Disclaimer: Heh heh, i forgot to add it anitially, lol. *clears throat then starts talking as if reading from piece of paper something she's read dozens of times before* I do not own the characters of Yu Yu Hakusho. I do now own anything form this story save for the plot (or better yet, the fighting moves) and my OCs.
Iris's POV
"Well at last, we can begin this tournament," I heard Koto say, "We have divided the 128 winners of the preliminary matches into 8 groups. Each group holds battles according to the tournament rules, until the elimination leaves only two fighters. Victory is decided in the same fashion as earlier. The battle is over when the opponent surrenders or is no longer capable of fighting."
*****
Before I knew it, sooner than I expected, my name was announced by Koto against somebody else that I didn't know.
I looked at Kurama the briefest moment, and I saw he was suddenly tense, his hands that were folded so neatly on his knee were balled into fists now. I smiled at him briefly and he returned it, though I could tell it was strained. I wanted to light up the mood, not wanting him to be worried about me, so I punched my fist in my fishnet-gloved hand and said, "Time to kick some ass."
He chuckled the tiniest bit and I was glad I did even that much. "Good luck," he said, his green eyes watching me warily still.
I nodded and walked away, feeling oddly tense and excited in anticipation of my next fight. Most of my friends, beside Yusuke – who won – and Touya – who lost – haven't fought yet.
I was so lost in thought, I felt more like I woke up and I found myself at the arena against the demon, instead of me walking there purposely. The demon was unfamiliar to me, looking almost human, the only thing weird about him being a lizard-looking nose, his pupils in golden slits and a lizard tail.
I took my usual defensive pose and watched him as he took a pose of his own and we both waited for the signal.
"Let the match begin!" a voice said, but I didn't bother to look from where it came from because I had to pay attention. We stayed like that for an immeasurable amount of time. I could see Koto in my mind getting annoyed at our stare-down and urging us to throw some punches and spill some blood and guts.
Then, out of the blue, the demon said, "Hmmm…what is a human doing in Demon World, fighting for total power?"
The question took me by surprise, and I regarded him curiously at how he said the word 'human.' It didn't sound resentful, but more…awed than anything else. "That," I said, "Is none of your business."
He chuckled silently, but didn't comment on that. Instead, he asked me yet another question. "You're friends with Raizen's heir? Yusuke Urameshi?" He made the slightest step to the right, and I matched his with an identical one to the left, keeping the distance between us.
The question took me by surprise, but I recovered quickly. "Yes, we're good friends," I answered sincerely, though I didn't know where this will lead.
He pondered the slightest bit. "I was good friends with Raizen too. We used to get in many fights over smallest things, but really, those were just mere reasons for something we were both looking for: a good fight. I loved to fight against Raizen, though I never defeated him and swore that I will train enough to do so. But now I am too late, because Raizen is dead," he paused and I felt a little unnerved by this demon's sudden openness to me, a stranger, after all. He continued, "But this Urameshi kid seems worthy of being Raizen's heir. He may not be as strong as Raizen is, yet," he added, "But he's worthy all right. Defeating him won't be the same as defeating Raizen himself, but I will gladly settle for the person who has Raizen's blood running through their veins."
He took two other deliberate steps to the right and I followed suit with two steps to the left. His golden slits watched me closely. I didn't say a single word to that, so he continued, in the same melancholic tone. "So, of course, to get to Urameshi, I will have to go through you." Right as he said it, I realized that's where he was going all along. It was some sort of a pep talk he gave me before we started fighting.
Even though I was angered by his self-confidence, I was relieved that he was Raizen's friend. Being Raizen's friend, he would follow Raizen's heir's wish to continue this tournament even if he wins. Not only that, but I found out enough about Raizen – by going through Yusuke's mind, without his permission, of course – to know that his friends were the good guys here.
I was glad he gave me the pep talk now. I wasn't feeling so tense for this fight after all. If I lost, it wouldn't be like the wrong person would go forward in the tournament and get closer to winning the position King of Demon World.
