Disclaimer: Don't feel like writing it…and this is a sucky chapter. I am so unbelievably glad I'm almost done with this load of crap story. Read it if you want to.
Chapter 60: My Very Own Frenemy
"Me," says Mie.
I can't say anything. Adding to Jin's silence. I drop Botan on the ground and she lands with a thud. There is absolutely no way that this is true. NO WAY. But, why is she staring at me with such inhuman contempt?
She looks behind me all of a sudden, distracted at the sound beyond the door behind me.
Kurama runs through the door, with Hiei and Touya in tow. They freeze when they see the standoff that is happening.
"Mie?" Kurama asks uncertainly. "Um, hey." His eyes travel to the brass armor she's wearing so proudly.
"Hi." She says calmly, but her eyes harden even more as she looks at Hiei, and she says nothing to him.
"Why are you standing over there?"
"I am the challenger." She says, shrugging, as though it's the most obvious thing in the world. My mind tries to process this and fails.
"You're kidding," says Kurama, his face deflating.
"No, I'm really not." The voice is cold and blank of emotion.
Jin steps forward, quivering all over. I suddenly remember---Mie is something of his daughter. He raised her most of his life. "Mie." He says, quietly and deliberately.
One arm of hers twitches, and she rubs it vigorously to quell the tremor. "Yes?"
"Mie, this is not funny. You don't work for Sensu, you work for us. Get over here."
"No. I made my choice." She glares contemptuously at me. "Always walked over by Lil Miss Perfect over there, always trying to be like her, always trying to be her best friend…but she didn't want it. Now she pays. I fight her, and only her."
Jin blinks. He's not the only one confused. I shout, "MIE, WHEN HAVE I EVER WALKED OVER YOU? IF ANYTHING, I PITIED YOU! I TRIED TO BE YOUR FRIEND, YOU SELFISH GIRL! REMEMBER WHEN WE WERE THINKING UP SCHEMES TO GET SHIZURU KUWABARA?" My voice is raspy with rage. "WHEN HAVE I EVER BEEN MEAN TO YOU?"
Mie is quiet. "Well, you chose Keiko over me. I hated that."
"You horrid, selfish girl. For some reason, I thought this was my life. I am not your slave. I can have other friends besides you. Are you seriously telling me that because I was more friends wth Keiko, you were pushed over the edge?" I snort. "Cut it out, Mie." I start up again but Jin silences me with a hand gesture.
Jin moves closer to her. "Mie, why would you do this?"
"I was enlightened by the beast demon Rhiharl. We were in the fog, ready to go to the Spirit World. Botan, Keiko and I encountered him. At that time I was trying to defend my friends. When he enlightened me, I suddenly saw everyone for who they really were – animals. They expected me to defend them. And I had to, to keep up my pretense. I would get them…show them all…what it meant to be powerful. What it truly meant to be right, and on the right side of living."
I'm close my eyes in disgust, praying for patience. She's talking madness. Since when has Mie been like this---ah. That black strike from Rhiharl I saw in Botan's memory. It was Corruption. Mie was so jealous of me; she must have been easy to corrupt.
"Was that why you took so many walks outside?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you, Katrina." She looks back at Hiei, who stares coldly back. "Too bad she got you before I did. You might be fighting up here instead of me."
"You fed me the vairvain?" He asks, sounding...impressed? "Interesting..."
That's where I remembered parsley! She fed it to him the night I was to leave, and he started acting crazy! She hoped he'd mess us up and get us captured!
"I can't believe you didn't see it."She turns to me. "Katrina, nosy girl you are, do you want to know who Sensu's queen is?"
I am in shock. "Sensu has a queen? Who the hell'd want to marry him?" Then I regain myself. I wanna know, but I'm not about to tell her that. She's just trying ot make me mad. "NO, of course I don't care."
Mie flushes this time around. "I know that is a lie. You shall find out if you can beat me in a match. Fight or run away crying."
"You're on. And at the end, it won't be me who's crying." I say. Damn, that came out extremely cliche. I'll have to work on that.
