Warnings: nothing serious.
The Wielder of BlackFire:
The Legend Lives Part II-Rose's Renaissance
Chapter Eighteen: Homeward Bound
The trio, consisting of Rose, Kurama, and Hiei, stepped into Koenma's office without knocking. The prince looked up, straining to see them around the stacks of documents on his desk and scattered around his office.
"Rose, please, let me expl-" the toddler began when he realized who had entered. He had been preparing an explanation and apology since the time Botan had told him what had happened. He was sorry he had put her in such a defenseless position. The detectives would have protected her, but it must have been terrifying to be approached by a strange and powerful demon. However, she cut him off hardly before he even began.
"Take me back," she growled, slamming her hands down on his desk, causing an avalanche of papers to spill onto the floor.
"W-what?" he managed to stutter. There was something in her eyes that frightened him terribly.
"Open a portal and return me to my home. I have complied with the terms to our deal. Two weeks. I was promised when I excepted his deal that you would return me if you found no power by then." She paused. "You have found nothing," she stated.
"Two weeks was hardly enough time," Hiei said quietly. She paused and jerked her head toward him. She glared at him with such intensity that he took a quick breath. An image flashed through his mind so clear, he could have witnessed it not seconds before. It further cracked the dam of his emotions, making the pain seep through his blood like fear.
/Flashback/
She stared blankly at the picture he had examined, her bright eyes gaining, once again, that stare that looked as if it went right through the thing that it viewed. Lightening brightened her face as she sat on the wooden arm of the futon, her arms holding onto the sides of the wood, her legs crossed. It glittered in the endless canons of her almost demonic green eyes. Hiei stared over his cup at the girl. There was an evil glint in their depths, a light, yet a shadowed darkness as well that the bolt of electricity revealed to the youkai. The flash ended, and Thorn's eyes returned to their normal brightness that, even in the dark, was vibrant.
Hiei sipped from the cup of steaming coffee. Thorn plopped down on the cushion of the futon, using the armrest and the back of the futon corner as a wall, resting her back against them, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around the leather pants, resting her chin on her knees. She looked out the door's large window, watching the flickering of lightening light up the dreary sky, and listening to the rumbles of thunder. Hiei watched, but the light did not reflect the look in her eyes again. The look of a... a hitokiri. A man-slayer?
/End Flashback/
Hiei blinked and realized she had lost the glint.
"Back off, Hiei," she growled darkly. She turned back to Koenma. "You've put me through enough trouble. Return me!" The prince glanced at Kurama, who sighed in defeat, and Hiei, who had quickly replaced his mask of impassiveness. He sighed, making his shoulders slump and his binky droop. His brown eyes were downcast, pained. He finally nodded.
"Alright. Kurama and Hiei will escort you back to America after you return to Genkai's temple to pick up your things," he said, his voice deep and sad. "I am sorry we bothered you," he added quietly. She nodded and straightened from her lean over the desk, giving a noise of agreement.
"Good," she said, turning and walking away. The prince stared at the papers on his tousled desk with a blank look of a lost and helpless child. Kurama and Hiei left him to his own devices and followed the girl as she walked out.
"You're making a mistake," Kurama said, hoping to change her mind with an argument as they entered the hall.
"Shut-up and take me home," she snapped. He fell silent.
The three stood at the portal near Rose's house. It was dark in the given time zone, so they stood a moment to let their eyes adjust to the night. Moonlight flittered down faintly from the east, slung low due to the early hour of the night, its weak crescent like a sour smile. Rose straightened her shoulders and took a couple of bold steps forward. She looked back over her shoulder and stopped when she saw the other two were merely watching her go.
"Are you coming?" she asked impatiently.
"We must return to the Spirit World," Kurama said, shaking his head. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"I know that, but can't you just wait until tomorrow night so I can get my stuff first? I might as well take my tests too." She sighed again. "Besides, you're my only ride back; unless I die, and I take it that its not a pleasant experience." The two looked at her, bewildered.
"But I though you wanted to stay," Kurama said.
"Oi, all I said was that I wanted to go home, I never said I wouldn't come back," she said, turning to face them fully, repositioning her duffle bag in aggravation. The two demons looked at each other.
"Why?" Hiei asked, turning back toward her. His voicec was laced with skepticism.
"Because Foxy's little plan worked," she said in an almost nasty tone. They gave her quizzical looks. She sighed yet again. "I have very good hearing. When Kurama explained his little plan to Botan and Yusuke I overheard it. I might not have the power, like I keep telling you, but I've discovered that the history I made myself was an interesting one and, since it seems I was closely associated with you, I have to stay to try to recover my memories. So your little blackmail plan worked, Fox. Although I still know that you were my enemies, and that wont change, so don't think I'll forget that." She grumbled a bit. Stupid plots and damn demons.
She looked around and took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet scent of early June. Hiei and Kurama nodded to each other in silent agreement.
"Alright, you are free to come back with us," Kurama said. "But I warn you, it could get dangerous, and we wont put you in intentional danger."
"And I warn you that I'm coming of my own free will. I'm not your prisoner anymore," she said, her tone commanding. She left no room for them to argue, not that they would have. "I am responsible for myself from now on, I don't need to be guarded or anything like that." The boys nodded in agreement.
"Alright! Let's go," she said, turning and shifting her duffle bag over one shoulder again. Kurama closed the portal and they followed. It didn't take them long to arrive at the girl's house. She went around to the back of her home and, using a key from her backpack, unlocked the door that led into her room, after giving her dog a pat on the head to silence its weary growls. With a sigh she dropped her bags on the floor next to her desk, rolling her shoulders.
"Take a seat. We can leave in about twenty hours," she said.
………………………..
Rose arrived back home her tests at four. She looked irritable. Kurama and Hiei didn't speak to her.
