Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction / Witch Hunter Robin Fan Fiction ❯ Reunited ❯ Chapter 16

Another weekend, and another update! Since Easter's tomorrow, I'll give y'all an Easter present: two chapters! Enjoy.

 

Kurama'sFoxyMiko: Someone does need to put Kira in her place, but unfortunately it won't be Sesshoumaru. He won't be showing up for a while, which is sad because he is an awesome character. Serena won't be paired up with anyone in this story. Sorry, but that's how it turned out. I'm still deciding who I want her with, since it won't be Darien from Sailor Moon.

 

Serena SilverMoon: Serena can't turn into Sailor Moon because she gave up her wand, but she still basically has the same power because of the Silver Crystal. As for Miroku…Sango beat that out of him. They're married, so if he even looked at another woman that way, she'd be all over him. I think that's plenty of incentive to behave himself.

 

~*~

 

Keiko looked around nervously. She was looking for work, and someone, she couldn't remember who, recommended the STN-J. They were supposed to be some sort of secret agents for the government, only they were a worldwide organization. She didn't know what to expect from them, and was wary because of it. Her guide, a woman named Ms. Karasuma, was nice and explained things when Keiko asked her a question. She even showed Keiko where they kept the witches they captured. It gave her the creeps, and she could tell that Ms. Karasuma was uncomfortable in there, so the hurried past that place.

 

“So, what do you think of the place?” asked Karasuma.

 

“I think it's a great place!” Keiko said enthusiastically. “When would I start work?”

 

“You would have to ask Zaizen that question,” replied her guide. “He's the main boss and knows everything. Let's go see him now if you're sure that you want to work with us.”

 

“I'm sure,” said Keiko firmly. They walked into Zaizen's office and waited for him to notice them, which he did very quickly.

 

“Ah, Ms. Yukimura, is it?” he asked.

 

“Yes, sir,” she responded respectfully.

 

“You want to work with the STN-J?”

 

“Yes, sir,” she repeated in the same tone.

 

“I see. Kosaka,” he called.

 

“Sir?” asked the chief, appearing as if he was conjured.

 

“Register Ms. Keiko Yukimura as a member of the STN immediately. She will work with Amon, and Sasha can work in the office.”

 

“Yes, sir!” Chief Kosaka bustled off to do as Zaizen asked.

 

“You will start work immediately,” he said.

 

“Yes, sir!” she mimicked Kosaka.

 

The boss dismissed Karasuma and Keiko, so they went out to the main work area, which was just outside his office.

 

“Looks like you made it, kid,” Karasuma said. “Welcome to the team.”

 

“Hey, Karasuma,” called Sasha from her seat in front of the computer. “I've got something for you to look at.”

 

“Let's see what she wants,” said Karasuma to Keiko. They walked over to her and saw a face on the screen, and words next to it.

 

“This is Chase Winter,” Sasha stated as she scrolled down. “He lives in Kyoto and has killed three people by making the ground swallow them.”

 

“Okay, I'll tell Amon and take Sakaki down to investigate,” she replied.

 

“Telling Amon won't be necessary,” said a deep voice behind them. Karasuma whirled around, saying, “Amon, we've got another witch to hunt.”

 

“I can see that. We'll go take him, but first explain to me why my partner is behind a computer and who is this?”

 

“Oh, right,” stammered Karasuma. “This is Keiko Yukimura, a new recruit. She's going to be your partner until she's comfortable enough to go solo. Sasha's been given Michael's old job.”

 

“We can't afford to lose such a good hunter,” he stated. “Sasha's coming too. I'll talk to Zaizen about this.” He strode into the office and shut the door firmly behind him.

 

“Well, Zaizen'll probably go with Amon this time since he's right; we can't afford to lose valuable hunters. This'll be your first case, so watch everyone and do as your told,” she told the nervous Keiko. “We'll keep you out of harm's way, but you have to obey orders.”

