PART IV. "Blackbird."
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise."
— Lennon-McCartney.
Aiko.
Every nerve that spanned throughout my body was taken out and placed on the nearest hot stove, singeing black. Fire engulfed me.
When the pressure of cold water disappeared around me, I cried out in pain.
We spilled out of the monster as it split like a shattered vase and we tumbled to the ground below, settling in the deep puddles. I didn't have to look around to know Kazuma got us out with the use of his reiki—because there was no way fists were going to break through that territory.
Lying on my back, I watched as the rain poured down from the sky, droplets illuminated by the streetlamp near me. I couldn't feel the pretty droplets through the pain. From my peripheral, I could see the orange light—the feel of ki emitting from it. Kazuma succeeded; he regained control over his reiki. His and the enemy's voice could be heard a while away, their words muffled over the downpour.
Though I cared he won, the feeling was fleeting because all I could focus on was the scorching pain throughout my body. With every movement the pain ignited more, flaring and spiking with intensity as if I was ripping off my flesh and jumping straight in the heart of a fire.
I rose and the fire carried with me briefly, and then my torso was out of the flames. I rolled over on my elbow, careful with each movement to spare myself from the fire in my abdomen and below still burning in pain.
I steadied my blurry vision and saw two identical, impeccably manicured hands lying in front of me. My hand.
Identical.
My head whipped over my shoulder, wide eyes landing on my body lying underneath me. Face pale and bruised and a slight shade of blue, eyelids half closed, and… irises rolled into the back of my head. I lay still in the rain, droplets landing on my face and spilling down the curves of my cheeks.
There was no breath to truly be caught in my throat, but I felt the plethora of emotions just as I would have if I were in my body.
I pulled my hand up to my face, finding it translucent—I could see the street lamp in the distance behind it.
I screamed, crying out Kazuma's name frightfully, slowly, then hurriedly, repeatedly. I looked to where the fire was in my legs, finding I was still attached at the shins. I was too scared to roll out and remove myself—what if I couldn't get back in?
It took just seconds for Kazuma to piece together what happened. He picked up the kid he just beat and dragged him over to me as I cried and yelled incoherently—even I didn't know what I was saying anymore. Nonsensical words flew from my lips as I screamed and sobbed.
Carefully, I rolled over and lifted myself over my dead body, floating.
He knelt beside me in a panic, hands hovering over me frantically as I continued spouting out vague words, crying. Eventually, I could muster out begs, pleading for him to resuscitate me.
He was shocked, scared to see I'd actually passed over, but he quickly pulled himself together.
I didn't want to die—not yet. Not like this.
He placed his ear to my chest, looking for any rhythm. Instead, he lifted his gaze to me—frightened, shocked.
Did I not have a heartbeat?! Where was my heartbeat?
A heartbeat in this tiny body—wherever was my heartbeat before?
He titled my head back, chin up, and parted my lips to breathe into me. Bloodied and bruised and half-alive himself, he placed his hands in the middle of my chest and pressed repeatedly before breathing again. We stayed in the rain for what seemed like an eternity, and with the kid so exhausted he was unable to get away—forced to watch us battle death in vain.
I could do nothing but watch in fear, knowing if I had a heartbeat as a ghost I'd be able to hear it vividly in my ears. I could inch myself back inside, subject myself to the fiery agony that didn't pull me back—there was no suction to keep my soul with my body.
I could only cry, beg for Kazuma to try his hardest, even if it wouldn't work…
He let go of my mouth for the fifth time, staining my face in his blood, and leaned back towards my chest to pump. With one press, water forced out of my mouth, splurting out. My body rolled over to its side, coughing out more water.
Yet the pull to take my soul back did not appear; my body still revoked my obligation to gravity.
Kazuma glanced to me—my soul—with his beaten face and tired eyes. He then turned back to my body. He rolled my body over on its back and pumped again as I continued shaking, crying and imploring him to find a way to save me.
I didn't expect him to but I hoped. I hoped he'd come through. He was all I had right now.
Finally, he stilled. With his hands clamped over each other on my chest, he paused—had he given up?
Before I could cry and beg some more, he tried another method.
His reiki, glowing a bright orange, poured out of his hands and surrounded my chest. The suction occurred instantly. Within seconds, I was being pulled. The fiery agony gripped hold of me as I was forced back inside, covering every inch of me as I descended in the shell that was my body.
My throat forced out another small volume of water, burning my throat and nose as it shot out. Blurry vision. Kazuma's silhouette hovered above me after pushing air down my throat again, reassuring me he'd succeeded, but the pain didn't subside.
He rolled me on my side as I continued spitting up water.
I writhed in pain, and once I could breathe properly, my screams were vocal and loud. The fire didn't leave me; my body was still being ripped apart from the inside as I coughed up liquid.
My hands found their way around my head, and I squeezed tight, trying to crush my head in hopes of relieving myself from the pain. Unsure of what to do, Kazuma scooped me in his hold and pressed my face in his chest to muffle my screeching. His arms wrapped around my body to keep me from flailing around blindly.
My legs kicked wildly, body jerked dangerously under his hold. I clawed at the back of his jacket, trying to get through him so I could get to myself. The pain had to end somehow.
I couldn't tell how long the agony lasted—it felt like an eternity—but suddenly, it was like it just… stopped. Decided to quit. Die.
Like me, as darkness took hold once more.
Kurama.
Though I would have preferred tending to her first, with the strange new force emitting from her, Kuwabara and his friends' injuries were priority. With Botan's minor healing abilities we patched the boys up before extracting information from them.
After being told the gist of last night, I was able to toy with them the next few minutes, slipping powder under their noses individually and replacing their memories upon passing out.
It would be unfair to drag them into this mess. Instead of letting them live in fear of people like our hostage, who could control water of all things, and learn about the other two realms, I let them believe they were cornered into a gang-related fight.
I didn't place any particular names or people in their heads. It would be better to let them grumble over the imaginary enemies than have them hunt down specific people and get into more trouble. Upon waking them once more, with their newly planted memories, Botan helped me usher them out the door.
Botan followed Yusuke into his room to check on Kuwabara and the hostage as I headed to the couch in the living room where Aiko lay. Bright, late afternoon sunlight filtered through the curtains in the living room but she still hadn't stirred.
I watched as Genkai hovered over her, standing next to her on the couch and holding the ice pack to Aiko's face with one hand as she sipped tea with the other. I stood next to Genkai, noting the pensive way she looked down at the youth.
