dealt with him as much. You need the rest, not me." She declared.
"No, you."
"No, you."
"Since we can't decide who needs to rest more, let's just sit and talk or something. They can call for take out, they know how to use the phone." Kurama smiled as he sat down.
"How do you know they aren't?" Solaris asked as she followed suit.
"Trust me, they'd have barged up here by now yelling for dinner if they were." So the two sat and talked about random things for about an hour or so, until the sun fully set. They finally ventured downstairs to find the two other occupants of the house asleep, Hiei on the couch and Foxglove in the basket chair that Solaris had claimed as hers. The pair smiled and went to the kitchen to call for takeout.
--
In Reikai, Joshi was sitting quietly in his cell, fuming. Solaris's 'mini mace' had hurt his eyes worse than he had thought it would. Hours after she had ground the last bit into them, they were still red. His hearing had been damaged too, but whether it was temporary it was short-term or permanent remained to be seen. He had heard the main Spirit Detective's reasons for her attack on his eyes.
"Youko said it was the weakest point, but I think she had a point to prove… that she's dangerous." That urchin of a muse had nodded at that.
"He used to call her his 'pretty little rose'. She's proving that she has some serious thorns."
"As for the ears, he's been a real nuisance. Mainly because his hearing was so good." Yusuke had explained.
Joshi growled quietly, furiously, struggling against a straightjacket. He wasn't insane! That bitch had to go! She was supposed to love him for saving her from the streets, not Kurama for taking her away! He promised to someday escape again, and the next time, he wouldn't be so careless as to kidnap her friends…
Solaris: By the way, the song is "Never Ever", and it's sung by Ayumi Hamasaki. Translation of the lyrics is on animelyrics-dot-com. And that ends another fic. Now, in my next fic…"Return of Rose" summary
After the road trip… an old flame from Kurama's past returns, and a rivalry begins. Will this end well for Solaris, or will the fox demon lose this fight?