Left in the Shadows
Chapter 18: Into the Tiger's Mouth
Me: Mwaha! I'm starting again! BUT NO ONE GOT THE ANSWER FOR THE LAST CHAPTER!
Yusuke: Really? Well I guess people don't read Dragon Knights as much.
Me: Anyways, I'm gonna make this chapter good. Since I'm gonna work with my ideas and the ideas my reviewers gave me, the last half of this chapter or the next chapter are gonna be kinda slow.
Kuwabara: Good luck.
Ed: Try to set a record and get this chapter out early.
Me: I should! (flames)
Kurama: Um…
Me: …FIRE! FIRE!
Ed: Um…I'll answer the reviews.
Hiei: (shakes head) Baka onna…
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neko no koi: Yup! You're the first this chapter! lol Yeah, Maboroshi is meant to be a prick. I tried to make him almost worse than Akuma because in the long run, he actually has a bigger role. ;
JadedxIce: Here's the next chapter! Hope you like!
4-is-lovely: ……….HISSSS! MY HIEI! (glomp)
Hiei: …hn.
No, Hiei's you two-timer! (glare) anyways, yeah, thanks for all your help! I'm waiting for that PM! ;D
Alanna: I'm so glad you think so! Here's the next chapter, only two more to go!
Icedragongurl16: Thanks! I'm planning to, just needing a bit more details. Hope you like this chapter, however short it might be. :D
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Me: Only five reviews! T.T what happened to everyone else…? Oh well…well, there's gonna be some fuzzy info on Rinae in this chapter, but I've decided to write a fic on her to explain everything. I'll start it sometime between this fic and the next. READ THE FOOTNOTE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER PLEASE!
Chapter 18: All It Comes Down To
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Relee stepped into the room with a look that looked smug and slightly disgusted at the same time. She strode over to Akuma and murmured something to him that turned his smirk to a frown. "Maboroshi. You were only to-"
"I know what I was supposed to do. Doesn't mean I'll do it." Came a different voice from the hallway. Hiei bristled, he knew that this person was hurting Amanda while they made their way there. Once again there was the sound of footsteps and something dragging along and a slender, muscular figure stepped out clothed in dark blue gi. The "thing" he was dragging along happened to be Amanda. She looked terrible, there were cuts and bruises all over her body and her school uniform was in ruins. But the thing that surprised them most were the silky ebony ears and tail she had. Maboroshi looked smug and there was blood staining his hands. "Your mutt put up a good fight, considering she was reduced to no energy." He told Hiei. "But in the end, I guess she couldn't take it." He lifted her by the back of her shirt to get a sideways look at her. "But I suppose I can't expect much from a half-breed. The only thing that saved her was her transition. Her frail human body couldn't handle it."
"You bastard!" Yusuke roared.
"Is she…?" Kuwabara looked horrified. Hiei could only sit where he was thrown back and stare.
"No, she's alive." Rinae confirmed, referring to the faint breaths Amanda was exuding. "But barely."
Amanda gave a small cough and a few drops of crimson liquid fell to the floor. Her eyelids twitched before squeezing open and seeing the others. She opened her mouth to say something, but Maboroshi cut her off.
"Ah, awake now are we, little mutt?" She looked at him and her eyes held traces of fear, making Hiei's already boiling rage almost reach the breaking point. "Scared, are we?" he looked delighted. "Well, if you don't get killed today, we can have some more fun later." He grinned. "Here. I think you want this back." He said to Hiei and threw Amanda to him. "Well, there's nothing more for me here so it's your show from here on out, Akuma." He yawned.
"Yes, now leave." Akuma replied testily. Maboroshi merely smirked and left the room. Hiei would have followed, but he was more concerned about Amanda's physical and mental state.
"What did he do to you, onna?" he asked in the gentlest voice any of the others had ever heard him use. Amanda gave him a tiny smile.
"Nothing much. Heh, glad I wore some shorts under this stupid skirt." She murmured weakly. "Wish I didn't seem so…pathetic though." A chuckle accompanied the last sentence.
"Onna!" But she didn't hear him. She had already slipped out of consciousness.
"Ah, I'm surprised she still has any strength left in her." Akuma looked mildly impressed. "Illusions aren't the only thing Maboroshi is known for."
"So HE was the one trying to pass himself off as Hiei!" Kuwabara accused. He smirked.
"Yes, and he was successful, was he not? You should be thankful. From what I've gathered, she hadn't unlocked her demon form yet. And here she is now, ears, tail and all."
They had had about enough. "You know what?" Yusuke asked, a light blue reiki beginning to glow at his fingertip, "Your talking is really starting to piss me OFF!" he aimed his trademark Spirit Gun straight at Akuma and prepared to fire. But the youkai didn't look the least but fazed.
"Are you sure about that, Spirit Detective?" he crossed his arms. "If you do that, who knows what might happen to this cavern. It can't withstand the force from your attack. Then what will happen to you and your friends?"
"Bastard, that's why you chose here!" Yusuke growled.
"Precisely." The smug look still hadn't left his face. "Now…shall we begin? Which one of you will come?"
"I will." Rinae stepped forward.
"Rinae-" Kurama began to protest, but she held up a hand.
"He seems to have researched all about your powers and strategies. I'm the only one he draws a blank at." She hissed out of earshot of Akuma. "Let me fight him and bring out his strategy."
Kurama placed a hand on her shoulder. "Be careful."
"Hm the fire inu, eh? Might be interesting." He grinned and instead of his shadow daggers, he pulled out two real ones. But I don't want to waste any energy on anyone other than a koorime. Rinae took out a katana that was strapped to her waist and raised it. The candlelight flickered and as if that was a signal, she sped towards him and captured his back.
