Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Radical Dreamers ❯ No Escape ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7: No Escape

Erev watched Serith’s struggles with the Tear of Hate apathetically. He kept repeating the same few words to it in many different languages, trying to awaken its powers. It hadn’t worked for the last two hours. She was certain he didn’t even really know what he was doing.

Erev hardly cared, though. Her thoughts were elsewhere: on her brother, on Goki. If she had control of her body Erev would have shuddered. The image of Goki’s death was still fresh in her mind, the moment playing over and over in her imagination. She could almost still feel his warm blood on her hands. How could she ever live that down? Sure, he was a mean person and had tried to kill Yusuke, but Goki was still a person, a sentient being. And she had cut his life off short. What did that make her? Was Erev a murderer now, or could she lay the blame on self-defense? Was it okay to save one person from death by causing another’s?

Erev wanted to cry. She wanted her brother back so she could cry on him and he would call her an idiot for thinking so circularly. But, more than anything, she just wanted someone to hug her and tell her she wasn’t a monster, that she had done the right thing. Because she didn’t know it herself.

Her despondence made her useless. If Erev wasn’t so concerned about the death on her hands she would have had more energy to fight Serith and go look for Yusuke. But, as it was, all she did was sit around and mope, with only her thoughts to keep her company.

She barely noticed when the sun went down. Serith was still speaking relentlessly to the stone. Hiei had never come down from the roof. Erev guessed he was sleeping.

With a snarl Serith gave up on the Tear. Erev thought he might throw it across the room, but he only slid it into the hole of her left earlobe. He had converted it into an earring early that morning, she guessed for ease of use. He did vent his frustrations on a stack of crates and the mess of wood easily spilled across the floor.

“Serith.” Erev’s head turned to Hiei’s voice. The shorter demon leaned against some boxes several feet away.

“The boy,” Hiei finished. Erev didn’t understand what he meant but Serith looked to the closed door of the warehouse expectantly.

It opened suddenly with a bang. Yusuke sauntered in. Erev knew it was a bad situation. Serith was angry and frustrated, and when he was in that mood he liked to fight. Not to mention Hiei. The two of them together would tear her brother apart.

Yusuke figured the same thing out when he noticed Hiei, and then Erev when Serith spoke. He backed up as the two demons approached and bumped into Botan.

‘Oh, bad,’ Erev thought. ‘This is real bad. Yusuke, you idiot, couldn’t you use your brain for once?’

Erev watched and waited. She would have to come up with a plan before she did anything rash. Yusuke would be able to hold his own while she figured out how to work the situation to their advantage.

‘Girl,’ Serith warned, interrupting her thoughts. ‘Don’t try anything or I promise to rip his head off with your bare hands.’

Erev didn’t respond. She knew he would do it too. She would just have to catch Serith off guard, when he least expected it.

Yusuke took the first move and charged at Hiei, who dodged easily, gloating. Serith didn’t seem interested in the fight, though, and turned his eyes to Botan. He approached the grim reaper easily while Yusuke was occupied with Hiei.

Erev was still trying to work out something, anything that could give her brother victory. It was a difficult task, considering everything around her was distracting her out of thinking.

‘Concentrate! Concentrate,’ she told herself. ‘There’s gotta be a way to trick them. What’ll catch both of them completely off guard?’

The idea hit her suddenly and Erev could have slapped herself on the head. ‘Duh! Of course! Why didn’t I think of that sooner? I just have to time this right.’

In the real world, Serith quickly closed the space between himself and Botan, catching the blue haired girl by the throat.

“Ferry girl. You work for Koenma, correct?” A dark grin lit up Erev’s face as Serith flicked the Tear of Hate at her ear. “Then you must know how this works. Tell me and I may spare your life.”

Erev saw the muscles in her arm tighten as Botan choked lightly. Fear was evident in her eyes.

“Erev,” she called. “I know you’re in there. I know you can hear me. Fight him, Erev. We need your help!”

Erev’s response was to sink further back in her mind. If her plan was going to work, Serith would have to forget she was there. Botan’s reminder didn’t make that easy.

“She will not fight,” Serith sneered. “She fears me, as should you. Now, give me what I seek.”

Botan coughed, her face tinted blue. Her eyes began to roll back.

“Sorry Erev,” a voice behind Serith spoke. Serith didn’t see it coming. Yusuke’s fist connected with Erev’s head and sent her hurtling across the room. Botan slumped to the ground, breathing hard.

The detective didn’t have much time to think on it as Hiei returned. The demon pulled him into another fight and easily overpowered the teenager. Yusuke was sent sprawling as well, smashing into one of the large boxes.

He groaned and heaved himself onto his arms and legs. There was no way he could win. Yusuke could barely keep up with Hiei and he didn’t really want to hit his sister. So far it was only one on one and he was still losing.

“Where did that speed come from, detective?” Hiei said as Yusuke stumbled back into the open. “You were on that girl in an instant, much faster than when we were fighting.”

Yusuke ignored the demon. He looked past Hiei to his assistant on the floor. “You okay, Botan?”

“Y-yeah,” she coughed.

Hiei scoffed. “So you’re the sort who rises to the occasion when a friend’s in need. That’s the type of human I hate the most.”

On the other side of the room Serith stood and wiped Erev’s bloodied lip. Rage overtook him, fueled by frustration at his lack of success with the Tear of Hate. He couldn’t let Hiei have all the fun, Serith wanted a piece of the detective as well.

