Unfortunately my Mother and Father had persuaded me to go to the dark tournament with Koenma. Well, more like decided for me. Although the departure date was last night, my Mother had made arrangements for me to catch a ride with one of our family friends, yet another I had not heard about.
"Ann, Botan's here." My Mother yelled from the door. I slipped on the top portion of my traditional priestess uniform that my Mother had insisted upon, grabbed my duffel bag and bounded towards the front door. I felt a strong energy, something I have never felt – and it was radiating off of the blue haired girl who stood at the door with a broom.
Her grin spread from ear to ear, "It's so nice to finally meet you Ann! I'm Botan, Grim Reaper to the spirit world. Is she insane? She thought she was the Grim Reaper, there is no such thing.
"Nice to meet you," I forced a smile onto my face and shook her hand.
"Have her powers settled in yet?" Botan asked my parents as she took my bag and one from my mother before she hung it on her broom – which was floating in mid air. I felt my eyes bulge out of their sockets for a moment. She giggled, "I'll take that as a no."
"She did the D.O.D.B. a couple days ago so they should be in within the next week." My father said slowly with a wink, opening my duffel and placing a tattered old text on top, "Special spirit techniques for healing and what not."
"We better get going, the tournaments already started and our team is up first." Botan smiled, taking my arm gently and setting her broom down to a lower level so I could get on. "We'll see you in a week or two!"
I just waved courtly as she pushed off and we immediately were hurtling over the forest around our shrine, over water, and within five minutes we were landing outside of a large arena on an isolated island. I had been clutching so tightly onto her broom that my knuckles had gone white and rigid. I hesitantly got off, still terrified of flying god knows how many miles in the air at top speed.
"So you had a taste," She winked as she flashed the large, scaly guard two passes. I was on edge as we walked through the halls. Monster after monster passed by us, each one had its own little quirk that was grotesque – whether it be antennae, scales, sharp teeth, horns, or other features.
"I thought that that was just a nightmare, but now I'm beginning to think that it was real," I said, my eyes darting around the almost empty halls.
"How 'bout I tell you more about it after the team finishes this round," Botan smiled, turning around to pat me lightly on the head, "I take it that you've never tried to heal anyone before."
I shook my head, "I've accidentally healed the fracture of my class mate in grade four if that counts? Course, it broke again when he spazzed and cracked it against the tether-ball pole."
"Accidentally," She chortled, pulling me along to the large open field where a red hair boy in a blue uniform was getting beat up – by a boy who could not be older than ten, with yo-yos. An ashen haired boy with angel wing tuffs was sleeping against the side of the circle. What really caught my attention was the red head standing next to the masked fighter and the small 'man'. His green eyes connected with mine as Botan and I grew closer, a look of surprise hidden in him.
"Hello Shuichi," I said smiling. He had lied to me. He had told me that he was in America working on a student exchange program, not in the middle of some demon fight.
"Hello Ann," He waved, only to whip his head back to the fight when the yo-yos fell from high in the sky, the uniformed boy plummeting down.
"Oh, that's right! You two go to the same school." Botan said as she tapped her chin. "Anyways, the one in the ring is Kuwabara, the one next to Kurama is Hiei, the one asleep is Yusuke, and the one with the mask is – someone who I know you know." She chuckled. Why was she referring to Shuichi as Kurama? I had to ask him that later.
"Nice to meet you all, well – three of you currently," I shrugged, turning my attention to the fight like everyone else was doing.
Everything my parents had told me about the Spirit World was true – from what I could tell from the little information I had not blocked out thinking as false. I had heard stories about the Dark Tournament. A deadly tournament where you could die in any cruel and gruesome way your opponent was capable of. And the winning team was entitled to a free wish if they were able to defeat other gruesome demons.
