Temple Tournament
Or...
The Successor to Kuwabara! The Genkai Tournament Begins Once Again!
Hiei stood at the top of the stairs, knowing none of the multitudes of people striding up were worthy. It had been their temple for far too long. These people even forgetting it was Genkai's Temple.
It was Kuwabara this idea belonged to. He was looking for someone to pass everything onto, everything.
Perhaps it was more Genkai's fault for having her own ridiculous tournament years ago.
Yusuke.
The idiot detective.
Hiei scowled at one of the cocky humans going past him, celebrating the end of stairs in a crazy jig. At the resulting threat and mocking face directed at him, Hiei rolled his eyes at the pathetic boy. A buddy of the stupid kid snickered and tugged him off towards the temple. Back in his exploding youth, Hiei figured he probably would have killed the human in his temper.
Time, or humans, had changed him. Or might it be a touch of melancholy?
Certainly, if he had honored the spirit of Yusuke, he would have at least physically maimed him.
The loss of the young detective had surprised all of them, stunned them, and at the same time had not. It was Kuwabara who had claimed he was the brunt of the loss, the one to blame. He had been at the temple during the summer of his final year of college. The refuge to demons managed to be under attack, not unusual at the start of the temple being a known refuge. Just not by a young human woman, infested by a demon.
Kuwabara always had a hard time fighting females and so Hiei was set to rescue her from the demon parasite from the start, as Kuwabara checked on any of the injured demons who lived at the temple.
Then Kurama had thrown them all off when he gasped, voice trembling as he said the woman's name, recognizing her.
Maya.
An open eyed woman turned cautious, but there were times when Hiei caught the inquisitive child he first met her as when she walking with Kurama. Time healed her slowly after the attack, but Yukina had helped. The pair became a tight knit duo of friendship that lasted until today.
Over time, they had discovered how slowly Maya physically changed. She had been changed biologically, no longer a mere human. Maya had mourned the loss. Hiei hadn't insulted her for the loss, which had been his first clue to just how his group of allies had affected him past any excuse of team fighting spirit. Fine. It technically was not his first clue. But it had been when he realized Maya had become part of that group of people he could stand to be around. And wanted to be around.
Maya had taken a brunt of Yusuke's loss as well, Hiei admitted to himself. A huge brunt. He knew she still believed she was the one to blame, even if she never out and said it with how devastated Kuwabara had been to claim the blame out loud to everyone.
The attack, when she had the parasite inside of her body and mind, was shattering.
Yusuke screamed the loudest. Both near deaths of Kuwabara had certainly motivated the idiot. First the younger Toguro brother causing the close call, and then Maya.
Kuwabara had woken up to only be told the news that Yusuke had died, died giving up his energy and life force for the—
KUWABARA'S THE ONLY ONE OF US WHO WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Hiei stopped calling Kuwabara the oaf afterwards. The entire group dynamic between they who remained changed too much. Yusuke's joy of life was no longer there with them. No one mocked Kuwabara when he graduated his college later that year. Kuwabara hadn't smiled, no tears of joy. The tears were painful to witness.
But Kuwabara had yet to prove Yusuke's last declaration incorrect.
There was no reason given to call Kuwabara an oaf since then. The fun was gone from Kuwabara. He was still creative and easily related to more people than Hiei even cared to kill in his entire life. But to be honest, Hiei grieved that loss as well. He missed the days when there was spaz and theatrics and goofy faces. It would be nice to call Kuwabara an oaf once again.
Kurama pulled himself away and became more distant after Yusuke's passing.
Hiei never understood that, he had been numbed by it. What stood out to him was aimless wandering and missing everyone, panicked running back to make sure they were all right and be near them to make sure it stayed that way. Yukina had never minded. Kuwabara grew used to it. Both of them invited him to do things with them, which made excuses to keeping them within sight.
Kurama pushed away.
Hiei never understood that. Kurama had never minded Hiei stopping by to see him before. He was the first one Hiei would panic over, so used to that, the common visits, the welcomes. They had always been close. Before. He had wanted the comfort of the before, but received none of it. Kurama ignored all of them. He cut them out like a weed from his garden, glaring every time they came back, and cutting them out again.
After losing Yusuke, for some reason, neither he nor Kuwabara had the heart to confront Kurama about how he was grieving. Maya silently blamed herself further on Yusuke, shutting down every time Kurama turned down invitations and shooed them away. Hiei didn't need his third eye or attraction to pay attention to her to see that obvious guilt eating her personality away. Maya blamed herself for Yusuke and in adjunction, Kurama.
Yukina was the one who lost her cool with Kurama. Literally. She froze the entire house and yard.