"Don't underestimate someone who you don't have any information on." She hissed. Akuma smirked and blocked her katana with one of his daggers.
"Now who says I don't have information on demons who burn down their family and village?" he asked. Rinae's eyes grew wide and she froze. Akuma took the opportunity to thrust his daggers towards her heart.
"Rinae!" Kurama yelled, horrified. Rinae blinked and managed to slip out of the way, but not without receiving a deep gash on her left shoulder. She sprung back to her feet and raised her weapon again, but her knees buckled and the katana slipped out of her grasp.
"What the…hell?" her breathing was labored and her vision was sliding in and out of focus. Hiei was stunned. Only once before had he seen Rinae caught that off guard, and that was many, many years ago.
"Looks like the gash you received managed to slip enough sedative into your bloodstream. So much for your plan to find my strategy…or my weakness." Akuma held his weapon in front of him, the blade shining crimson in the candlelight. "It won't do much more than rob you of your ability to move. Now…" he turned to the rest. "Who's next?
Now it was Kurama's turn to be angry. His eyes shone with more and more flecks of gold until his scarlet hair shifted into the shining silver of Youko Kurama. Akuma was unfazed.
"First the former Queen of Thieves, now the former King of Thieves? Oh, this is turning out to be very interesting." He said, interested at what this transformation might bring.
Kurama reached into his hair and pulled out a rose. Feeding it his youki, it transformed into his rosewhip and he lashed it out at Akuma. But it only hit the ground where he once stood, creating a small crater.
"It will take more than a whip to injure Lord Akuma." Relee laughed. She had been standing in the back, calmly watching the fight. Kurama's golden eyes flashed; he may have kept his human personality, but he was still influenced with his Youko side's instincts.
He was surprised when Akuma materialized right in front of him, a devious smirk alight on his face. He placed his palms against Kurama's wrists, causing a dark, reddish tinted aura to envelop them and one swift kick in the gut sent him slamming into a wall. However, he was only stunned for a second and he rose to his feet, but only to find that the "cuffs" kept him bound to the wall.
"The Kafusu no Kage, or "Shackles of Shadow"." Akuma explained. "No one who's weaker than I can break free of them, no matter how hard they try."
"Shackles of Shadow?" Yusuke repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Sounds kinda lame."
"That's cheating!" Kuwabara protested. "Binding us up because you're too scared to fight us head on!"
"No one ever set the rules and I just don't want to fight people who are a waste of my time." Akuma frowned. And—presumably to keep her contained—cuffed the sedated Rinae to the wall too. Well, Kuwabara had had it. He held out his hand and his Spirit Sword materialized in his hand and he held it out.
"You're gonna regret making me mad! Let's see how you like some of this!" he charged at him, but only found himself in the same position as Kurama.
"Idiot…" Hiei growled. Akuma landed an open-palm strike to Kuwabara's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and allowing him the chance to pin him to the wall with his shadow shackles as well.
"Shoot!" Kuwabara looked furious with himself. "I swear as soon as I get out, I'm gonna kick your butt!"
"That's highly unlikely." His frown deepened and he kicked Kuwabara in the stomach to shut him up. "That will teach you, human, to keep your head low and not get involved." He seemed to know exactly what to say to enrage the group, for Yusuke's restraint was coming to an end. Akuma turned to the remaining three with a bored expression on his face. "Three down…" he sighed. "Now who's next? The Spirit Detective? Or maybe Forbidden Child…" Hiei opened his mouth to speak, but a stir from Amanda in his arms instantly snapped his attention away from Akuma.
"Hey…koishii." She murmured, calling him a rarely used and recent pet name, always loving the slightly surprised and embarrassed look Hiei would always get on his face when she used it. "What's happen…" her voice trailed off when she saw Kuwabara and whom she knew was Kurama (although she had never seen him as Youko) bound to the walls and the former almost unconscious. She tried to sit up, but Hiei held her back.
"You shouldn't get up, onna." He said firmly. "Not after what that bastard, Maboroshi, has done to you."
"I'm fine." She replied, her breathing only slightly heavy. She still had the energy seal on her arm, although since she transformed, she felt that she could move and breathe easier. Shakily and with Hiei's help, she managed to get to her feet. "Please don't stop me." She whispered.
"What?" Both Hiei and Yusuke were confused, but they soon received their answer. Amanda strode forward and stopped a few feet from Akuma, her figure and will resolute.
"Onna/Mandy/Amanda!" the boys were frantic. But Amanda did not back down. Akuma gave her a devilish grin.
"Come to fight me as you are, little kitsune?" he asked, his eyes flashing.
"Amanda shook her head. "No." she paused and took a deep breath. "I want to know why…" she trailed off, not out of fear, but for trying to find the right words. Akuma didn't move. "I want to know why you've been holding a grudge against the koorime race for so many years."
(end chapter 18)
Me: Yeah, short chapter, but I want to finish this story at 20 chapters, so I'm gonna leave out his past till next chapter. I'm making progress on that and I'm gonna keep the original plot behind it, but I NEED details! I won't give anything away, but if you read the footnote last chapter, you'll know some. But until then, I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT even begin the next chapter past a couple sentences. And it'll take a while because I'm gonna try to type up the last two chapters at once. But if I get to 100 reviews before then…you'll get to skip the HUGE cliffhanger I have set for the end of the next chapter. So get other people to review! n.n
Ed: You really are evil. More so than Hiei I'd say. Sometimes.
Me: ;) ♪