I step forward to prepare myself, but am stopped by…Jin? "Move." I say, and my voice sounds a lot stronger than I feel. Sure, Mie was always incredibly weak, but what if Sensu intensified her powers into a real threat?
"Don't order me. And you won't be fighting. I will."
"You will? But, she's like, your kid! Surely you don't want to fight your kid!"
"That's why have to fight her. Do you know how to stop corruption? Other than the fact of killing the controller or the person freeing themselves?"
I shake my head no.
"Didn't think so. Only a family member can awaken a true personality. That's me. I have to fight her. If I can't free her, I'll be the one to kill her. It shouldn't be your responsibility."
I absorb these words with difficulty. "But why? She's corrupted, but it's not her fault, and at least, I don't think it is, but you shouldn't kill her."
"She's my mess to clean up. I'll do it. You shouldn't have to."
I bite my lip, but let him pass anyway.
He steps up to Mie formally, but remains a few paces away from me. "Mie, as your cousin and adoptive parent, I'm giving you a chance to come back."
Her arm twitches again. "Never," she whispers. "Just because you raised me doesn't mean you know me."
"On the contrary, I know you better than you know you."
"No you don't!" She says loudly.
"I do, and you know it."
She pants angrily, and within seconds conjures up a windstorm to dwarf Hurricane Floyd. It's amazing. I stare apprehensively, and try to tug Jin and his insanity out of the way, but he holds his ground. With nothing to hold on to, I am flung backwards agains the wall. So is everyone else, but Jin is unmoving. It must be a wind demon thing. I hit the hard stone wall with a thud and shut my eyes and listen with all my might.
"Mie, where did you get that power?" Jin asks warily.
"Sensu, of course. Now, I'm just like a Shinobi."
"Is that all you wanted?"
I get a sudden burst of understanding. She was never accepted. Not into the Shinobi, not into school. When I no longer accepted her, when I chose Keiko,she crossed over.
"If there's one thing you taught me, I learned that power is all. That's the Shinobi motto, right?" The tornado gains even more power. My dirty headband flies off, while Touya loses his necklace of ice shards which narrowly miss my nose. I open my eyes so I can actually watch, even though the wind makes them water.
Jin speaks very loudly, "Mie, it's true that the Shinobi takes only those of unusual power. But this is NOT the Shinobi! Sensu kills for pleasure!"
Mie stares, her face contorted in rage and hate. She whispers, "Do you think I don't know about the Dark Tournament?"
Jin looks thunderstruck.
"You entered that to kill other demons for fun. Nothing else. Don't deny it."
He holds up a hand to stop her, speaking very soft. "And did I ever tell you about the rule-free wish granted at the end?"
Mie says nothing. She doesn't want to admit it.
"We went in to bring back your mother with that wish." He whispers.
She looks even angrier. "My mother was a vicious bitch who wanted nothing more than to hurt my father and I. MY FATHER SHOT HIMSELF BECAUSE OF HER! I HAD NOTHING! NO ONE! YOU WERE JUST A COUSIN! YOU COULD NEVER TAKE THE PLACE OF MY PARENTS! NO ONE CAN. AND IT'S ALL…MARITSI'S…GODDAMN…FAULT."
I suddenly remember something. Back when I first met Kurama, I remember yelling like that also, about my dad. Kurama tried to tell me that he just left to help the Spirit World, but I didn't listen, so I transformed for my first time. Did I sound as stupid and irrational to him as Mie is sounding to me? Was I ever truly that selfish?
Jin tries to say something else, but while Mie's power has been growing, she strikes again and again with wind. Jin conjures up his tornado fists and deflects the blasts. I see Mie grit her teeth out of frustration. I can't believe she's trying to kill the only remnant of her family. Why is she doing this?
More wind beams. Me and the rest of the party have to dodge many of them by rolling around on the wall that we've been glued to. He's reflecting them all over the place, and the razor-sharp edges are leaving slits in the walls. She's still building up power, though, which makes me fear what she is capable of.
The wind continues to intensify, creating a total vacuum effect. Her wind arrows are also getting stronger, as she fires up, and far greater in number. Jin is still managing to deflect the majority, though some are leaving bloody papercut-like slits in his tunic and probably his skin as well. Ouch. And his foster child is doing all this to him?