 

“Yes, ma'am,” replied Keiko, now getting excited. She was going to see the others in action. This is what she would be doing in the future.

 

Amon stepped out of the office. “Sasha, you're coming too. We're not wasting you by keeping you in front of a machine all day.” He handed them all a gun, even Keiko, though hers had just plain bullets while everyone else had Orbo. “Let's go,” he commanded and strode out the door without waiting to see if they would follow him.

 

“When Amon says move, we move,” murmured Karasuma to Keiko as they hustled out after him. “You can ride with me and Sakaki. Normally you'd stay with Amon, but since you're new, you'll just hang around and watch. Got that?”

 

Keiko nodded vigorously. She was excited about going on her first job, and she had only just seen the building. A boy a few years older than her slid into the passenger seat and looked back, asking Karasuma, “Since when did we take passengers with us?”

 

“She's new,” was her reply. “She'll be Amon's partner until she's good enough to go solo.”

 

“Okay. Nice to meet you. The name's Sakaki. What's yours?”

 

“I'm Keiko Yukimura,” she said shyly. They didn't talk much after that until they neared where Chase Winter was supposed to be. Amon briefed them via phone, and they spoke of what the strategy was going to be. Keiko listened, trying to figure out what they were doing but failing miserably.

 

They abandoned the cars a few blocks from where they were supposed to meet. On foot, they cautiously approached the building. Keiko chose an inconspicuous spot to watch them work. Watching them enter the old warehouse, she could only listen to the silence until the sound of gunshots were heard from inside. She saw someone leave the building and stumble to where she was hidden. Not being able to see who it was, she did nothing until he was close enough to see her and vice versa. It was none other than the witch they were currently hunting.

 

He leered at her, and instinct made her move from where she was standing. Just in time, too. Looking back, she saw a gaping black hole where she had stood seconds before. The terrified Keiko shakily pointed her gun at him. He only laughed and twisted his hands in a strange way. Again, she threw herself to the side, and a hole was where she used to stand.

 

“Playing tag, girlie?” he sneered.

 

“S-stay away from me,” she panted, once again leveling the gun at him.

 

“You can't harm me with that,” he said. He moved forward, startling her.

 

She yelped and her fingers accidentally pulled the trigger. He screamed, blood pouring from the opening in his leg. He looked up with rage in his eyes. “You'll pay for that,” he snarled. He moved forward again, but the sound of a shot going off was heard, and his eyes rolled up. He collapsed, revealing Amon standing behind him.

 

“Good job,” he said, examining the witch.

 

“I didn't do anything,” responded Keiko, feeling sick. That was the first time she had shot someone, and it didn't sit well with her.

 

“You slowed him down, making it possible for us to catch him,” he told her, standing up. Before she could say anything else, he took out his cell phone and called a place called the “Factory” to tell them the witch was ready to be picked up.

 

“You really scared Amon,” Sakaki's voice said behind her.

 

“I don't think so,” she replied.

 

“No, you did,” Karasuma agreed with Sakaki. “He moved faster than normal when he realized where the witch was.”

 

“How did he know?” she wondered.

 

“Who can say? He just said `He's outside by the recruit.' and so we all went out after him.”

 

“He doesn't seem like someone who would really care about a recruit,” Keiko ventured.

 

Karasuma and Sakaki chuckled at this. “You're right, he doesn't seem the type, but it kills him every time we lose someone. Once he started going solo, he was fine, but it tore him up when his partner Kate was killed. Then we had to hunt her replacement, Robin Sena. I don't know how he stays sane after his partners seem to drop like flies.”

 

“Um, Ms. Karasuma, did you say that you hunted his last partner?”

 

“She was a witch, unfortunately. She was a nice girl, always polite, but Zaizen said to hunt her, so we didn't have a choice.”

 

“So, Zaizen just decided to hunt her one day?”

 

“Oh, no!” Karasuma exclaimed. “He was given proof that she was a witch. He didn't want to hunt her unless absolutely necessary. She was a good hunter, after all, and those are hard to come by. And a Craft-user. Those are people that have the power of a witch, but they help catch other witches,” she explained, seeing Keiko's confused look.

