Chapter 12

My pulse accelerated as my mind moved back towards the driver. "What? Is that an urban myth?" An obvious fake laugh escaped my lips, driver shook his head returning the same laugh. My hand reached for the doorknob every instinct telling me it'd be quicker to just thrust open the door and roll out of the vehicle moving fifty-miles an hour. Logic denying the thought Shuichi said it'd be fine.

Tense atmosphere rotated the cab, "Really famous urban legend around here. The guy used to drive the locals insane hundreds of years ago." The driver explained. "Youko used to be a very famous thief, but he also insisted on antagonizing the royals in the castle that used to be around here." The driver continued.

I reached for my phone, a hand on the phone the minute it was removed from my purse, throwing it out the passenger side window, "Rude." He huffed.

I grinded my teeth hewasn'tlooking back at the road instead he was spun around staring at me one hand on the wheel waiting for me to apologize, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry now please just drive properly!" I shouted.

"That's not how ye apologize!" The driver shouted at me as I screeched a sound that made my ears feel the vibration in the air from a simple sound.

"Pay attention!" I screeched as the driver's eyes widened as if he wasn't conscious of such a decision to not pay attention to the driving he swung around to look at the road and wound up swerving almost hitting a kid within the darkness, instead landing the car sideways into the side of a tree almost near a city.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking as I struggled to remove my seatbelt glad to it not for the first time, I found myself kicking repeatedly at the door, the driver unconscious. I glanced towards him gagging at the thoughts of him being dead, having to check his pulse, and the likelihood of his door being the only one that would open.

I swallowed my pride crawling into the front seat moving rapidly before the driver could wake.

"Yusuke! Didn't you learn from the first time you were hit by a car!" A female voice.

"Come on Botan it's not like it's my fault! That driver was absolutely crazy- Botan, something live came out of the car!" the voice shouted back.

"Botan, is she okay?" Yusuke's' voice shouted.

"How am I supposed to know! Shouldn't we take her to a hospital?" Botan shouted.

"You are the grim reaper! If she was dying, you'd know!" Yusuke shouted back.

I glanced up towards the two of them, Yusuke having my shattered phone in his hand. He must've been the kid that the driver almost hit, he was squinting at it. Likely attempting to read through the cracks on the screen, "Dude this is Shuichi's number!" Yusuke shouted. Another call came, 'click'.

"Isabell at the next traffic light tell me what city you're currently in!" Shuichi's voice was loud and serious, demanding. I had never heard him speak in such a way.

"Dude, calm down." Yusuke answered.

"Yusuke?" I could hear Shuichi relax slightly in his voice. "This is Isabell's phone, what happened?"

"Isabell? You know her?" Yusuke's voice asked as he suddenly cut down to whispers: "Is she your girlfriend?" he teased.

I picked myself up from the concrete glad that the road was practically empty and we hadn't been run over yet, supporting myself upon the car as my legs shook ground threatening to absorb me.

My legs immediately gave out from under me feeling as if they weren't even there, my hand slipped off of the car the bluenette named Botan lowered me back to the ground, "Hey there, not so fast" She whispered, attempting to assess the situation.

A bright red car skidded towards us, tires making squeals of rebellion. The front door swung open revealing a person with hair to match, "Get Isabell in the front. Yusuke and Botan in the back." Shuichi shouted still standing half in the doorway of the car. Botan began supporting me, before Shuichi picked me up.

I glanced towards the car unsure if I actually wanted them to leave him there for dead. "Shuichi" I whispered as he shook his head.

"I was planning too." I watched as he reluctantly rescued the unconscious lunatic. I glanced towards the lunatic, a part of me begging myself to tell Shuichi to leave him in the car. And don't just leave him in the car open the gas tank and throw a match in it. I tightened my hand around Shuichi's shirt as he opened the car door. Disgusted at the fact that we were taking the man that tried to kill me with us. And disgusted at my own lack of humanity.

Shuichi grabbed the man from his car wreck shoving him in the backseat in-between Botan and Yusuke, "Watch him." Shuichi got back into the car checked the buckles and begun driving.

"Dude, I didn't know you had a car!" Yusuke shouted trying to change the topic.

"It's not mine. Actually, I haven't even gotten the chance to get a permit." Shuichi said, his foot pressing further and further down onto the gas.

"That's completely unlike you...You know my bad luck with cars! Don't drive like a maniac!" Yusuke shouted waving his arms about as he looked like he was tempted to unbuckle and jump in the front seat with him.

"It's not driving like the maniac! It's driving like a beginner!" Shuichi shouted back skidding to a stop at the red light barely going over the white line.

"But you're a genius! You literally know everything."

"Being a genius and executing something without practice are two completely different things!"

"At least who did you steal the car from?"

"...Hiei..."

"We're dead! He's going to murder every single one of us off, resurrect, and repeat!" Yusuke shouted.

"Even I can become impulsive! You know that!" There was bitterness that laced the edges of Shuichi's voice. An underlying message causing Yusuke to quiet down.

Shuichi muttered, attempting to adjust his speed, "Are you alright, Isabel?" Shuichi asked as I glanced up to him.

"Excluding the pounding headache, yeah." I smiled towards him.

"Sorry...that I got you into this..." Shuichi muttered as I glanced up towards him.

"Got me into what? It was just a misjudgement it happens to everyone." I smiled towards him.

"We're going to stop somewhere before I take you home." Shuichi stated driving the car forwards as I squinted out the windshield the lights bothering my eyes as I noticed we had driven back towards the city.

"So, Yusuke why were you on your way here?" Shuichi asked just barely several blocks away from where I had once spent almost all of the night with Youko.

"Botan says she's found an organization from Hiei's side." Yusuke explained.

Shuichi slowed the car down, unlocking the door as Yusuke dragged the man out of the back of the car, Botan getting out of the back of the car. Shuichi went around the car and opened my door with the pretext of the car crash possibly messing with my sense of direction. I nodded accepting his help noticing how we took the same trail that Youko and I took once we had left the rooftops towards the place where they sell kimonos.

"Hey Sandra! Are you home?" Shuichi asked barging right into the place with a woman who came out.

"I thought I said my name was-" There was a pause when that woman looked at me and hurried over.

"Ten minutes with him everyone else out, now!" She shouted grabbing me and pulling Shuichi into the kitchen.

"That girl is going to get you killed." She hissed, "You've brought her here twice already!"

"Twice?"

"Never mind, the pack of you better stop coming here all banged up." She growled before Shuichi helped drag the taxi man into the kitchen, tied him up, and phoned for the police to retrieve him.