She could tell.
"You know something's different too," I noted.
"Her reiki isn't the same," she replied as I inched closer, and she let go of the ice pack to let me hold it in place. "It comes from her hands at times."
Curious, I sat on the cushion next to her sleeping form, and Genkai eyed her once more.
"It's a significant difference to how it used to be," I said, noting Botan did well cleaning off her ruined make-up. "It wasn't like this the other day."
Genkai grunted in thought and turned on her heels, heading back to the table. "There's one way to strengthen your ki in this situation." Develop a territory. "But we're not going to know what happened to her until one of them wakes up."
She went to Mushiyori and was exposed to Makai's air and the tunnel's energy. But as was noted back at the House of Four Dimensions, people subjected to developing a territory suffered from severe vomiting, fever, and fatigue for an extended period. She'd been there only a few days ago and seemed normal… So until she woke up and told us what happened, we were stumped.
There were other ways to strengthen ki, the most common being through training, then through transfer, then through death. The least common way, one that's rarely experienced, was through revival.
Even Genkai, who held no true feelings on the girl, was hoping she had developed a territory—because for ki to grow this quickly ruled out training.
"Looks like the kid's about to wake up," Yusuke called to me from the hallway, and I steadied the ice pack on her still slightly swollen cheek to stay put as I left the room.
The child would know what's wrong with her. He should be able to tell us everything—about the tunnel, why they were opening it, and why he was sent after Kuwabara.
We entered his room, finding the hostage in Yusuke's bed and Kuwabara in the corner of the room on a bean bag still out cold. The kid seemed to be dreaming, eyes darting around under his lids, becoming stimulated enough to wake.
"Think he'd be stupid enough to try his territory here?" Yusuke asked.
"I doubt it," I said. "Scare him into submission and we should be fine. He seems fragile enough."
It was then he woke, jumping in fright and sitting upright. He immediately curled in pain, feeling his unhealed wounds from Kuwabara's beating. The pain was the last thing on his mind as he noticed he was alive. The more important issue was his location. His eyes darted around the room, not yet landing on us.
"Hey!" Yusuke grinned to the boy.
He jumped again, away from our figures, and cornered himself against the wall.
"Where am I?" he demanded, features hardening.
"My room," Yusuke replied simply and then pointed to Kuwabara on the bean bag. "I spent some time looking for him and finally found him outside my apartment complex with five people on his back."
His blue eyes darted to Kuwabara and then back again to us.
"Five?" Warily, he spoke under his breath. "So she's alive?"
Yusuke cocked an eyebrow and growled at the kid. "Is there a reason she shouldn't be?"
The boy looked to us and chose his words carefully. "She wasn't our target, but I was told if we ever happened to cross paths with her we could take her out if we really wanted."
I stared down at the boy, finding my arms crossing over my chest. He glared at me with no remorse but stayed pressed against the wall. His eyes darted over me carefully, assessing my build, wondering how many ways I could handle him and hide his body.
My stare didn't falter, I wanted him to imagine.
Yusuke gritted his teeth. "Why?"
"Because she was going to find us!" he snapped. "All that talk about nature conservation areas and caves, she was on the right track. But it didn't matter if she found us. Nobody really cared, not even Gourmet."
The Makihara, no doubt.
"They just cared about Kuwabara," I replied slowly. "Why?"
They didn't care if we stormed down there tonight… they were either confident in taking us on or the tunnel was closer to opening than we thought.
He didn't answer and continued thinking—whether to lie or find a way out, I wasn't sure. From the way he stared us down, it seemed to be both.
"The three other boys are safe; we asked them about you and then sent them on their way," I said, and he winced.
"There's no use hiding anything, either!" Yusuke said. "We've got Yana with us, so you better think twice about lying."
The boy hesitated, glaring at us with a strange form of hatred. "We don't deserve to live."
The words were reminiscent of the college freshman's just a few days ago. "Who is 'we'? Your comrades?"
"Mankind!" he snapped in response. "If you watched that tape, you'd know exactly what I'm talking about!"
Yusuke became interested. "What videotape?"
"It's called Chapter Black," he replied, sparking my interest. It was then this situation made more sense. "If you watch that, you'll see all the horrible things humanity's done."
"That's impossible," I asserted. "How could you have gotten hold—"
"You heard of it, Kurama?" Yusuke turned to me from his chair.
I regained composure with ease. "A videotape taken from Reikai's deep archives. It's a document that has thousands of hours of humanity's bad deeds. I know Hiei wanted it." I paused, piecing together my conversation with Koenma yesterday. "I knew the tape was missing, but I didn't think it would link with this case."
"You haven't seen the tape, that's why you're playing heroes!" the child snapped. "Watch that tape and see how fast your mind changes!"
"So what?!" Yusuke stood from his seat, kicking the chair out of his way as he inched towards the kid. "Because some people are fucked up we all have to pay?!"
"Yes!"
Yusuke didn't like that answer. "So we all deserve to be youkai dinner?!"
"Yes!" he shuddered, voice shaking despite standing his ground. "You don't know what you're talking about! You don't know humanity's true nature."
Someone who would want to eradicate the human race and show his comrades the Chapter Black video to recruit them… Who would do this? I needed to speak to Koenma, find who was last seen with the tape. He already mentioned he had a hunch who could be behind this.
"Humans can kill their best friends and still laugh about it! I know you think you can't do it, but I'm sure you could!"
"So, you're one of them too? You're like that?" Yusuke asked casually.
"Yes!" His voice shook harder; he was on the verge of a breakdown. "We all are!"
Yusuke sucked his teeth as he bent over to pick up the chair he kicked. Setting it straight, he spoke. "You know, I asked Kuwabara while he was still half-conscious why he let you live. You know what he said?"
The boy didn't respond, but the fact he didn't respond showed he cared some.
"He said that you looked like you were waiting for someone to help you. I laughed at the time but now, looking at you, I get why."
The boy grimaced, trying to hold back his tears, but they poured out like a faucet in seconds. He muttered to himself and I feared we'd pushed him too hard. If we still wanted progress, we would be better to let him calm down first.
"We should let him rest," I told Yusuke, who nodded and headed for the door. "I don't think we have to worry about him."
As the door clicked closed, Yusuke turned to me. "A tape that shows all the bad things humans have done? Sounds scary."