I grinned at him, and he grinned back, wide enough for me to see two pairs of very long fangs. We were both on the same page, more or less. He crouched low and his tongue made a hissing sound. He looked more like a lizard then than he looked the entire time we were facing each other. "Ready?"
"Lay it one me," I answered, my muscles tensing automatically to the feel of the fight, though I wasn't worried or scared personally. I decided not to even try my psychological powers to enter in his mind; I had a strong desire to fight just with my fists and my Spirit Energy for once.
A short moment passed, when the demon disappeared in a red blur because of his Demon Energy, coming toward me. I charged back at him, running at full speed right back and letting my Spirit Energy flow through my veins as we clashed against each other in the middle. We were both throwing punches and kicks at each other, as we tried to dodge each other's at the same time. Some got through, some got blocked, on both sides. He stepped back a bit, flexed his fingers, making sharp, deadly nails appear on each of his fingers as he charged back. I was too slow and blocked just his left hand as his left took a full swing at my arm, leaving four deep cuts that were searing with blood behind. It stung, but not enough to stop me.
He grinned that he got me wounded, but I wasn't done yet. I jumped in the air and gave him a kick right in the face, making him back off a few feet. Before he could recover, I took some of my Spirit Energy, concentrated it in my fist and I punched him as hard as I could in the jaw. I didn't want to leave him any time to fight back so I continued attacking him with a full stream or kicks and punches, all intensified by my Spirit Energy. I had to admit, I learned quite a few tricks from seeing Yusuke fight.
My last punch got him to the floor so I waited if he was going to get up or stay there. He didn't get up for a little while and I thought, If you can't defeat me, you don't stand the slightest chance against Yusuke. Not to mention I was disappointed. This guy said that he used to fight against Raizen, I expected him to be very powerful.
Luna made a distinct sound that was a mix between a groan and a hiss and I looked closer at the demon.
He did get up and I got excited again. He did so slowly, with his back turned to me and when he turned around, I saw that he was grinning. He wiped away the streak of blood from his jaw with the back of his hand and chuckled. "You're stronger than I initially gave you credit," he noted and he seemed pleased by the fact. "I will have to step it up a little bit."
He draw himself to his full height and started glowing red, the color getting more and more intensified as his Demon Energy exploded and a blast of Demon Energy seared around him like a flame few dozen feet high. The air around us seemed to feed off of it because wind picked up and whirled my hair around my face violently.
"Holy crap…" I whispered in awe, my eyes widening then I grinned. Wish freaking granted. I ran my fingers though my hair to get it out of my face and watched the demon closely to see what he will do. Then I had a sudden feeling of déjà-vu as I remembered that evening, not very long ago, as I saw a smiliar explosion of Demon Energy in the distance. Could he have been one of the demons there? If so, could they all have been old friends of Raizen's who came to leave their regards at the great king's tomb?
Iris! Luna practically screamed in what seemed like panic in my head, Pay attention!
I didn't have time to figure out what she was talking about, because he charged at me again. I was taken by surprise, as he manipulated his energy into small spheres, making them all attack me at once. Pain searched through me as they all collided at once with my body. I screamed, without even realizing I did until the sound was already out from my lips, cursing myself for not paying attention and letting my guard down.
I staggered back against the blow, falling on my knees despite my best efforts to stay up, feeling pain all throughout my body and blood trickling down my arms, my fingers and on the ground. That was when I realized I had my eyes closed and I opened them to inspect the damage. One on my leg, two on my turso, and two on each arm and they all bled.
Can you go on? Luna asked me in a strained voice and I knew she wanted to take over.
I still got plenty of energy left, don't worry, I assured her. I didn't want to give up on this fight just yet. Luna didn't seem convinced, but she remained quiet. It's not like she could do anything about it anyway. She couldn't change without my consent, unless I was knocked out.
"Do you surrender?" he asked me, as if not wanting to go on more unless I chose to.
"Hell no," I answered and I grinned at him. He surprised me by grinning back.