They kept out of contact with Kurama after. The news of his mother passing away a couple years later still hit them hard. It was too late when they headed over to at least give condolences to him. With no one to tie him down, the fox left and became reckless in his loss.
It was what finally got him killed.
He might kill one of these idiot boys, he remarked out loud, offhand.
The one in front of him waving arms and making faces and insulting him, froze at that. The group encouraging it did as well, before all began making digs at him. Height was a common one. A common one easily ignored. He flickered his sight down the temple steps.
The ones being blocked by them would probably do that for him.
Hiei tilted his head to the group and shrugged. That was all the invite needed. Physicality broke out to fight their way up to the temple. One of them crowed loudly as he jumped up and hopped across backs and heads.
He turned his head about to watch that one hoot out an insult to all those fighting before merrily skipping to the temple. Hiei clicked under his breath and looked away. Damn. One of them had stood out to him. Kuwabara would call him out on not telling him after the first battery of tests.
Hiei was already testy.
Kuwabara had smiled at Hiei's irritation about his idea. But it was pained there too. Hiei didn't want to speak on it, but Kuwabara did. Years ago, emotions like this, such a human thing, would have irritated Hiei in a completely different way.
Hiei, he had said, if I had a choice, I wouldn't leave either.
The human had definitely put it off long enough. It had been the pair of them for the last sixty some years. Hiei thought it ridiculous that he was saying anyone was pushing it at eighty years old. An ice maiden would be twenty years away from being mature enough for having a child. But Kuwabara was pushing it. He'd had a full and busy life too for all of what Hiei had been part of.
And Hiei had always been invited. Kuwabara never expected him to come with every invitation, but the offer was important to both of them. It just took Hiei a while to figure out it Kuwabara wasn't just being stupidly nice. Kuwabara wanted him there. He was just as selfish and needed to cling just as Hiei did, to be comforted by it. After a while, invites came freely between either of them, it didn't really even need to be stated anymore. The words became tradition.
Hiei would travel to see Kuwabara at different times, usually with a short message if the other was not at the temple. When not doctoring at the hospital, Kuwabara would travel to wherever Hiei was for a visit. Messages, spares, talks, work, lessons, journeying the demon world. What was done never mattered. Invitations were excuses to visit. Maya laughed at them, but smiled with a warm smile. Her laughing at them was never harsh. It was always a laugh of happiness for who she did it for.
Shit.
Today he felt more like he was the one pushing age with all this reminiscing. Thinking of ones passed. Hiei blamed Kuwabara, blamed the human. Too many years together. So Hiei left his post at the top of the steps to find Kuwabara and tell him just that.
Except Kuwabara knew Hiei would miss him.
Kuwabara snorted, smiling as he told Hiei that. Hiei, of course, verbally denied it. They ribbed barbs back and forth at each other. He didn't care who won the verbal match but enjoyed the banter all the same. The confusion on all the tournament potentials in front of them made it worth it, so Hiei took it as a win for both.
Kuwabara and he matched smirks, then Kuwabara called the tournament to a start with a call for lots.
Hiei carefully watched the crowd grumblers, mindful of any of them near Keiko or Maya or Yukina as the three girls offered their bowls of lots to the crowd. Keiko had insisted on being a part of this when Kuwabara informed her of his plans. She still had a name to the place after all, she had said. It was still unsettling and concerning to watch her roll her wheelchair through the crowd fearlessly.
He shook off the image of Kuwabara's sister pushing the chair. She passed nearly twenty years ago and was eighteen years off to have actually done it for Keiko after all.
He wondered briefly what she would have thought of this and reached over to the teapot as he eyeballed the rambunctious crowd, nose wrinkling when he found Yukina's tea already gone. Maya smiled over at him. Hiei crossed his arms and feigned disinterest in the teapot. He saw her eyes go over to her usual buttercup yellow cup, then shrug at him, still smiling. He picked up the cup, found it still with tea, heated it, and drank it himself.
Kuwabara reached over to his own faded blue teacup and winced as he downed it. Hiei snorted, amused. Kuwabara swatted him, saying they all couldn't wield fire. In return, Hiei reminded Kuwabara of his abilities and how he stood right beside him. Kuwabara snorted this time, knowing full well Hiei was just giving him crap.
Then Kuwabara sighed and looked back out to the crowd opening up their lots. Now it begins, he said seriously.
The tournament for the next human to own the temple, the refuge for demons, and to be a strong representative in holding order among demons secretly living among the humans. After hearing how Genkai's original tournament was held by Botan, Hiei thought she would have approved of the stakes.