"I suppose," I replied. "Average humans wouldn't last watching it five minutes and even the sickest of youkai couldn't handle more than a few hours. I'm not surprised it changed his mindset."
Yusuke shuddered. "Stop, man. You're giving me the creeps."
"It's only one aspect of humans, but I'm not surprised that tape alone changed his outlook. Very few people in Reikai were allowed to handle that tape, let alone view it."
"See, you're just trying to scare me," Yusuke grumbled, shoulders tensing.
"I'm sorry!" I laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "By the way, I didn't tell you where I was yesterday. I went to see Koenma in Reikai."
"Why didn't you use one of the TVs or communicators instead?"
"I wanted to deliver the tunnel's location and… I had to see him." Yusuke waited eagerly for me to continue. "After what the boy said, it's getting clearer. Whoever stole the tape is behind this ordeal, and I think Koenma knows who stole it."
"What?!"
Before I could blink he was already down the hall and in the living room, opening Botan's silver briefcase and connecting to Koenma.
He yelled at the static screen as it fuzzed. "Ningenkai to Toddler, bitch! Pick up!"
Koenma answered immediately as I could feel a bead of sweat trickle my face.
"We want answers now or I'm off the case! What the hell does this tunnel have to do with Chapter Black?!"
"Ah, so they use that video, huh?" Koenma nodded. "Makes sense, then."
"If you had suspects why didn't you tell us?! We were on a wild fuckin' goose chase!"
"We had no proof, and really, I had trouble admitting it may be the truth," Koenma mumbled.
I didn't think Yusuke could care less. "Start talking!"
He hesitated in speaking, but his tone was stern once he began. "We now believe the creator is Sensui, Shinobu. He was our last detective before you. He worked for us when he was in high school." The room grew silent as Koenma showed a picture of a teenage Sensui.
Yusuke's shoulders fell in shock at the news. "That looks like the guy I saw in Mushiyori…"
Koenma didn't seem surprised. "He disappeared over ten years ago and, presumably, took the video with him." We had no reply, and whatever else he wanted to tell us needed to be in person. "I'm coming to Ningenkai, Yusuke. Wait for me before you do anything."
Yusuke nodded before immediately shutting off the briefcase's screen. The atmosphere was heavy, uninviting of conversation with the news dealt to us.
After a moment, Yusuke turned to Botan. "What the hell?! Wouldn't you know about that guy?"
Botan, sitting next to Aiko and holding the ice pack on her face, perked up. "I haven't heard a thing about him!"
"You're the one who contacts Reikai detectives, aren't you?"
"You're the first there's been since I started this job!" she asserted and then mumbled. "Also there's the fact that I was hired as a guide and not as an assistant."
"So when it comes to Sensui…" I forgot, she said she'd only been with Reikai for maybe eight years, meaning the Sensui incident was even farther in Reikai's past.
"I don't know a thing!" She rubbed the back of neck with an apologetic smile.
"We'll just have to wait until Koenma arrives then," Genkai said, taking another sip from her tea.
Before anyone could agree, heavy, quick footsteps could be heard.
The four of us turned to see the hallway, finding Kuwabara rushing out of Yusuke's room without having put on pants. He seemed to not mind running to Botan in his underwear.
"Where's the fire, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked. "Is the kid gone? Did he jump out the window?!"
Kuwabara didn't reply. Instead, he headed for Aiko on the couch. Botan moved out of his way, falling off the couch and on her bottom.
He immediately grabbed Aiko's shoulders.
"Wake up!" he snapped, pulling her torso up to shake her violently. "Aiko, wake up!"
Not once had we assumed to wake her. Yusuke and I exchanged glances—was there a reason why she wouldn't wake?
The kid's comment immediately rang in my head again, asking if she was alive. She was breathing earlier when I held the pack to her face; I could feel her warm breath on the side of my hand.
"Kuwabara, what's wrong with her?!" Botan tried ripping him off her, but his grip stayed strong.
With a small gasp, she awoke. It took less than a second for her to start screaming.
"Get off me!" She bared her nails and began swiping blindly as she continued to scream. "Get off me!"
Kuwabara reared back and took Botan with him as he crashed to the floor. Aiko scrambled on the couch, confused, before cornering herself between the armrest and back cushion.
"The hell's going on?!" Yusuke looked between the two as I watched Aiko curl into herself, crying openly.
She held her hands out in front of her in scared marvel, breathing heavily as tears poured down her face.
"Why are you looking at your hands like that…?" Yusuke hissed, squinting at her in confusion as she held her face, touching it slowly. "The reiki didn't even spike that time."
"Aiko." I tried calmly, hoping to get through to her over the commotion.
Her lips only trembled as she began touching her hair. She pulled some strands over her shoulder to look at them with fearful scrutiny.
"We don't have time for a fucking amnesia plot, Aiko!" Yusuke snapped, genuinely worried.
"Kuwabara." Botan stood up and brushed herself off. "You better explain what this entire ruckus is!"
"She—" Kuwabara was cut short by Aiko's tone, one I'd never heard from her. It was small, fragile.
"I'm alive…" Her voice broke as her hands snaked up to her hair, and she raked her fingers through the brown strands. "I'm really alive?"
The child's words rang again in my head and I slowly stepped to the couch, bending slightly at the waist to put myself at eye level with her. I didn't suspect the kid would have gotten so far, now the reiki spike made sense…
"Why wouldn't you be?" The muscles in my throat tightened slightly, keeping my tone soft.
She looked up at me with red scleras, then to Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan.
"I—I… I died…" Her eyes hit the couch as she forced out the words. "My soul—it left my body!"
I looked to Botan, whose eyes were wide with shock and confusion. She quickly made her way to the couch, sitting in front of Aiko on the cushion. I knew as she looked at the brunette that she was mulling over Aiko's files in her mind—that she no doubt peaked at once before.
"What did it feel like?" Botan asked quietly, voice trying to sooth the girl's crying. "When your soul left your body."
"Like I was on fire," she hiccupped, shaking her head before curling into herself, pulling her knees to her chest. Her hands glowed blue briefly but she didn't seem to notice. "I drowned. I drowned in that fucking kid's water monster—I couldn't hold my breath long enough."
I looked to Botan. "She couldn't have died if she's still here. Once the soul leaves a body—"
Kuwabara mumbled from the floor. "I had to give her some of my reiki to make her soul go back inside."
Botan shook her head, hand gingerly placing itself over her mouth. No wonder she couldn't control the reiki…
"She couldn't have died—she's right here!" Yusuke snapped. "She didn't have to go through any trials I did!"
