Meddling with Dragons
Disclaimer: Too high maintenance for me to own. Much more fun to just cause problems and then run away cackling.
The stadium had been rebuilt several times since its first use – somewhat unsurprisingly, as it was largely demolished by the competitors every three years. It had also been expanded, and for good reason, as demons of every shape and size lapped against the walls or in some cases hung off of them.
The usual suspects were in attendance: Yomi, with his now adolescent son; Raizen's old war buddies including Enki, who had won twice since the tournament's inception; Mukuro, still devoid of her cloak and mummy wrappings and looking less defensive and more dangerous than in previous years. The old gang was there, too – Jin and Touya and Chu and Rinku. The monks still stubbornly refusing to give up their retainer outfits. And of course Hiei and Kurama, one a shadow barely visible by the wall Mukuro leaned against and the other a splash of flame near the monks.
All in all, a good turnout. The only one missing is Kuwabara and I'm damned if I'd let him miss exams for this. He just might do something with himself besides fighting one of these days. Well, time to get this party started.
Yusuke tapped his knuckle gently on the microphone. Though he had never won and was not sure he wanted to, he was still in charge of starting the tournament off. The booming echoes died away in the roar of the crowd. Deep breath…
"OKAY, YOU KNOW THE DRILL! NOW SHUT UP SO WE CAN SEE WHOSE ASS I'M KICKING FIRST!"
The roar exploded into mixed laughter and death threats and Yusuke caught a glimpse of Kurama, eyes bright with amusement, before he turned to look at the screens. The first round would be blocks of 100, then the winners in the more usual one-on-one matchups.
Yusuke wasn't worried – the blocks were only interesting if two serious competitors got stuck in the same one, like Yomi and his son the first year. But with how many competitors were there this year, the chances of that happening were slim.
Hours later, Yusuke almost wished that there had been more powerhouses stuck together in the preliminaries, because now he was looking at the tournament blocks and what he saw scared him.
As the weaker competitors were weeded out there were more and more fights between near equals and no matter who won, it tended to knock them ass over teakettle for a while. Exhibit A, pretty much any even fight Yusuke had. Result: the strong fighters won, often as not, based on when they had to fight their equals. Skill and planning took second place to luck.
Kurama's luck had always been rather fickle.
Yusuke told himself to man up, swallowed the lump that was absolutely not in his throat and went to find his friend.
-o-o-o-o-
Kurama was breathing very steadily, eyes closed as he leaned against the wall of the stadium. It didn't matter – the image flared on the back of eyelids. Hiei vs. Kurama. And the winner would fight Mukuro.
You knew this was coming. No matter the odds, you knew.
Hiei would want to fight Mukuro. No matter that he practically lived with her, he had always loved testing himself against the strong. He would be fierce in pursuit of that goal, and a different Kurama might have bowed out.
Haunted red eyes watched him from the corner of his mind. He had given his word. He could not go back on that.
"Kurama."
"I confess, you were not the person I was most expecting." Kurama opened his eyes and pushed off from the wall. Manners were more important than heartache.
Touya's eyes were both warmer and more remote than Kurama remembered, and his entire body appeared frozen with seriousness. Even for Touya, this was impressive.
"The Shinobi have a saying. To succeed, you must learn to kill your heart."
Kurama's eyebrow rose almost involuntarily. They both knew Kuwabara after all. Touya gave a faint smile.
"I know now that this is not always the case, but for you, now…" The smile faded and his gaze sharpened. "If you do not kill your heart, another will."
Kurama's stomach clenched but nothing showed on his face. Nothing would. Touya nodded and left, his last words barely a breath on the air.
"You are too good a friend, Kurama."
Yusuke was waiting at the gate.
He had his own match starting soon, but they would wait. They would wait or Yusuke would know why. This was more important.
"Kurama!"
Kurama looked up and Yusuke had two seconds of complete confusion before he slapped himself back into sense. Of course he wouldn't let anything show. He carefully pushed away the thought that something should be showing. There was enough to worry about.
"You better kick some ass for me. I haven't gotten to beat on the shrimp in a while. And Mukuro won't know what hit her." Brash, that was the way to go.
Kurama smiled at him as if everything was all right. "Yusuke, don't you have a match to win?"
Yusuke figured that at this point he was probably worried enough for both of them, so he let Kurama pretend. "You know they'll wait for me. They're all too 'fraidy cat not to."
Kurama's eyes warmed at that and his hand was light on Yusuke's shoulder. "Take care of yourself. Try not to break the ring this time." He was gone before Yusuke could react, but he shouted through the gate anyway.
"You too, fox-boy!" The sound system bleeped a warning and he took off running for his own gate. "You take care of yourself too."
