Author's Notes: I was bored, thinking about the Arch-Rivals episode of Yu Yu Hakusho. And I remember the nifty Gorenja Battalion thingy, and thought of the sub- character Akarenja! (also known as Aka, lol ) And whipped up this really uber-short fic about him dying during the Dark Tournament Called Mirager 'cause during Gorenja Battalion, Akarenja does these nifty little mirage thingies of himself. Yeah, I wrote this months ago and I haven't seen this episode in YEARS...okay maybe not. MONTHS. Yeah, that's better....yep...okay...yes...


Mirager

I could see my team's battered bodies lying helplessly around mine, but I wasn't dead. Not yet. I could still go on, all I had to do was win...but that was impossible, I knew. My opponent said he would spare me...but trust is a weakness, and I wasn't about to trust anyone who had murdered my friends.

For any other demon, the semi-finals of the Dark Tournament would be good enough. But, no, it wasn't. Not for me. I wanted to win, and get my prize. My whole team did, we had all entered this tournament for the same goals. But, now, they were dead. I was next. I knew that I was dying, and the pain burned through my soul as scarlet blood seeped through the wounds in my chest and stomach.

Every breath was more tired and ragged, my eyes glaring my opponent in the eye, but it made no difference how harsh my glare was. My opponent stood calmly, unfazed by my piercing eyes, and I knew my fate had been sealed. I was dying, like it or not. Everything I had lived for, every accomplishment I had made, it was all going to be gone in a few seconds.

Maybe this was a realistic dream. But, no, optimism is for the weak. Optimism is running and hiding, not facing your fears. But the real version is that my life was slowly dwindling away from me, and I didn't want to believe that either. I tried to conserve the little energy inside of me, trying, but failing. My head spun from loss of blood, my eyes clenched up in pain.

The only thing to pray for now was something I swore I'd never do. But, my heartbeat was slowing, the blood still spewing, creating a scarlet puddle around me. The blood stuck to my clothes, some of it dripping to the floor. The only thing that I wanted now was...

...a quicker death.