Botan looked to Yusuke. "That's because your soul was completely knocked out of your body—your body fully rejected your soul upon death because your death was instantaneous. I mean the fiery feeling isn't common, but it's still... something that can happen in slow deaths..."
When the body's still fighting to live.
"It hurt so much," she cried. "There was no suction to keep my soul in my body, I was scared if I moved my legs—my soul legs from my real legs—I wouldn't have been able to go back in."
I let my gaze linger on Botan, who was assessing Aiko's story.
"Kuwabara, you gave her reiki?" she asked, to which he nodded. "Well…"
"What's so hard about it?" Yusuke asked, and though he sounded insensitive, he was only as confused as the rest of us. "Either she died or she didn't!"
Aiko cradled her face in her hands, and with the glow came sparks. She pulled away from her face and seethed in pain as Botan spoke.
"For your soul to leave your body you have to either do it voluntarily or your body has lost the reiki threshold it needs to keep the soul inside. Meaning… your soul can't stay... so…"
Aiko stood up, slowly, making sure she was balanced, and I moved out of her way. She quickly maneuvered past us to find the restroom.
"So… did she really die?" Yusuke asked, watching her walk down the hallway.
"Sounds like a near-death experience," Genkai interjected dismissively.
She didn't mean to sound rude, but she knew we had more immediately pressing matters to tend to. I couldn't help but keep my gaze at the hallway, waiting for her to return.
"Your body only rejects your soul when you're dying…" Botan mumbled, eyes lying on the cushion she sat on. "And if there's no suction to keep the soul inside…"
"Well, her health has always been pretty shitty, right?" Yusuke reasoned. "So maybe it was just like 'fuck it!' and tried shoving her out early?"
"I'm going to have to agree with Genkai's point, Botan," I said. "If she died, she wouldn't be able to return to her body without the help of Reikai."
Yusuke didn't respond, and Kuwabara, with his jaw still clenched, looked away from us. When we heard a door click down the hallway, Yusuke headed after her, disappearing around the corner.
After a few moments of silence and thought, Botan spoke.
"Maybe you're right!" She gave a sad smile. "Maybe it was a near-death experience. I mean… her files never alluded to a death so soon or like this…"
We all knew Reikai's files held no real credibility at this point.
"She said her legs were still attached," I reasoned, to which Botan nodded her head slowly. "Her body was still holding on."
She said nothing more, worry plain on her face. We stood in silence for a moment, everyone mulling over the possibilities by themselves, knowing the point was moot… but it was still unnerving.
"I couldn't hear her heartbeat over mine in my ears. It was like it wasn't even there," Kuwabara grumbled, crossing his legs. "I didn't know what to do, so I just zapped some reiki in her, thinking she may still have had a heart beat."
My jaw unclenched at his words as I remembered the day we spent in Maze Castle—when Kuwabara gave reiki to a lethargic Yusuke.
"Kuwabara." My voice was low from awe and gratitude as I looked down to him. He glanced up to me. "Your timing is impeccable."
"Timing?" He stood up. "What do you mean?"
He made it in time to force enough reiki into her body, letting her soul return just before it was forced out.
Before I could reply, I heard her soft footsteps behind me. I turned to find her rounding the corner of the hallway with her face and hair damp, and Yusuke waiting at the corner.
She made her way to Kuwabara and stopped in front of him. She bowed deeply at the waist in gratitude and he quickly became flustered at the gesture.
"No, really!" He waved his hands around, panicked. "I would have done it for anyone, come on! You don't have to be so formal…"
"No, I truly mean it," she said, voice tired as she straightened. "Thank you, Kazuma."
We watched her hands patiently, waiting for sparks to fly or reiki to flourish, but nothing appeared.
"So… has anything else happened?" she asked slowly.
Yusuke looked at me before nodding to the table, where we gathered and waited for Koenma.
It took us only minutes to explain what happened over the course of the past few hours. Yusuke left halfway through and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving me to finish explaining what we learned before she woke up.
When I finished, it took her a moment to respond as if she wasn't fully there throughout the explanation.
"Didn't I say they could open it faster if they wanted?" she mumbled, looking down at the empty table.
I didn't want to bring up the possibility that at some point the tunnel could just begin opening itself with how long they've been working on it, because the possibility she brought up was still a valid point. I instead nodded, letting her have the peace of thought.
"At least we know where they are, so we can go down today and stop them," Kuwabara said, to which Aiko gasped loudly, sitting upright.
Reiki glowed around her hands.
"Today… What time is it?" Scared eyes darted between us, and I replied.
"About three o' clock."
The ki died and her face fell. Her hands found their way to her forehead and she leaned her elbows on the table. "Oh my god… I missed class. My dad is going to kill me…"
"I don't know if I can time it right again," Kuwabara mumbled to himself as her voice began crumbling with each syllable.
"I'm dead. I might as well have been left in the street. Oh my god…"
"You'll be fine," I reassured her. "I'm sure you can create a story that Kuwabara can back up."
"Yeah, dad," she scoffed, shaking her head. With each word her voice became quieter until I could barely hear the last syllable. "Hey, I got attacked by some water monster last night and died for maybe two minutes. Sorry, won't happen again."
"Here," Yusuke said, setting a bowl of cereal in front of her, and one for Kuwabara. "And I'm not interested in hearing about how you're not hungry."
We weren't surprised when she didn't respond and Kuwabara began shoveling food in his mouth.
"And I'm not taking the silent treatment either," he said, planting his hands on the table and bending down to look at her face. With a dejected sigh, he knew he couldn't win; he stood up again and slid the bowl to Kuwabara. "Whatever."
The doorbell rang, and we all thought it was strange how he arrived so quickly, but the soft footsteps and feminine voice that came with it only signaled Shizuru.
As Yusuke disappeared in the kitchen again, Shizuru stepped into the living room. She wasn't surprised to see everyone here. She made her way to Kuwabara first, who looked up to her, chewing. He grunted and nodded to her, and she eyed the bandages over his face.
"How're you feeling, Kazu?"
He swallowed the food and gave her a wide grin. "I got my reiki back and everyone's alive so… I'd say 'good'!"
She cupped his chin in her hand and turned his head around slightly, eyeing the injuries on his face. "Someone did you in good."
He gave her a thumbs-up. "You should see the other guy!"
"He here?"