My entire body hurt so bad, I have never felt pain like this ever before in my life, but instead of dropping to the ground, I gritted my teeth in anger and got back up to my feet. It hurt to move, but I didn't pay attention to that. I frowned in concentration and, feeling the power of my Spirit Energy coming to my aid, I gave it my orders, feeling it leaving my body and spreading all around me.I was injured, but oddly neough, I liked this fight a lot. This guy was a real challenge. Now I understood why the others liked to fight so much.
I grinned and concentrated on my task and I could almost feel my flash tattoo on my face shining a bright gold. The Okaninju Plant started shaking. Slowly at first, then it got more violent as I saw the demon having trouble standing upright. I was fine, because my energy was supporting me a foot in the air, being glad that I had it do that, otherwise it would've screwed up my concentration.
I floated backwards, knowing that what I wanted to do required space. The demon was so aghast, he seemed rooted in place. I made it all the way to the very edge of the plant and that was when the plant shook the most; I could hear its roots snapping, but I made it stay upright. I needed it. Then, as I raised my hands up in the air, I could hear roots snapping again, only this time it wasn't from the Okaninju Plant that we were standing on.
It was the right by us. I was using my entire energy by snap it from its bond with the ground and make it come to me. It required more energy than I thought, and I heard myself gasp, almost in relief, when the plant was completely unbound and started floating where I was directing it. Since the plant was coming form behind the demon, he didn't see it coming, until it was too late. I let the Okaninju plant drop directly on top of him. The plant we were standing on collapsed under the weight and they both came stumbling down noisily. It was a terrible and a beautiful sight.
I let my Spirit Energy support me in mid air, but I could feel it increasingly weaker so I made myself land, harder than I wanted to, on the ground, a few dozen feet away from the wreck.
As strong of a demon as he was, I highly doubted that would kill him, but I hoped he would use enough energy to fight it so that he would use most of it, that was my plan. I watched the thick dust that formed all around the two plants like they had an atmosphere of their own for any signs that the demon that he might be coming back, wanting some more. Of course, there was nothing left to give him in case he did, but I had to make sure. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.
I waited for quite a while. I didn't know what to do and I didn't know if he was dead.
"Um," I heard a girl's voice say and as I looked up, I saw a half-human half-rabbit girl standing on a giant eyeball with wings. I knew this was one of the many girls who filmed the fights, and she was supposed to know all the rules. I waited for her to continue. "I think the match is over," she said, but didn't sound certain. Well, no wonder. Because of all the dust and earth that still hung in the air rather heavily, you couldn't see a thing beyond.
I grinned and I was about to walk back to my friends, feeling very proud of myself. I defeated a few-hundred-year-old demon, a friend of Raizen's, I kept saying, feeling rather smug. I walked away from the wreck, until—
I felt it, and it was very powerful, a blast possible just like the previous one he manifested. Demon Energy. I growled loudly and I turned around, my hair whipping at my face. I could see it now too. Small red flickers amid all the smoke and dust. Then, jus tas I saw the familiar red flame, broken pieces of wood and rock and earth started flying everywhere.
"Nisoshi is alive, the fight continues!" said the girl and I gritted my teeth, cursing under my breath. It felt like he hardly used up any energy at all.
The demon emerged from the wrekage, with a few cuts and bruises, but that was it. He was grinning still, though he looked a little angry this time though, because once again, the human took him by surprise.
I sighed and I knew what would happen next. And sure enough… Iris, I think this calls for a change, she said. I even had a thought of saying no. This was too much fun, a real challenge. I didn't want it to go to waste and just watch it from the sidelines. Just at that moment, I remember what Yomi said to his son, Shura. You have to know when you're beaten! Only the weakest fighters move blindly on, believing that the greater the bloodshed, the fiercer the fight.
This time I was forced to accept. I didn't have any energy left. She was an S class demon. It would be down-right stupid to go on.
Just as the familiar whirlwind caught around me and let it envelop me, I saw the demon charging down at us. Looks like he learned his lesson too. I didn't know what to do, so I stopped the change immediately, knowing that it cannot be sped up at all. Just as the wind died down suddenly and all the dust was settling back down, the demon appeared from the midst of all the fog and attacked me with its claws. I dodged it at the very last second, doing a back flip, landing on my palm and pushing my self upright again. I whirled my head around looking for him so see a good time to change, but he kept on attacking me and all I could do was block or dodge, I couldn't change.