 

They waited for the Factory trucks to come and collect the witch, and when they finally came, Amon gave the orders to go home. “Yukimura,” he called. “Wait for a minute.”

 

She trotted over and asked, “Yes, Mr. Amon?”

 

“Here.” He handed her his phone. “You'll be getting your own tomorrow, but if we need you, we have a way of calling you.”

 

“Yes, um, thank you, Mr. Amon,” she stammered. He just turned around and got into his car.

 

She went back to where Ms. Karasuma and Sakaki were waiting for her. “What did Amon want?” asked Sakaki as they got in.

 

“He gave me his phone,” she said staring at it.

 

“Hm, he probably thinks that we'll be getting a call tonight about another witch, then,” Karasuma said as she carefully threaded her way through traffic. “Keep it on and sleep light, Yukimura.”

 

“Yes, ma'am,” Keiko responded.

 

They stopped at Raven's Flat, where Keiko and Sakaki got out. He went to the garage and got out his motorcycle. “Do you need a lift?” he asked her.

 

“Yes, please,” she said. She directed him to where she lived, and after thanking him, went inside. “I'm home,” she called out to her parents.

 

“How was the job interview?” her mom asked.

 

“It went great! I was accepted.”

 

“Good job, baby!” her dad said from his place behind the counter of their ramen shop. “That Tanner boy called while you were away.”

 

“Oh, I'll call him back. Thanks.” She ran up the stairs to her room, where she dialed his home phone.

 

“Hello?” She must have woken him up. Oh, well.

 

“Hi, Tanner. I got the job!”

 

“That's great, but do you know what time it is?”

 

She looked at the clock. It read 11:30 p. m. “Sorry, but I just got in and didn't look at the clock. My dad said that you called earlier.”

 

“Yeah, I just wanted to know if you got the gig, which you did. I'm really happy for you.”

 

“Thanks. The people I'm working with were all nice. Well,” she amended, thinking of Amon, “they weren't hostile.”

 

“That's good. Hey, King Yama has a mission for me tomorrow, but it shouldn't take very long. Did you want to do something tomorrow night?”

 

“Um, I don't know if I'll be at work then, but if I can't make it, I'll let you know. How's that?”

 

“It's a date. See you tomorrow, hopefully. Love you.”

 

“Love you, too. Bye.” They hung up. “What did I do to deserve such a loving guy?” she asked herself aloud. Remembering Karasuma's warning, she put the phone by her bed and drifted into a light sleep.

 

Sure enough, a loud beeping woke her. Forgetting that is was the phone, she looked around frantically for the source of the noise, then remembered that she had Amon's phone with her. She picked it up. “Hello?”

 

“Hey, Yukimura, this is Sasha. We've tracked another witch in Chiba. Can you make it to Raven's Flat without assistance?”

 

“Yeah, I can,” she said sleepily.

 

“Okay, see you in a few.” She hung up. I don't know how I'm going to do this on school days if this is what normally happens, she thought. Getting dressed, she quietly exited her home and ran to Raven's Flat. Upon reaching her goal, she saw the rest of the team ready to leave.

 

“Good hustle, Yukimura,” said Sasha. “We didn't think you'd be this quick.”

 

“I didn't want to keep everyone waiting too long,” she said modestly.

 

“If everyone's ready,” said Amon, once again the first to get the car running and out of the garage. Keiko rode with Karasuma and Sakaki again. She listened to them talk while trying not to fall asleep again. In next to no time, compared with the trip to Kyoto, they had arrived in Chiba.

 

“Okay,” said Amon in his deep voice when everyone had gathered around his car, “the witch we're hunting is named Crystal Minx, and has the power of water. Be careful, since she can summon water from out of nowhere, and blow you down. Yukimura, you did well this afternoon, but I don't want to rush you into making a mistake and costing us the witch.”