Kuwabara nodded. "Yeah, he's in Urameshi's room."
Shizuru then looked over to Aiko, who hadn't even looked up at the guest. Shizuru eyed the girl before her brows furrowed.
She frowned. "How're you holding up, Aiko?"
The girl didn't respond and continued looking down at the table.
"Shame," Shizuru sighed before turning on her heels and heading down the hall. "She was really convincing herself last night was going to be a good one, too."
Botan squeaked when she saw Shizuru heading to Yusuke's room and quickly headed after the older Kuwabara. The younger continued eating and Aiko continued to fall deeper into her head as the smell of meats and spices wafted from the kitchen into the living room.
Kuwabara continued filling himself up on the cereal and still had room for more as Yusuke brought out large bowls of yakisoba. Both Kuwabara and Aiko received one, and even though the girl didn't respond to the bowl being set in front of her, Yusuke didn't pass it off to Kuwabara. *
A familiar male's voice came from the hallway. "If only you were as proficient in your job as you are in the kitchen, Yusuke."
Our gazes turned to see Koenma in his professional form walking into the living room. Yusuke didn't seem to care how he was let in.
"You turn into your adult form and suddenly think you're slick," Yusuke snorted, taking his seat on the other side of Aiko. "Let's try it without the pacifier this time."
Koenma ignored the boy as he seated himself at the far end of the table.
Yusuke wanted Koenma to start talking, Kuwabara was interested… but more interested in regaining his strength, Genkai didn't seem to care where we should start, and Koenma almost seemed ashamed to open his mouth.
With the way the Prince's face stayed indifferent, stiff, I knew I had to begin the conversation. "I can't believe the enemy was on our side at one time."
Yusuke sucked his teeth at the thought.
"So what made him change?" I asked. "Why does he seek to kill the ones he defended for so long?"
His features softened slightly, thankful I gave him something to work with and ease into.
"Even though he had a great sense of justice," the Prince replied. "He had a very… black-and-white view of the world."
I watched his eyes drift to Aiko, who was still inside herself.
"Are you sure you're comfortable with her hearing this?" Koenma asked, eyes darting between Yusuke and I.
Yusuke grinned as I found myself looking down at her.
"Aiko?" I tried getting her attention.
"Aiko?" Yusuke called, waving his hand in front of her face. No response. "She's not even listening."
With a small, unconvinced sigh, Koenma continued. "Sensui was really sensitive to spirits. He'd spent his childhood defending himself from stray, evil spirits and youkai that could come through. They became the enemy early on."
His eyes stayed on her, not wanting a regular human to hear about Reikai's darker mistakes.
"She'd get it out of me if she really cared anyway, Koenma." Yusuke shrugged. "Come on, chop-chop."
"There's a reason he changed…" His gaze changed from Aiko, slowly, to Yusuke. "It was one of my orders and we can even say that was the last mission he did for me. He was ordered to close another tunnel that had opened."
Yusuke perked up, as did Kuwabara, who set his chopsticks in the empty bowl.
"The same as us…" Kuwabara mumbled.
"The tunnel wasn't too big at the time, only about ten meters, which only let feeble youkai through. The culprits were those hired by the Black Black Club, who at the time were raking in profits through youkai trafficking." He folded his arms across his chest. "The specialist at finding those youkai, at the time, was Sakyo."
All of us stiffened at the name, except Genkai, who snorted a short, dry laugh.
As he continued, he dredged up a part of his past he was ashamed of.
Aiko.
"You wouldn't mind it happening, you know? And then it happens and you see everything around you and then suddenly you kind of mind."
I was stuck on those words. They bounced around in my head, drifting in the darkness.
I joked a lot about killing myself. I made light of suicide like it was a fashion trend about to end because I never really had the guts to do it, no matter how much I actually wanted to.
My personal self-harm, stemming from multiple past issues to the point where I couldn't even pinpoint why anymore, was not eating.
Words from an unfamiliar voice fuzzed in and out, briefly interrupting my thoughts. "Capturing youkai to sell them as, what most statistics revealed, bodyguards." They didn't really hold meaning or context, but I could hear them through the thick fog.
But my head prevailed and I was drawn back in again because… finally reaching what I thought I wanted for just a moment last night, even short-lived, was unsettling… to put it lightly.
In the beginning, for whatever reason, you knew you deserved it. You deserved that hunger, you deserved to turn down meals, to run that extra mile or do that extra rep. You deserved that extra bit of punishment, whatever it was.
It was a lie, really, because nobody deserves to hate themselves, but you believed the lie. It wasn't a lie to you—even when some days you came upon the realization it was, it still just... wasn't a lie.
And in the beginning, it was a victory. Every pound dropped, every inch off, was a score for you.
For a long time, to you, it was a victory.
"He created the trafficking. Once I got wind a large transaction would be enacted in the mountains, I sent Sensui and his comrade Itsuki on the job. Sakyo wasn't using Toguro as a bodyguard… It's one of the reasons the mission was successful." The name was familiar, it thinned the fog some. I heard it before, but I couldn't bring myself out of the haze.
Victories are wanted, desired, cherished, and validating. Every victory was that for a long time until you realized the reality of your life.
Even then it was a victory… and yet you still lost.
"He saw something on the mission… something his black and white mind had trouble processing. A compilation of all the evil sides of human beings."
I almost wish I didn't have to be on death's doorstep to really let it sink in.
I was tired of lying to myself, selling myself short… I refused to lose.
"It was… A torture chamber of sorts. One used for… pleasure."
Torture. Pleasure.
The words sunk in and the context next, and with a heavy trickle of disgust traveling down my spine, the fog cleared. I could see the bowl of cold yakisoba I'd been staring at. The words woke me up cold, slapped me out of the conscious black-out.
I looked for the source of the voice around the table, the only person in the room I'd never met before. He sat next to Yu, at the end of the table, adorning what very well could have been sixth century Italian renaissance clothing. An English writing of the suffix "Jr." was tattooed on his forehead, and he let a pacifier lie in his mouth without shame.
"A torture chamber used for pleasure?" Kazuma repeated, confused.
Through gritted teeth, I found my voice. "Sadism."
I could feel multiple pairs of eyes on me, surprised I'd come out of that little trance. What was once an empty sort of feeling inside me was now replaced with disgust and anger.
"They got a hard-on from—" Kurama's hand hovered in front of my mouth, and I stopped talking.