Let me change! Luna urged me in a strained tone. You barely have any energy left, you're gonna kill yourself!
If we try to change now, it will give him enough time to finish us off. I tried to reason with her. Let me go on like this for now and I'll tell you when to change.
At least let me send Sasha to heal your wounds, she urged me and I was beginning to be annoyed and desperate.
There's no time! Surely she could see that herself?
Luna didn't answer me, but I knew she was furious. I also knew that she knew that I was right. I just didn't know how long I could go on like this. Being drained of Spirit Energy also meant that you were drained of physical energy too. The demon hardly gave me any time to think, let alone talk to Luna about changing. He continued his stream of punches and kicks and sphere attacks with energy and all I could do was back and front flip in my haste to escape.
He stopped for the briefest moment.
"Do you surrender?" he repeated his question.
I was slightly short of breath, but I kept my stand. "Not…just…yet," I answered between pants, giving him a swift grin from between my messy strands of hair that had fallen on my face.
Then I took my chance. Just as I dodged another sphere-like attack, I plunged ahead at him, taking all my remaining flickers of energy – and some Life Energy, though that should never have been an option – and punched him hard in the gut, letting all my energy go through his body. As he staggered back, I called to Luna, Now!
The whirlwind caught me in its hold and this time it didn't seem like I could stop it, even if I wanted to. Luna's desire to change as well as to do her share of the fighting was very great, so I let myself succumb in the back of her mind, just like she is most of the time with me and let her take over. The wind, along with all the dust that it picked up died down and now I knew that Luna was in complete charge.
***
Luna's POV
The demon must've not noticed the change, because he plunged at me once again – or I should say at us, but as he caught sight of me instead of Iris, his eyes turned wide, reflecting shock and disbelief. It was too late to stop the attack and think it through, so he went right along with it, determined.
In one swift motion, I drew my old sword from my trusty scabbard and blocked his attack with ease, though the injuries on our body were worse than I thought. I haven't used this sword in so long, it brought back so many memories… But I didn't think of that. I focused on the demon in front of me, whose face was only a few inches from mine, his slit-like pupils wide.
"Who the hell are you?" The demon hissed in anger and shock. I suppose he didn't like that we switched, he liked fighting Iris too much.
I remained my voice impassive, though I was already angry at this demon for injuring Iris so badly. I knew this was a tournament and all, but that didn't make me forgiving on the matter, I was still angry, regardless of how much Iris enjoyed the fight. I glared right at his golden slits and answered, "My name is of no importance to the person I am about to defeat. I came to end this fight." Surprising me, the demon flicked its tongue at me and it brushed my nose and my lips. My nose wrinkled in disgust and with a quick flicker of my sword, I pushed the demon back and I watched him stumble. He was still in shock as he simply stared at me, not even attempting to attack. I can only guess what was painted on my face, but as angry as I felt, my face was probably on fire from the flash tattoos that had the annoying habit of displaying my feelings.
I wanted this fight over quickly; I didn't want or like to dwell against weaklings. I drew my sword at arms length and held it with both hands, while I let Demon Energy soar all around me, charging my sword with it. While I knew that my spirit sword that Koenma gave me was a lot more effective when charged with energy, I have always preferred my old one better. Koenma's sword was too unfamiliar, foreign. I only resumed to my new sword in special circumstances, and this wasn't one of them.
I saw the familiar red flame envelop me and burn softly, feeling a surge of warmth as it started glowing brighter. I felt power and energy go through my veins and it felt so incredibly good to be in control. I haven't fought in so long, I haven't wielded the wind in so long, haven't wielded a sword even longer… It was so refreshing to feel the air myself go through my lungs, feel the wind against my skin, I grinned despite myself.
Once I thought my sword was completely charged, I repositioned myself in a defensive stance, my sword drawn out. I invoked the element of wind to roam free around me, being at my disposal if I needed it. I was being courteous despite my anger and waited for him to go first, but since he didn't, I took the first step.
