Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Witch Hunter Robin Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Disease ❯ Chapter 12

I have time, so here's the next chapter.

 

~*~

 

“Karasuma, I need those files,” Amon ordered. Waking out of her daydream, Miho Karasuma clicked `print' on the screen and gave them to Amon. He didn't say anything else; once the copies were in his hand, he walked away.

 

“You'd think he'd at least say thank you,” Keiko said indignantly.

 

Karasuma just shook her head. “That's just Amon,” she sighed. “He's always been like that. I don't care anymore. He's a good leader, and that's exactly what we need.”

 

“If you say so,” Keiko said doubtfully. “I think he should be a bit more polite, but that's just me.”

 

“You and me both,” Sakaki agreed. The boy was sitting next to Karasuma and looking over her shoulder at the computer. “Of course, I'd never say that to his face.”

 

“Uh-oh,” Sasha said from the other side of the room.

 

“What's wrong?” Keiko asked, concerned.

 

“Looks like there's another killer to hunt,” Sasha answered. “His name is Kiron Mandela, and his element is-” she paused. “His element is fire,” she completed.

 

Silence hung heavy in the air. “So his element is fire. Let's go.” Amon strode out after these statements.

 

“What's with Amon?” Keiko whispered to Karasuma. “He hasn't done this before.”

 

“It's the element,” Karasuma answered. “Every time we've had a fire witch, he goes a little nuts. It's probably because of Robin.”

 

“I know a Robin,” Keiko said slowly. That got Karasuma, Sakaki, and Sasha's attention.

 

“Do tell us more,” Sasha encouraged her.

 

“She goes to my school,” she continued. That seemed to deflate the rest of them.

 

“Robin isn't stupid enough to go to school under her own name,” Sakaki said. “It's probably not her.”

 

“But if it is, shouldn't we go look?” queried Sasha.

 

“I'm going with Haruto on this,” Karasuma said. “I don't think she would do that; in fact, I don't think she's even in Japan anymore.”

 

“But what if she is?” Sasha insisted. “I'll check it out tomorrow, whether you guys go or not. Wait, Zaizen needs me to look up something for Solomon. I'll just do it later, I guess.” She seemed to deflate.

 

“Whatever, Sasha,” Sakaki drawled. “But right now, we have a Kiron Mandela to pick up, and I don't think Amon will be very happy if he's the only one who shows up to do the job.” They all ran for the elevator and into the parking garage once it reached the right floor. Karasuma took Keiko while Sakaki rode his motorcycle. When they arrived at the spot, Amon was already in place and waiting for them. He didn't mention how late they were, just motioned them over and explained what was going to happen.

 

“Sasha told me that Mandela is inside these warehouses somewhere,” Amon explained to them. “Karasuma, I want you and Sakaki to go and wait for him here.” He pointed to a spot on a map of the area. “Keiko and I will be here.” He pointed to a spot a couple blocks away. “Sakaki, you will flush him out of his hiding spot, then you and Karasuma can chase him our way. Everyone got that?” They nodded and went their separate ways.

 

“We'd better get this one done quickly,” Sakaki murmured when they were in position. “Fire witches make me nervous.”

 

“You're not the only one,” Karasuma muttered under her breath. Louder, she said, “Let's get started, then.” She watched Sakaki run off toward where Mandela was supposedly hiding, according to Sasha. Waiting patiently for him to locate the fire witch, she kept her gun ready. This wasn't the Orbo gun; just and ordinary bullet gun. The Orbo would be used once the witch got into position. Hearing the sound of feet running, she got ready to shoot. Without more warning than that, the witch whizzed by her with Sakaki right on his tail. Joining her partner, they chased him until they were almost to where they were supposed to turn him. Unfortunately, the witch had one of two choices to go to his next destination, and he chose the wrong one. They wanted him to go right; he went left.

 

“Amon, he's headed the wrong way,” Karasuma heard Sakaki say into his phone.

 

“It leads to a dead end. Keep him there, and Keiko and I will join you.”

 

Sakaki put his phone back in his pocket. “You heard him,” he said ruefully. “Let's stall him or try to bring him down.”