He calls out to her again, his voice barely audible over the storm. "Mie, why don't you stop and we can talk this over!"
"I'm through with talking!"
"No, you aren't! I want to say one thing!"
"Fine then."
"You know your mother?"
"Yes, you'd say I take after her evil streak."
"Listen to me. She died defending Koenma – the good guy! She had to run off! Koenma would have been killed!"
The windstorm falters for a second. "You lie. Sensu has records of her working for his noble cause. I follow in her footsteps now, in the same evil path that she walked. It was my destiny, and now, I fulfill it." She keeps going with the attacks.
"How accurate do you think those records are?" Jin says, in between dodges.
She gasps, trying to find a way out. "V-very authentic!"
"What would your father think of you now?"
She gasps. "How dare you. HOW DARE YOU! WHO CARES W-WHAT HE W-WOULD THI-THINK?" I detect a trace of tears. She must have ben very close to her father.
"All right then. But I wanted you to know the truth about your mother."
Mie's face contorts in anger again, but it seems to be against her will. But still, the windstorm picks up where it left off and whirls towards Jin. Ironically, he isn't trying to dodge. What is he thinking?
"JIN, YOU FOOL, GET OUT OF THE WAY! SHE'S INSANE!" Yells Touya.
He pretends he doesn't hear. I brace myself for the impact of razor wind against flesh.
Nothing happens? I open my eyes. The windstorm is there in all of its might, but Jin is still standing. It seems to have stopped, inches from him, a storm whirling death.
He just looks at Mie with this scary I-know-what-you're-doing look.
I look at his subject matter. Mie's stark white. Her arms are now really twitching horribly. She isn't saying anything.
"Miyoko Aya Fennko, put away that storm now." Wow, that sounded like my mom.
"But I follow Sensu! I FOLLOW SENSU!"
"Leave Sensu."
At this she opens her mouth and screams, as if every part of her is aflame. Her windstorm flickers and dies within seconds. But instead of dropping to the ground, she continues to hold her head and yell things that I can't comprehend. Probably some kind of demon language.
Jin runs up to her, supporting her. She still hasn't stopped flailing, though.
Jin shakes her, but nothing happens. He looks concerned, but then it is replaced by an emotionless mask. "Well, it was her choice." He sits down, amidst Mie's anguished screams. He lays down her small writhing body.
"What?"
"Guys, go on without me. I have to be here for a while. Just…get Sensu. Get him now."
I start to ask another question, but Hiei covers my mouth with a warning glance. Jin tosses him the key from around her neck, and we proceed to the stone door nearby. I look again at Jin, but his face is still wiped carefully free of emotion, blue eyes blank as he looks over his pained daughter. What had happened to Mie back there? Whatever it was, I know it couldn't have been anything good.
As I leave, I hear Botan stand up behind me. She whispers, yet her voice is very audible, "Jin, tell her more about Maritsi. I-I think she'd like to hear it."
All the hurt in the world couldn't compare to what that sentence just gave me.
As I leave for the stone door, I think I hear a catch of speech. But it's none of my business to listen in to. I'd hate it if it were done to me. And it's probably just about Maritsi anyway.
I help support Botan and go on to the hallway that leads to the next room. It's the one of Sensu and his queen.
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A/N I know, I know, crappy way to end,and this was just a plain bad chapter, but yeah.So much for a fight scene, but I had to make it sentimental at some point, so this was it. I finally got around to Mie, I am so glad, I thought I needed to x her out to make the story flow, but this had an opposite effect. I am finally finishing up! WOOHOO! But the next chapter will not be her fighting Sensu. It will be talking and a mother POV. Don't be too disgusted! Oh, and last chapter, I wanted to clarify one thing. You know how Botan made Rhiharl go insane through astro-projection, yet in my astro projection rules say the victim must be asleep? Well, the reason for that is because he was holding Botan's paddle. She channeled her soul through it, and so got into his teeny little brain even though he was conscious. I didn't know how to explain this any other way, so that's why this has been revealed in an author's note. Bye, and review!