Wanting to be quick and be a surprise attack, I made the wind blow a lot harder around him, letting it pick up dust and small pebbles and bits and pieces of the wreckage that Iris caused to circle around him, confusing him. Then, when I decided I would be concealed until the right moment, I charged at him. Going at full speed, I swung the sword at him and aimed it for his throat. He didn't see it coming until it was too late.
The tip of my blade grazed his neck the slightest bit, but it must feel like a mere brush to him. I had complete control of my sword, intending it to stop at that very moment. The demon was stunned and looked utterly paralyzed with fear that he had been less than an inch apart from death. "Do you surrender?" I asked him as I did countless of enemies before, not wanting to hurt him unless it was necessary, although he did deserve the punishment. For the first time, I felt odd asking this question, since he'd asked Iris this already. Twice.
He exhaled sharply because he had been holding his breath until this moment, but all fear and shock left his face at my question. He grinned, and his eyes held a wicked gleam. "Not just yet," he repeated Iris's exact answer, and that angered me more than anything else. The tables have turned. His expression changed again under my eyes as the wicked gleam fled from his slits of eyes just as fast as it came, as it was replaced by fear once again. My face must be really shocking to him, and with my flash tattoos changing constantly to my mood and emotions and thoughts it must be very distracting as well as frightening. My eyes were undoubtedly glowing blood red and half of my face was aflame. To people who haven't seen this before it must come as a real shock.
I stared at him right in the eye, thrusting my blade just a fraction closer to his throat, and I bowed my head slightly, closing my eyes sadly. "Well, then, you leave me no choice." I withdrew my blade and with lightning speed retreated, ran behind him and plunged it directly in his lower-right back. It won't kill him, because that wasn't my intention, but it will injure him enough to not fight anymore. Just to be sure, I let my Demon Energy soar through me, through my sword, and into his body, making the injury less likely to heal very quickly.
Wow… I heard Iris say, That was awesome! It took me forever to get him injured and you finished him off in just a few minutes. She sounded awed and I felt compelled to explain myself.
You drained him of quite a bit of energy. Not to mention that you're relatively new to this. I have been doing it for the last few centuries. I let out another important detail that I didn't want to mention because I felt like I was being conceited, but she did it for me.
She snorted in my head at the obvious omission. Yeah, and you're also an S class demon, compared to a low A. I didn't comment on that.
I drew my sword out and examined the damage. A fairly deep cut that was already bleeding. He would be knocked out soon enough from the loss of blood. With some medical care, he should be fine in a few days to a week.
Blood stained with yet another victorious battle, I put my sword back in my scabbard and looked at the girl who was filming the whole thing.
"He's knocked out," I informed her in case she hasn't figured it out herself.
She was dutiful to her job and counted 10 full seconds. Since the demon didn't get up, she called me the winner of the match.
*****
As I was making my way to the arena, I suddenly realized I haven't changed back yet. I should've done it after the battle was over, but I didn't what to give it all up just yet, I wanted to enjoy just a few more moments of freedom.
Iris must've sensed my reluctance somehow, because she said, You don't have to change right now. I kind of like it back here, it's oddly peaceful.
I refrained myself from snorting, but I did comment, before I could stop myself. You wouldn't like it so much if that's where you'd spend most of your time, in the back of somebody's head, not being able to do anything without that person's consent.
Her silence struck me as odd, and I realized I said the wrong thing. My comment probably hurt her, it wasn't exactly a sensible thing to do, since she didn't to it on purpose.
I didn't know you felt that way… she trailed off, sounding guilty.
I sighed heavily and explained. I'm not complaining. I chose this path, fully aware of all its consequences and results it would have. I embraced it happily that I could make a change. It's not your fault that this is how things are. I paused the tiniest bit and decided to go on. But I wouldn't mind having some freedom every now and then, outside of the ring.
She took my hint and brightened up considerably. Of course! She agreed excitedly and I felt a rush of affection toward her.