 

The two of them cautiously walked after the witch, Orbo guns held at ready. The alley was dark, so they couldn't see very well. Movement near the back brought their guard up, and just in time. They saw him point at them and they leaped to either side of the alley, and the spots they had just vacated burst into flame. Not caring to be barbecued, the two hunters closed in on him faster than he could recover from his surprise. “I've got him,” Sakaki shouted. He fired at the witch and the victim collapsed, taking the bullet in his leg. Karasuma readied her gun and fired right above his heart. Mandela stopped moving.

 

“Amon, call the Factory; Karasuma and I just got him,” Sakaki said into his phone.

 

“We're on our way,” Karasuma heard Amon respond. They sat down and waited for their leader and Keiko to show up. They didn't have long to wait. Amon came around the corner with Keiko right behind him.

 

“The Factory should be here anytime now,” he informed them, eyeing the witch. “One of us will have to stay by the witch, but the rest of us have another witch to hunt.”

 

Sakaki groaned. “Two in one night? Are they working together?”

 

“As far as Sasha can determine, they're separate. This witch actually disappeared a while back, but apparently she's returned. Her name is Katherine Daae, and she uses water. She's around here somewhere close, but we're not sure exactly which building she's in.”

 

“That means we'd better start looking, then,” Karasuma sighed. “I'll take that building. Keiko, do you want to come with me?”

 

“What about me?” Sakaki demanded. “You're my partner.”

 

“You're more experienced than she is,” Karasuma reasoned. “She should probably stick with a veteran. This way we'll cover more ground if you and Amon go solo while she stays with me.”

 

“Keiko, you go with Karasuma,” Amon commanded. “You two will search these warehouses. Sakaki, you take the ones over there, and I'll go back the way Keiko and I came and search those.” They split up once the orders were issued.

 

“Ms. Karasuma?” Keiko asked. “Why didn't I just stay with Mr. Amon?”

 

“Amon will move faster since he won't have to look after you,” Karasuma answered. “Besides, this way Haruto will get a chance to go solo, and you can help me.”

 

“I could look after myself,” Keiko responded indignantly. “I've been doing this for a year now.”

 

Karasuma laughed softly. “True,” she conceded, “but you're the newest person on the team, so we all think you need to be looked after. Let's just look for Daae, okay?”

 

“Okay.” They walked into the first warehouse to look. “Did you want to stick together or split up?”

 

“We can split in here. You take the bottom floor, and I'll search the top. How's that?” Keiko smiled, signaling she was okay with it, and they went off in search of their target. The top was pretty much deserted except for occasional insects, but they weren't bothering Karasuma, so she didn't bother them. “Find anything?” she called down to Keiko.

 

“Not ye-” she cut herself off.

 

“Keiko?” Karasuma asked, concern growing.

 

“I saw movement. I think she's down here.” Her voice barely carried to Karasuma's ears. Moving quietly down the stairs, she joined Keiko.

 

“Where did you see it?” she asked the younger girl.

 

“Over there.” She pointed to somewhere behind a row of racks. “It went behind those.”

 

Moving quietly, they treaded around the scattered papers and other odds and ends on the floor while getting their guns up and ready. More movement caused them to break into a run. Unfortunately, this caused the target to also run. All they saw of her was long blonde hair turning a corner. They ran after her, but hit a wall of solid air. “I thought that her power was water,” Keiko said, confused. While they tried to puzzle this out, Karasuma's phone went off.

 

“We got Daae,” Sakaki's voice floated out of the phone. “You can come back now.”

 

“We're coming,” Karasuma responded, putting her phone back. “Keiko, they caught Daae. We need to find them.”

 

“If they caught her, then who was that?” the girl asked, pointing to the direction the blonde girl went.

 

“I don't know, but that's not our problem right now. Let's get back to Amon.”

 

“That girl,” she heard Keiko mutter. “Her hairstyle was like a girl that went to my school last year. But she moved to Juuban; she couldn't be here.”

 

“What was her name?” Karasuma asked.

 

Keiko's head jerked up. Apparently she didn't expect to be overheard. “Her name was Serena Tsukino.”

 

~*~