Serith ran to meet them and found the demon and human in a stalemate. He went straight for Yusuke. The delinquent was caught off guard and his eyes widened briefly before Erev’s fists rained down on him.

Yusuke tried to defend himself, not really wanting to hit his sister. Serith saw his hesitation and took advantage of it. With a sharp cry the spirit created an opening in Yusuke’s defenses and buried his fist in the boy’s gut. Yusuke fell back several feet.

Erev took that as her signal to act. Hiei was far enough away after that stunt. He wouldn’t be able to hear if she talked to her brother. She gathered up all her mental strength and with one hard push of mental energy gained control of her body. Serith never saw it coming. Erev kept up her guise, acting as Serith. She rushed over to Yusuke’s sprawled body and jumped on him, raining a barage of light punches on his face.

Yusuke noticed the change and tried to question her with his eyes as his head moved back and forth.

“I’m back, so listen,” she whispered quickly. Yusuke’s eyes widened. “I need you to send me back toward Hiei, like we were fighting. I’ll hold him and you hit him with everything you’ve got. Now!”

Yusuke wasted no time and kicked her off of him. Erev winced. He tried to be gentle, but it still hurt. He grabbed her collar while she was recovering and flung her at the approaching demon. Yusuke had good aim and hit his target dead on.

Hiei fell back with a grunt as Erev slammed into his chest. They rolled for a moment before both trying to stand. Hiei was the first up and Erev followed soon after, making sure to position herself behind him. Hiei never saw it coming.

“Now, Yusuke!” Erev cried and locked her arms under Hiei’s shoulders as her hands tied behind his neck. The demon barely started to resist when a flash of blue light caught him square in the chest. They were both knocked back from the force and Hiei landed on Erev, unconscious.

Erev groaned and gripped her head, not bothering with the passed out demon on top of her. Serith was not happy. He pushed hard against her control. Erev didn’t know how long she could last.

“Yusuke!” She called. He would know what to do. “Yusuke!”

Erev felt the weight lifted from her chest. A hand touched her forehead. “What’s wrong? Sorry if my rei gun hit you.”

“Can’t . . . fight,” Erev ground out. Her head shook back and forth, as if to throw Serith off. “No, no, you can’t . . . .”

“Botan!” Erev heard Yusuke shout. “What do we do?”

“It’s that spirit,” the grim reaper observed. “Erev, listen to me. You can lock him up, you just have to say the right word to open the Tear. The word is leysa. You have to say the word leysa.”

Erev groaned. She could hardly hear Botan. She was slipping under, Serith was gaining again.

A harsh slap to her cheek woke Erev again.

“Dammit, Erev. Just say the stupid word,” Yusuke commanded, worried.

“Word?” Erev was lost. She didn’t have enough strength left.

“Leysa,” Botan repeated.

Erev forced her eyes open. She saw her brother, his own eyes full of concern. She needed more strength. Erev pushed herself up and fell against his chest. He was real after all.

“Leysa,” Erev whispered. Yusuke was really alive, how could she not have enough strength to beat Serith?

Immediately Erev felt refreshed, as if dipped in a cool lake. A dark blue light covered her for several moments. Erev could feel her mind renewing. The constant pressure of Serith’s presence was dissipating. She had her head back, all to herself.

After a few minutes Erev looked up at Yusuke. The light had receeded. She was the only one in her brain. The process was much less painful than she first assumed.

“You okay?” Yusuke asked. He sounded relieved.

“Yeah.” Erev smiled.

“Aww,” Botan clapped her hands together. “It’s a family reunion.”

Erev pulled away from her brother. How long had it been since she had a hug? She punched his chest lightly.

“Pinhead, I thought you were dead,” she accused. He crossed his arms over his chest.

“I was,” Yusuke shrugged. “Then you went and disappeared. I had to come back to find you.”

Erev grinned at his concern. “Thanks.”

Yusuke rubbed a finger under his nose, embarrassed.

“Yeah, well, you get lost on your way to school if I don’t help. You’d better start learning how to read maps cause I’m not gonna be your personal GPS forever, ya know,” he said in a loud voice.

His sister kept smiling. It was so good to have him back. Yusuke stood and offered her a hand.

“So, what happened? What’s the story?” Erev asked. She smiled at Botan who sidled up next to her.

“Geez, what a pain,” Yusuke grumbled.

ooo
Three days passed. Yusuke gained the last Dark Treasure from Kurama without a fight. The fox was glad to hear that the brother and sister had been reunited. Erev learned of Yusuke’s new ‘job’ as Underworld Detective and she told him how she ended up with a second soul.

Erev could still talk to Serith when she wanted. She agreed to his earlier proposition and let him out for an hour every day, after Botan explained the rest of how the Tear worked. It turned out there was a word to let Serith out as well. Yusuke wasn’t happy about Erev’s arrangement and always kept a close eye on the demon.

Erev stretched her arms. She had been sitting at her desk for far too long. But, she had missed a lot of school and needed to catch up. Needless to say, her weekend was shot.

A knock sounded at her door. Erev groaned, figuring it was her mom coming in to check that she was still there . . . again.

“Come in,” she said. Erev was pleasantly surprised to see the blue haired ferry girl. “Oh, hey Botan.”

“Hello,” she responded cheerily.

“What brings you here?”

“Well,” her smile dropped slightly. “I came to take you to the Underworld. Lord Koenma would like to see you.”

Erev’s eyebrow shot up. That couldn’t be good. She sighed. Was she ever going to escape from the supernatural?

ooo
Ha, wrote that all in one sitting. Hope you liked it, and don’t forget to review.