I made my way back through the huge crowd, feeling oddly pleased with myself. I haven't fought in so long I forgot how incredibly good it felt to win. But I remembered now, and I relished the feeling. I looked for Iris's friends, though I wasn't quite sure if I should go to them, or look for Kurama instead. At least I knew Kurama, the others were total strangers to me – technically – and I was a stranger to them. They didn't know about me until they saw me change on the screen. No doubt, they would be asking me questions. Questions that I might not want to answer. I was just about to go the other way and look for Kurama, when I heard Iris's voice.
I want to see how they did, she said and I felt compelled to respect her wish. She had, after all, given her body to me to grant me even a tiny sip of the freedom I long ago had and taken for granted.
I picked out her group easily out of the huge mass of demons because of Chu's familiar blue Mohawk that was towering over most other demons' heads because of his height. Jin saw me first and gave me a very sly grin, not something that I expected.
"Well hello, my pretty," he said in his Irish accent and I rolled my eyes. I thought he was serious about the tournament, and yet, there he was flirting so incredibly obvious with me. Iris started laughing. My apparent magnet for demons and men alike was probably highly amusing to her.
"Jin, not you too," Touya sounded bored, but he didn't unphase Jin in the least.
Jin bowed deeply to me, and grinned at me as he did it and I saw two small fangs sticking out, making his grin look even more mischievous. "I am Jin, the win' master," he said, though I already knew who he was. "You wield the win' too, eh? Well, as I a'ways said, win' masters should always stick together," he said and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Onji piped up with perfect timing. "You never said that."
Jin threw him a swift dirty look out of the corner of his eye. "Shut it, nobody bloody asked you."
"I suggest you keep your focus," I said, annoyed and I jutted out my chin toward the screen where the brackets were displayed. Jin was up next against somebody I didn't know.
He looked where I pointed and his grin got wider as he turned back to me. "I'm gonna fight this one for you, my luv," he called out, "I will blow win' so hard it will sweep ya off ya feet, that it will!" And with that he flew to the gate that he had to go through.
Only when did he call out loud to me, did the others turn around to face me. Chu still looked dazed, and I suspected it was a prolonged after-effect to the previous match he had with Natsume. He seemed almost startled by my presence, but recovered quickly and stuck out his hand to shake mine. "Nice fight, mate," he said and he grinned. I was glad he behaved normal at least, and just for that alone, I tried not to cringe at the smell of alcohol that he emanated.
Touya continued to regard me curiously as he did when he saw me earlier. He didn't say a single word to me. Onji gave me a superior look, but I didn't let it bother me. He thought he was superiors to everyone. Rinku was nowhere to be seen, but I assumed he was after the cat-girl that had flirted with him earlier. Shishi on the other hand, looked his normal smug self, but surprised me by flashing me a small smile.
He took my hand too and I groaned inwardly and yet another one. He kissed the back of my hand very gently and looked up at me with his pretty lavender eyes. "My lady, don't give him a second thought, he doesn't know how to treat a woman of your caliber," he said and scoffed in Jin's direction.
I had just about enough of this. I jerked my hand away from his gentle grip and I glared at him. "And you do?" I said as sarcastically as I could. His eyes held a rather disturbing gleam as if he would gladly demonstrate how a woman is rightfully treated, but then composed himself into his usual smug look.
I didn't wait for him to reply to my statement because I walked off, fuming and thoroughly annoyed. Iris was still laughing silently in my head, but I knew she was keeping most of it in, not wanting to annoy me even more. I took a few steps before Touya's voice made me stop in my tracks.
"Where is Iris?" he asked, but I could hear the demanding note in his tone.
I turned around and focused my gaze only on his icy-blue one as I answered. "She's safe. She's resting right now," and I placed my fist over my heart, hoping he'll take the hint, and kept on walking.
I walked toward where I knew was Kurama in the audience and sat myself roughly on the chair, crossing my legs and folding my hands to my chest firmly. His green eyes found me immediately, though they betrayed nothing. He had always been very reserved around me, as if he could sense that I could see deeper into even the slightest flicker of emotion of his face.