I watched the stranger stare me down, and I returned the gaze without shame as I tried to figure who he was. The pacifier, the elegant silk scarf, the royal blue embroidery on the cuffs of his periwinkle blouse…
Yu said the Prince was a toddler, not a grown, infantalized freak. But right now he was all I could expect—no. Maybe all of Reikai's higher-ups dressed this nice.
His eyes drifted to my hands that glowed a lustrous blue. "Do you think she should—"
"I'm fine," I replied simply, focusing on the energy in my hands like I had in the bathroom.
I tamed it quickly, remembering how to channel my reiki like I had with the ring. If I didn't stay conscious of it, it would spark again, but I wasn't too scared since I knew I could get the hang of it soon.
His gaze lingered on me still as the reiki died down. I could feel just how uncomfortable he was with me at the table.
"That…" Kazuma's voice came next, bringing them back to the subject. "That sounds like when we went to Tarukane's mansion."
The man nodded and looked to Kazuma, and then to Yusuke. "There's a fundamental difference between the two of you. Sensui killed everyone in the room. He developed a sort of passion for the tape he took with him and resented humans. He looked for evil in everyone."
"Ugh, I have a problem with guys like that," Yu groaned. "They go from one extreme to another."
"That's why this time I chose a detective who was a little less responsible."
"That makes total sense," Kurama feigned a gasp, which brought a grumble from Yu and a small smile from the red-head.
"Can it, Kurama."
I reeled over the words I'd caught, tried putting them into context and expanding on it from what Kurama briefed me on earlier, and all I could do was become angrier and angrier.
"One last thing," the man said. "Once he begins something, he finishes it."
"I have a question." I turned to the brunet official, who stared blankly at me. Yu repressed a wide grin, tongue in cheek.
The man nodded his head gently. "I'm assuming you're Miss Hojo, Aiko."
Fuck his nod. "Why wasn't this Sakyo arrested?"
Yu snickered since he saw the question coming. The stranger tried speaking, but my spite wouldn't die.
"If he was, why was he… why did he only get so little a sentence for that? A fucking murderer, a trafficker—"
"Aiko—" Kurama was cut off by the man.
"Sakyo was the alleged ringleader, but we had no witnesses to attest he was present at the transaction and Sensui had disappeared. In the end, we had no proof. The entire case was a bust."
"But you could send the fucking SDF after him, can't you?" I jabbed my thumb at the red-head next to me. "Can't do a damn thing to really get border patrol off his ass but you let that fucking scum walk free."
"I do not have control of the SDF or border patrol."
My voice rose. "You Reikai idiots focus on people like Kurama but can't go after a fucking trafficker?! Someone who wants to open a portal?!"
"Aiko, it's not the Prince's fault," Kurama said calmly, and I paused and stared at the man and his royal attire.
The Prince coughed into his fist, and I began stammering.
"I'm—I—" I didn't want to apologize.
So fucking what he was the Prince of Reikai? Why couldn't he do his job and get people for the right reasons? How could they expect me to apologize about something so infuriating?
I continued to fumble out an attempt, but it clearly wasn't going to happen. Kurama stepped to the plate.
"She's trying to say 'I'm sorry'."
I looked down to my hands that rested on the table, finding a darker blue glow and wild, lighter sparks wafting around my hands in a fluid motion. Like a fuse about to blow, the glow grew darker and the sparks begged to be let free. I had to tame it again before I let my reiki go; I couldn't risk passing out right now.
"It's alright." The Prince was blasé as I concentrated on pulling the reiki back inside.
Kurama and Yu immediately turned around in their chairs, looking out the window. I followed suit when the ki died, curious. I looked at the building across from Yu's, but I couldn't see anything…
"What?" Kazuma asked, not moving from his spot.
"Sensui," Yu replied with a grumble.
Kurama and Yu instantly stood from their seats and ran to the balcony's glass door and Kazuma, with his sixth sense returned, had to have felt something amiss. He jumped out of his chair and sprinted to the hallway.
"Mitarai's in danger!"
Who was Mitarai…? The fucking kid who drowned me?
"Let his ass die!" I screamed after Kazuma.
Heavy footsteps carried down the hallway, and just seconds later glass shattered in the other room. Feeling returned in my legs when I heard the crash and I could feel the same fear from last night returning. It was fight or flight and I'd better take flight again.
But where? Outside, where the enemy was?
"That bastard's grumbling about something," Yu growled.
"Apparently, he's been giving Mitarai free reign," Kurama replied. "He wanted to get us together."
I stood up, finding my way next to the Prince and situating myself near the comforting, thick cement walls.
"You can hear him?" Yu asked.
"Something like that," he replied. Just seconds later, Kurama picked up on something again. "A person with the ability they're looking for?"
"What's he talking about?" Yu then turned to me. "You were there last night—do you remember anything?"
I shook my head, trying to remember back. "I… All I know is that kid was hell-bent on Kazuma—he knew who Kazuma and I were. He was there at the nature conservation area."
"Toss-up between Aiko and Kuwabara," Yu said, looking at Kurama.
"Kuwabara." Kurama nodded. "Unless there's something special you've recently gained besides a new bout of reiki you can't control."
I shook my head. "No, no. He's definitely after Kazu—"
Kazuma came out of Yu's room, sliding on a pair of pants, and ran for the front door.
"Wait, Kuwabara!" Yu screamed, running after him. "You need to rest, you idiot. You're injured!"
I was the only one out of the loop because in just seconds, Genkai was sucking her teeth in irritation and the Prince was biting down on that godforsaken pacifier. The pair began walking out of the living room, headed after Yu and Kazuma, and Kurama, now with a grim expression, began walking to join the group outside.
I grabbed his uniform jacket, gripping the cerise polyester sleeve tightly.
"Well?" I snapped. "I have no way to tell what's going on and all anyone's doing is running off or sucking their teeth. What's happening?"
He paused before turning back to me. He guided me to the wall, pulling me away from the glass, and I rested my back against the safe concrete.
"You need to get our families to safety now," he said quietly. "Prolong the demise."
Shocked, my grip on his sleeve loosened. My stomach churned—I didn't want to call. Fear gripped hold of my throat, and I had to force out my reply as the glow and sparks returned, traveling up his sleeve. He didn't seem fazed by the ki's touch.
"But… I thought we had time before—"
"Yesterday we found we only had a week left," he replied.
"Then it's fine—we have plenty of time!"