The night had passed without mishap, although the girl, the could tell, hardly slept. She woke early, before the sun rose. She leafed through books, removing a few notebooks from her bookshelf and studied until seven in the morning, and then she ate and left to take her tests.
"Well that was a waste of time. Those were about the easiest State Tests I've even taken," she growled. She sat at her desk, setting down her book and replacing her notes countless hours after the tests. She paused a moment. They could hear her mother cheerfully clipping coupons upstairs. The woman had hardly reacted to seeing her daughter. And again, Hiei received the impression the woman had been brainwashed. Rose walked out of the room and climbed the stairs. She gave them a glare that suggested they follow. They did.
"Hey, Ma," the girl said, the greeting's tone blank. She went to the fridge, grabbing an apple from a shelf and offering ones to Kurama and Hiei. They declined silently. Rose shrugged, closing the door and taking a bite. The boys stood uncertainly, giving her a quizzical look. Surely she hadn't brought them up here to offer them food? After all, she had made them breakfast while her mother was out shopping. There was a cupboard under her futon that Hiei remembered from his last encounter in the house that she told them to eat lunch from. It was stocked heavily with munchies, both healthy and not so much so, for them to eat. They had waited for her return all day, leaving only once to tell Koenma about her change of plans. Needless to say, the prince was ecstatic.
Rose took a seat opposite the woman at the table, biting into the fruit, which was rapidly disappearing, then chewed lazily. Hiei shifted from one foot to the other.
"Hey Ma, did I ever tell you about a password?"
The words were spoken lazily, Rose's eyes studying the intricate swirl of red and orange and gold on the yet to be eaten skin of the fruit. She took a large bite and began to chew again.
Hiei realized why she had led himself and Kurama upstairs, straightening from his slightly impatient slouch immediately. They might pick up something she did not. She had realized their turmoil, and had made the decision to help, even at the cost of her 'sanity'.
She was willing to give up her freedom?
Rose knew that when she began training she didn't belong with them. She, Thorn, belonged there, not her, the weaker half, no matter how much the girl wanted to be here. It wasn't her place. If she wanted to help them, she'd have to stop being so selfish. She needed to find the password they were talking about in whispers behind her back. If her mother didn't know anything, then she would have to ask Jazz. But one should start small first.
She sighed a bit mentally, her life just kept getting worse. But, one can suppose, the world needed protecting and she was the one to help do it. She almost rolled her eyes. She sounded like a super-hero freak. How corny. But, if her other self could help them, well, one less insane person in the world could only help, right? Well, that is assuming that Thorn wasn't insane.
"A password, dear?" the woman asked, pausing in her snipping and giving her daughter a confused look. Hiei probed into her mind, but found only confusion and blankness. He looked harder, searching into the room of memories. But the slates surrounding the woman's daughter were smudged, clearly erased at one time and painfully rewritten. It was not totally clean, but skillfully done. He doubted he, even with the Jagan Eye and its psychic powers at his disposal, could use the power so well.
"I understand. Thanks. I'm going on a trip with my..." Rose paused a moment, glancing at them. "Friends... tonight. I'll be gone for a while." The older woman nodded, turning back to the papers.
"Yes, sure dear. Have fun. I'll see you in a few months," Rose's mother said carelessly. Hiei retreated his powers. Again it seemed as if her mother cared little that she left, as if it happened every day. Then again, it had been a life saver for the Detectives when they had taken her prisoner.
Rose nodded and stood, looking pointingly at Hiei. He ignored her gaze as they walked back downstairs.
"Anything?" Rose asked when they had reentered her room and shut the door. Hiei shook his head.
"She knows nothing about the password," the youkai said, biting back the words or you forcibly.
"How did you know about the password?" Kurama asked. She sat down on her desk chair and they took a seat on the futon.
"I heard Hiei outside of your room when I had my fit," she explained loftily.
"Hm, I see. But you said before you left that the holder of the password would not know they had it," the kitsune said.
"Well it won't hurt to ask around," she said, shrugging.
"Any other ideas?" Hiei asked almost curiously. She looked at him, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. She studied him for a second, resting her chin on her hands, which lay on the back of her chair as she straddled it in thought. He felt the question in her eyes as she watched him. She seemed to be contemplating some elusive thought.
"A few," she said carefully. Her voice was strangely cautious. "But I might find a lead tonight." She stood up and sighed, glancing toward the window. It was already growing dark. She turned and went to her desk, picking up a small cell phone. Strange that she didn't carry it with her to school. She quickly dialed a number and put the phone to her ear, listening. Kurama listened as well. She didn't even bother to tell him not to. His ears were sharper than her own and he would not be able to ignore it.
Someone picked up on the other line. They said nothing.
"One hour, the alley by the warehouse," Rose said. There was a pause and they hung up. She did as well. She turned to the questioning eyes of the boys. She didn't explain and they did not ask. They would find out soon enough.
She put the phone back on her desk and turned around, walking around the room to accumulate clothing. She opened up her closet and rifled through the modest selection. She paused before removing a couple of outfits and put them in her green duffle bag. She packed her things quickly as the two watched. It was half an hour later when she made her way to her door.
"Time to go," she said. The two didn't look at each other, but both boys could feel the burning question each wanted to speak. Where?
………………………………...
See the chapter when Kurama explains to Botan about his plan to 'blackmail' Rose.
A/N: alright! Update time! Thank you all who reviewed! Yer awesome!
Reviews:
Ensatsu-Kokoryu-Ha
I agree with you all the way! Anyway, Yusuke's personality just screams 'Don't trust those who have betrayed you'. so that's just the way he is I guess. -shrug-. Here's the next chapter! Thank you!
The Password:
See former chapters!