Kurama studied me closely, as he has always done and looked over my injuries. As I saw him do it, I instinctively looked at myself too and was surprised to see there was so much blood. I had numerous deep cuts and gashes that I haven't even been aware about and most of the wounds were dried off. It was a rather disgusting and disturbing sight, with blood all dried off on my skin and to my clothes, not to mention that I was extremely dirty all over. I wiped my brow with the back of my hand and when I looked at it I saw sweat mixed with earth and a little bit of blood. I had to get cleaned up before any of this got infected.
I looked away from the gory sight and looked back at Kurama.
"I watched the entire fight," he said, though I already knew that. It was Iris who fought most of the time, after all. Of course he watched.
"We got out victorious," I said, giving my share of useless information.
"At a great cost," Kurama noted, his emerald eyes running over my many wounds and my blood-stained clothes.
"Iris is fine," I reassured him, knowing that was what he was after.
"You should've changed earlier," his tone didn't sound accusing, but his eyes and the way his brows furrowed the tiniest bit indicated that he was.
"I wanted to. I intended to, but Iris didn't, so there was nothing I could do." A rare display of confusion flickered across his face as his lips parted the slightest bit and he scowled. "We cannot change as long as we both don't agree upon the decision," I explained, "She thought she could take him by herself." I didn't even mention the fact that she started enjoying it, but even so, as I said it, I realized I put Iris in a bad light. I could almost picture her in my head scowling at me. "She put up a good fight though and she weakened the demon considerably."
"She's so stubborn," Kurama mumbled under his breath. "Is she all right though?"
"She is fine," I repeated, "and will be better once I heal her. Which reminds me…" I trailed off, feeling this would be a good time to do it, since we wouldn't be fighting for a while. I had more than enough time to heal her wounds.
I called upon Sasha and a faint outline of my guardian formed in mid air until her entire body was outlined and she settled herself on all four paws on the ground. She stepped close to me and sniffed the hand that I extended toward her. I patted her head gently and she leaned onto my head willingly. Almost immediately, I could feel the familiar warmth of her healing powers and I sighed happily.
"She looks familiar," I heard Kurama say, and when I turned to look at him I saw his green eyes were fixed on Sasha, a smile on his lips. He shifted his weight toward her and with deliberate slowness, extended his hand toward her, stopping a few inches from her head. "May I?" he asked. I didn't answer, because I knew very well that Sasha could "talk" for herself.
Her reply was by stretching out her neck so she could reach his hand. Kurama dropped it on her head willingly and patted her. Sasha was obviously enjoying the attention.
As I patted her absentmindedly, my fingers brushed Kurama's a few times, but I didn't pay attention. I was watching the big screen instead, and Jin was fighting. He wasn't doing too well though…he was on the ground, seemingly knocked out, but he got right back up again, though he had bruises all over his body. Although I didn't watch it, I knew his opponent had gone easy on him. He wasn't badly injured, but the demon gave him an enough dose of his energy to make it hard for him to come back up. Even so, Jin got up with a determined look on his face.
The fight would be over soon, I could tell. Jin, though determined and stubborn, was at wits ends.
I looked away from the screen and watched Sasha for a few moments, her face displaying pleasure, gladly accepting the two people who were pampering her, having her eyes closed as if doing so would make the feeling even better. I looked at my arm briefly, and I saw that my wound was starting to decrease in size as Sasha's healing powers took effect.
When I looked at the screen again, I saw that the demon took Jin over his shoulder and left the Okaninju plant with him. The fight was over and Jin lost. Despite that, I really liked the feeling of comradeship between the two of them as the demon took him away back to his friends, even though he lost and there was no need for him to.
Somebody very wise once told me that one had to be very strong to feel compassion and be fair to somebody weaker than you, to somebody who lost to you. I had little doubt that that person was another one of Raizen's friends.
Seeing his friends fight made me feel deep respect for Raizen, who was, after all, a demon whom I had never met in my life. But people – well, demons in this case – who are alike, usually stick together, and his friends told me a lot about Raizen himself.