"We had two weeks just days before," he said. "With the rate the tunnel's expanding, it could open—"
I choked on the word, cutting him off. "Tonight…"
My eyes fell to the ground. I didn't… have time to truly prepare… I could make something up but… I really, really, really didn't want to face my dad. Not after missing class…
"Aiko." His voice pulled my eyes from the ground to his. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if I thought you couldn't."
"It's not that," I laughed hoarsely and then cleared my throat. "I can do it… I can do it. I will do it." My fingers loosened from his sleeve and wrapped around his forearm. I tried to tame the reiki and pull it back inside me. "Because this is like the big showdown, right? I have to do it."
He nodded, and a new fear crept into my nerves as I found my hand grabbing for his. I could feel the hardness of his bones as my thumb rubbed the top of his hand nervously. I concentrated best I could, keeping my ki calm.
His voice was calm and had no intonation to soothe my worry. "Everything will be fine but for precaution, I'm counting on you."
With a deep breath, I nodded curtly. "When this is over, bring everyone back alive. I want everyone alive… I want you back alive."
His hand moved from mine and hovered over the nook of my neck, and despite still being overloaded from last night, I knew this could be the last time I'd see him.
I nodded quickly, and his hand rested gently on my neck, thumb pressed gently under my chin. I could feel the slight pulse from his thumb, and he could feel the fast beating of my heart from my jugular. I knew if I wasn't so scared of the phone call I had to make I would have appreciated the way his thumb gently, briefly, rubbed the beating skin.
Voice still calm to combat my racing heart, he spoke as he pulled away. "The same goes for you."
I watched him leave the living room, and I stared down the now empty hallway that led to the front door. Closing my eyes tight, I pushed away my fear—pushed away the frantic thoughts, the heat in my face.
Think, Aiko, think. How can you get them out of here? Tell them the truth? What proof did you have to make them believe you? Frustrated, thoughts driven by anxiety and derailing any possible plan, I took a deep breath and slapped my palms against my cheeks. Think!
Pain came quickly, sparking around my cheek bone, and I seethed and pulled my hands away from my face. As the stinging lingered, I knew what I had to do. I instantly searched the apartment for a phone, finding the white savior on the kitchen counter.
I knew how to get my family to leave, and I knew if I kept this plan rolling I'd conjure a way to get Shiori and the Hatanaka's out too.
My fingers hovered over the buttons, shaking violently in fear of talking to my dad. I quickly dialed my home number and let my emotions take over. They were real, and I was truly scared of hearing a voice on the other line. I knew if I wanted this to work, I had to really put on a show.
They were going to kill me for this…
When nobody picked up, there was a small speck of relief that flourished in the pit of my stomach, but I immediately redialed. Again, after a few rings, it went to voice-mail.
Okay. Okay. Just… just use this on Shiori and Hatanaka. Try my family again after, call dad at work…
Thankfully, praising the gods for the convenience, the Minamino household didn't have caller ID.
I waited patiently as the line rang, jitters still shaking me.
After the third ring, Shiori picked up. "Minamino residence."
"Shiori!" I choked out her name; thankful real fear was still pumping through my body. At least everything would sound genuine.
I could feel the heat of my reiki on the phone and I quickly beckoned the glow to return inside.
She sighed and pulled away from the phone. "Mr. Hojo! She's on the phone! She's called!"
My blood ran cold, the chill hit my face first and then trickled down to my shoulders. He was out looking for me. He left work to look for me. He was going to kill me.
Reiki surged out of my hand, zapping me in the face. I cursed and pulled away from the phone but—despite my better judgment—pulled it back when I heard Shiori's voice.
"Aiko, dear, what happened?! Why didn't you go home last night? Where are you?"
"Something really bad happened last night." My voice trembled, and I found myself leaning against the counter to help me stand.
I tried concentrating on my ki, pulling it back inside so I didn't burn my face off.
My dad was the one who responded; fear lodged in my throat the way it did last night. "Better tell me what the hell it was and hope it was worse than what you're going to get when you come home."
"Something…" I hiccupped, feeling the familiar sting in the bridge of my nose. "Really, really, really bad happened, dad." My hand found its way to my forehead as warm water spilled down my cheeks. "We got jumped—these thugs came out of nowhere and—"
"Why? Did you fucking open your mouth again?!"
"No! No, they picked a fight with us. They just came out of nowhere!"
"And?"
"I… We…" Shitshitshitshit… "We were shoved in a van…"
He paused, shocked, debating whether I was that desperate to lie. I was, but it was a half-truth… I mean, something really bad really did happen last night…
"…Where are you?" he growled.
"We made it out… we made it out and…"
"Where. Are. You?"
"I found an airport," I paused, remembering the name. "Misawa Airport."
"Wha—" His voice broke, cutting off abruptly, stopping him from screaming into the phone at me. After a few seconds, he spoke through gritted teeth. "I'm on my way."
"There's a lot of us, though…"
"Have they called their fucking parents to come pick them up?"
"They're not picking up their phones…"
I could hear Shiori's muffled voice on the other end, and then she came on the phone. "How many are there, dear?"
"Uh… there's five of us total."
"Alright, I'll drive. Kazuya can stay here and watch Minoru and Shuuichi."
It was then I knew if I didn't divulge something, open myself even briefly, this wouldn't work. My voice continued to tremble. I couldn't bring myself to speak.
All I could muster was her name in broken a pitch, both from fear and feeling the heat from my hand again. "Shiori?"
"Yes?"
I tried calming myself and pulling my ki back inside before I stung myself again. "Please… can you please… Please bring everyone."
She paused, surely confused. "Is there a reason?"
"The more people there are, like the more kids… the less likely he'll…"
I couldn't do it. I couldn't say it. She could hear my trembling, hitched breathing. It was probably the only reason she agreed.
"Alright, dear. We'll all be there soon. Do you want to file a police report when we get there?"
My heart spiked at the thought and I quickly maintained the heat from my hand. The glow didn't even think about surfacing.
I shook my head. "No! It'll only escalate the situation. Besides… we don't know what they looked like."
She sighed. "We'll be there soon, dear."
"Can I talk to my dad?"
When she replied yes, she passed the phone off to my dad, who was far from happy to speak to me. "What?"
I had to be careful with my diction. I hesitated, so long that he was becoming impatient.
With a deep breath, calming myself, I told all I could. "When you get there… trust your gut."