 

“I'll be fine, Mr. Amon,” she assured him. “How will I learn what to do and what not to do if I don't learn from experience?”

 

He gave her the world's tiniest smile for less than a second. “Then follow and obey orders. Move out.”

 

Keiko stuck with Amon and Sasha for this witch. “Karasuma and Sakaki need to focus on what their job is,” he said as an explanation to her inquiring look.

 

This time, they gave her an Orbo bullet gun. She was handling the stuff with care since they had told her how valuable it was. Sakaki even told her what happened when he wasted five bullets of the stuff. It seemed way too severe a punishment for his mistake, but he shrugged it off. “Now I know better.”

 

They were all on alert, watching for the slightest movement of their quarry. This one was very careful, though, and it was a long time before they saw any trace of her. When they saw her run past a row of shelves full of machine parts, Amon and Sasha went after her, Keiko a few feet behind them. They kept running until they hit a dead end. The experienced hunters looked around, and saw her tumble the shelves over their exit. Now they were trapped on one side, and Crystal and Keiko were on the other side.

 

“I never would have believed that these people would fall so easily into my traps,” she said, shaking her head in mock sadness. “The other two did the exact same thing. Now it's your turn.” She advanced on the quaking Keiko.

 

“S-stay back!” cried Keiko, holding her shaking gun in front of her.

 

“You can't shoot when you're shaking that bad,” noted Crystal, stepping forward.

Keiko closed her eyes and pulled back the trigger. A scream was heard from in front of her. Opening her eyes, she saw the water witch writhing on the ground in agony. She had been shot in the right shoulder, and was glaring daggers up at the terrified high-school girl. This time Keiko aimed for her chest and fired. The witch stopped moving immediately. Hearing a noise behind her, she spun around and saw Sasha and Amon come out of the cleared debris.

 

Amon took one look at the witch and said, “Sasha, call the Factory. The witch is ready to be gotten.” He swiftly moved past Keiko to where Karasuma and Sakaki were trapped.

 

Once she finished talking to the Factory, Sasha turned to Keiko and said, “You've done an astounding job! We're all impressed. You only came to us today, and look at what you've already done. Two witches in your first day! Dang, girl, you're making the rest of us look bad.”

 

“I didn't really do anything,” Keiko replied in response to Sasha's praise. “Mr. Amon got the other witch, and my fingers just tightened out of reflex.”

 

“Hon, you are a natural. Even Amon sees it. He just won't go around giving compliments to people. However, you deserve some praise for doing what you've already done.”

 

Amon came back with Karasuma and Sakaki. “Don't close your eyes,” he said to Keiko. “You may not be so lucky next time.” He walked off, leaving the rest of them in his wake.

 

“How did he know that?” she asked Karasuma.

 

“That's just Amon. He knows things he isn't supposed to. Don't ask how he knows, he won't answer. Just leave him be, and he'll do the same.” She and Sakaki were staring at the shoulder wound that the witch now sported. Keiko couldn't tell what they were thinking, but both of their expressions were sad.

 

They arrived back at Raven's Flat around five in the morning. They called out their good nights to each other and left for their homes. Keiko walked home this time, still with Amon's phone. “We probably won't be calling you again,” he had said, “but I'd rather not be surprised and unprepared.”

 

She entered her home to find her parents just opening the shop. “It's six already?” she asked sleepily.

 

“Where have you been?” her mom demanded.

 

“Work,” she yawned. “They called early this morning, and I had to go.”

 

Her mom still looked like she was going to chastise her, but Mr. Yukimura stepped in. “As long as it's for work. If you're going out just because your friends invite you to stay out all night, then that's not okay, but in this case, it's fine.”

 

She smiled gratefully at him. “Thanks, Dad,” she said.

 

“You go to bed now,” her mom said, lightening up.

 

“Okay. Good night,” she called as she stumbled up the stairs and fell into her bed, asleep before her head hit the pillow.

 

~*~