Yu Yu Hakusho: The After Years

Episode 45: Shadow

She was frozen where she stood. Izanagi's words felt as if they cut her insides like knives, paralyzing her. She wanted to punch him, to lash out at him, but her arms and legs refused to move. He took this opportunity to rotate around her so that he was facing her, his smile cruel and twisted on his handsome face. He traced a finger along her cheek with his nail, which was as sharp as a claw. It left a little trail of blood in an even curve from the corner of her left eye to the corner of her mouth.

"It would be so easy," he muttered, "but don't worry, they won't let me do it now." The blood had formed a little bead on the edge of his nail, and he popped the finger into his mouth, savoring it like a small child might savor honey. 

Rieka regarded him with defiance in her eyes, she found that she could move her eyes and mouth, and could breathe, but not well enough to make a scream, "Why can't I move?" she demanded.

Izanagi's smile softened, returning him to his usual warm, trusting appearance, "I gain the abilities of the people--or yokai--that I eat. This guy wasn't so tough, but he had a psychic ability called shadow which I really was quite jealous of. You see, if I step on  your shadow and enact my power over you, then you're really quite paralyzed. The strength of the opponent really doesn't seem to matter, either."

Rieka realized he did not curve all the way around her to step in front of her, so he must have had one foot on her shadow behind her. Her eyes searched for the light source which had cast the shadow and saw the florescent strips of lights hanging from the ceiling.

"Mike, get the lights!" she commanded. Only there was no response. Where had he gone off to?

"Mike? Who's that, your little boyfriend?"

Rieka laughed nervously, "Not exactly." If nothing else, Izanagi hadn't seen her new familiar and knew nothing about him as far as she could tell. But where could he have gone off to? Could her inner self truly be such a coward? Izanagi was still eyeing her like a drunk man might eye some freshly fried chicken. She had to keep him talking, lest he decided to change his whole mind on the cryptic "they won't let me eat you yet" thing. 

Meanwhile, on the roof top, Hiei was searching for the source of an infuriating buzzing noise. He realized that the buzzing was coming from a vibration within one of the pockets of his cloak. After a few moments he found the culprit--a slender, rectangular device he vaguely remembered Kurama referring to as a "cell phone." When on earth had someone snuck that into his pocket? And how?

He glowered at it, wondering how to stop the infernal buzzing. Before he could crush it in his palm, Gadget took it from him, and with deft fingers, swiped a green symbol on the device's screen. She handed the phone back to Hiei, and he could hear Kurama's voice through the ear piece.

"Hello? Hiei?"

"Kurama, did you plant this insidious device on me?" Hiei demanded, talking at the phone from arm's length. Gadget stood on her toes and gently nudged the phone so that it aligned with Hiei's ear and mouth. 

"Sorry, Hiei, I know you would have refused if I'd asked, and it's much easier to get in touch with you in the human realm this way," Kurama admitted. 

"Well, you're in touch with me, so what do you want?"

"Rieka has left the arena and the second match is about to start. If she doesn't return immediately, Ana will have to fight the match, which isn't advisable. I suspect Gadget had something to do with the 'technical malfunction' earlier. Was Rieka involved in that as well?"

"Yes, but she left a few minutes ago. She should be back by now."

"Well, she hasn't returned, could something have happened?"

Hiei heard the rooftop door open again, and turned to look at it, expecting Rieka. Instead, her familiar, Mike, came alone and was looking at him with imploring eyes. A chill went down Hiei's spine as he came to realize that this meant that something had indeed happened to her. Without a second thought, Hiei dropped the phone to the ground and raced off down the stairwell.

"Hiei? Hello?" Kurama's voice sounded from the abandoned phone.

In the meantime, Rieka reminded herself that she had to keep Izanagi talking. "Well, I suppose you'd better get it over with, then," she said, his voice daring him. While she was outwardly brave, inwardly, she was cursing herself. You couldn't think of another topic of conversation, really? 

"Hmm, I'd love to, but it seems there are other plans for you at the moment," Izanagi said like a petulant child. Just then, they felt a sudden gust of wind coming from the stairwell, "Ah, and here it is," Izanagi said, his smile returning. 

Izanagi suddenly side-stepped her shadow, releasing her, and it took her a moment to realize the source of the wind. Hiei's form had some into view. His sword was drawn and was slicing through the air where Izanagi's head had been only a moment earlier. 

Electricity crackled in the air, and for once, Rieka noted, the source wasn't her arm. The wall behind Izanagi began to waver until it opened up, like how a hole would miraculously appear in an old cartoon. It was only an instant before the tunnel closed behind Izanagi, but Rieka was able to make out two figures standing in the shadows. One, was a boy about her age with navy hair, and clasped to his side was Gadget. 

"Gadget!" Rieka called out as she lunged forward, but the gate had closed as quickly as it appeared. She was now clawing against the cinder block wall. "Damn it!" she cursed, pounding her fist against he wall. It left an indentation there, with cracks spidering out from its center, "I was bait, I was frickin' bait!" She pounded against the wall again, and again, furthering the cracks until Hiei grabbed her hand. 

"Stop this," he said in his usual cool voice, "You have to get back to the arena right away, that amazon you call a teacher is about to start and she shouldn't be fighting right now. I'll worry about the brat, she was my responsibility anyway."

Rieka looked into Hiei's crimson eyes, as if searching for something.

"Did I stutter?" Hiei spat, "Go, now!"

It didn't take long for Rieka to get back to the arena, but by the time she did, it was too late. Scarlett was standing at the arena's center, with Kaname facing her opposite.

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To be fair, most women would be considered Amazonian compared to Hiei, but in case you were curious, Scarlett/Ana is 5'10". This makes her only an inch shorter than Kurama based on what I've found on the internet. I also like to think Hiei grew a little bit as I believe in the theory that he was physically the youngest of the group in the original series. I imagine him to be about 5'4"-5'6" now, with Rieka being 5'4". 

Also you may have guessed who Izanagi swiped that shadow power from. :( Poor Kido! Rieka wouldn't have known that, though. 

As always, thank you for reading! :)