He paused, and I could imagine the confused look on his face. "The fuck does that—"
I hung up, slamming the phone into its holster. With one deep exhale, and another inhale to match, I quickly thought of how to get to Misawa. Picking up the phone, I dialed the first number that came to mind.
Jitters gone, fear and fate accepted, it was easy to keep my ki under control. When the ringing stopped, I didn't bother waiting for a response. I dove straight in.
"I need to get to Misawa Airport."
But the voice that replied was not whose I wanted.
"When the fuck did you and Hitomi become ass buddies, Aiko?" Natsume.
I did not want to talk to Natsume.
Soft footsteps, then Shizuru's fleeting figure passed by the kitchen. I pulled away from the phone, watching her run down the hallway.
"Wait! Where are you going?!" I called after her.
"He's my brother! Take cover, Aiko!" she called back, not even bothering to stop.
"Sounds like some excitement!" Even with the phone about a foot from my ear, I could still hear Natsume's signature cackle.
If I was going to get to Misawa, I had to go through Natsume.
Fuck it.
"I know everything about the tunnel and its creator," I said, putting the receiver back to my mouth. "Come pick me up. Take me to Misawa Airport. I'll tell you everything I know."
She paused, hesitant, and then giggled like a school girl. "Just in time. Meet me at the salon. I'll pick you up."
I hung up and instantly and booked it for the exit. I picked up my boots near the front door and began hopping on one foot to put them on and zip them up, and I was lucky to get as far as I had. A powerful blast of reiki surged behind me, exploding, and the heavy winds picked me up and flew me down the hall.
My body tumbled on the cement, rolling to the edge of the hall near the staircase, and I shielded my face from the flying debris. Despite the sharp pain in my shoulders and back, I cursed and pushed myself up slowly to keep balance before running back to the destroyed apartment.
"Botan!" I called, feeling my throat sting from last night. I only screamed louder into the heavy clouds. "Botan!"
No response. What should I do? If I go back in there, I could be in another blast like that… I had no way to tell if there was even anything left with all this smoke in the room—Shizuru.
Shizuru! Shizuru left. Maybe if I could find her, she could help. She had a knack for premonition.
I left the cloud of debris and began on my way again, running down the flight of stairs that were riddled with large chunks of cement from not only the apartment but the ledges in the hallway. I found Shizuru sitting against the stairwell on the third floor.
"Shizuru!" I steadied myself as I ran down the steps, almost tripping over a large piece of cement.
Her injuries from the surrounding damage were noticeable. At this point, I knew I would have to give up the ride. I couldn't leave them like this.
"Let's go," I said with a heavy breath as I knelt in front of her. She was bruised, cut, and bleeding. "We're getting you and Botan to a hospital."
I reached to lift her arm over my shoulder, but she shook her head before trying to lean away.
With a tired voice, she ordered. "Go, Aiko."
"I can't leave you like this—"
"I'll live," she asserted with a deep breath. "It's just some flesh wounds."
"Just some flesh wounds!" I repeated in disbelief. "Look, it'll be fine. I can lose my ride. I already got everyone driving."
"Aiko, I know what you're supposed to do. I heard everything," she said with more force. "The reason he has you getting your families out is because he wants you away and safe too."
"But—"
"You have an obligation, Aiko. Fulfill it."
"Then you're coming with me. You and Botan are coming—"
"Aiko, my place is with my family, just like yours is. And my family is here."
"But Botan—"
"I'm sure Botan's fine," she sighed. "She knows how to avoid death like no other."
I didn't want to leave her. I didn't want to leave—what if she died? What if she died after I left? I could have helped—it would've been on me. I couldn't leave her.
She lifted her hand and set it on my shoulder, using just enough strength to squeeze it tight.
"I'll live. I know I will," she reassured me as my throat tightened. "I'm just hurt. I'll be fine. Go fulfill your end of the bargain."
I suppressed even more tears at this point: anger, stress, disbelief—a plethora of emotions. I wanted to cry and scream, but now wasn't the time.
Unfortunately, my voice couldn't hide my emotions… and neither could my hands since they began glowing again. "But Botan—"
She gave me a thin smirk as she watched the ki die. "I'll check on Botan, just let me rest…"
"Rest as in die…"
She gripped tighter, proving she would survive, and let her smirk fall to a frown. "Go."
I stood up and ran, pushing myself despite wanting to stop and rest. I had no time to waste and the physical pain was easier to focus on than the guilt. I was out of breath by the time I arrived to the salon, finding a black limousine parked in front of the building.
I ran to the back door and opened it, and Natsume and her henchwomen were scattered about the back seats that faced each other. Natsume and Hayashi's backs faced the oncoming road, and Fukui sat behind the passenger seat, facing them.
"I figured since we have such a long drive ahead of us, I'd pick out my new toy," Natsume cooed, eyes closed as she massaged the towel over her damp hair. "A newly renovated nineteen seventy-three Mercedes-Benz six hundred Pullman Landaulet."
Unless she was going to buy me one—"I could not care less."
I sat myself in the seat nearest the door I entered, and slammed it behind me.
"Oh my gosh, Aiko." Hayashi was the first to speak. "What happened to your face?"
Fukui didn't say anything and merely stared at the cut bottom lip and bruise that traveled along the apple of my cheek and around my eye.
"Holy shit." Natsume's brows rose in surprise at the unsightly bruise. "The f—"
"We need to get to Misawa Airport, now," I interrupted, and Natsume paused before shrugging.
"Lock the doors, Sosuke," Natsume called through the open partition, and he pressed the auto lock.
A shuffle of clicks sounded around us as he pulled into traffic.
"I'm going to need you to tell me everything you know," she said simply, returning to drying her hair. "But the drive to Mushiyori is pretty long so I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to catch up before we get to business."
I paused, letting the words sink in.
"What? No. I said Misawa. Misawa Airport!"
Massaging the towel around her head still, she cocked her head back and spoke with blithe nonchalance. "Why the hell would I go to Misawa when the tunnel is opening in Mushiyori?"
"Why the hell would you go to Mushiyori?!"
Her arms paused and she looked down at me, cracking some shit-eating grin. I was lucky enough to hide my new bout of ki from surfacing despite the anger bubbling around in my stomach and blood pulsing in my ears. I wanted nothing more than to punch her teeth into her throat, but my seething rage only pushed my gaze on Fukui, who stared blankly at me.
She was right.
A/N:
* Yakisoba is stir-fried ramen style noodles with meats, vegetables, etc.