Kuwabara ran from the spot where he had been unconscious a moment ago, to gripping Yusuke by the collar, yelling. He must have not known where his priorities were since his opponent had wrapped him in yo-yos once more and held him out of the ring, only letting him go when the referee had rewarded the point to the opposing team. What a wonderful way to start the tournament for Shuichi's – our – team. Kuwabara limped out of the ring.
"This is why you're going to be useful," Botan said as Kuwabara staggered his breathing. "I want you to put both of your hands over him, where it hurts, not touching but still close. Then just focus."
"Hey Botan, who's she?" Kuwabara asked, standing next to Hiei.
"This is Ann, the team's Medic." She smiled, "Since your standing and breathing – you won't be getting any right now." She turned her attention to Yusuke while we quickly exchanged hellos. "Earth to Yusuke, wake up! Nap time's over."
"Don't let him leave the ring alive." Hiei said sternly as Shuichi jumped into the ring.
"Naturally," He replied darkly, taking a rose out of his hair. I had never heard him so menacing in the ten years that I had known him, or known him to carry a rose around in his long hair. I felt my breath hitch in my throat as Shuichi started dodging the blade of his opponent. He looked so graceful as he shifted around him. All of a sudden the two stopped fighting and stood perfectly still. Shuichi's opponent started to land punches to his body, never bothering to dodge. He only stopped when Shuichi threw a pebble at him.
"You've been warned," He yelled, pulling out a treacherous looking button, "Now fold your arms around your back if you want your human mother to live." Shuichi folded his arms behind his back and stood still, taking a kick in the gut. I honestly wanted to jump into the ring and claw the blue man's eyes out with my long nails. Shuichi loved his mother dearly. Heck - I never passed on a chance to come over because she was so nice.
His opponent started to draw a long line where he previously cut Shuichi, then he whipped his hand-blade away, causing more blood to cascade down his cheek.
"I want you to lick the scum off of my boot," He smirked evilly.
"I will not," Shuichi said after a moment.
"What did you say?"
"Go ahead; press it now if you wish." Shuichi said, patting some dirt free from his white outfit. He stole the button from the demon's hand and crushed it underneath his foot.
"You believe in mercy don't you?" He asked, worry seeping from every word.
Shuichi had been walking away, but turned his head slightly once he stopped for a moment, "No." His opponent collapsed to the ground, flowers sprouting out of his body, "What irony. Such beauty sprung from such an ugly soil."
"Great job," I smiled, flashing him a thumbs up hesitantly.
"Enough with all this secret glancing stuff," Kuwabara said through gritted teeth.
"That isn't very friendly of them." Botan countered.
"Those demons think they're so damn cool," Kuwabara finished.
"OK – you guys need to do some major explaining after this," I said, throwing my arms above my head in confusion.
"Don't worry, we will," Botan laughed. Hiei was next into the ring against which he deemed the strongest of the other team. As soon as they were given the OK to fight, the challenger had lit on fire, letting it spill over. I had no where to run as it came bellowing towards me. Luckily I felt the soft hands that I knew all too well pull me out of the path and into safety.
"Thanks," I stuttered.
"You have to be more careful," He scolded, holding me tightly by the shoulders.
"Yeah, don't want to be roasted alive on my first day," I joked.
"Hiei is a great fighter so he will easily come out on top," Kurama said as we moved out of another blast of flames. Just like Kurama said – Hiei was easily the winner. All that was left of his opponent was a charred outline on the stadium wall. My mouth just hung open in awe. I moved behind Kurama as a man with a blue mohawk stumbled out into the ring in a drunken stupor.
"He has, like, no spirit energy," Kuwabara said as Yusuke popped into the ring to take him on in a fight. Apparently he had lost a game of rock paper scissors when they were determining the line up for their team, so he was made the alternate. For some reason, I had sensed some power deep inside of him.
"This guy is no more that a pathetic drunk!" A man in the crowd yelled. Chu snapped and ran into the crowd, almost breaking the man's neck. He came back into the ring with a bottle of whiskey. It seemed that most of the demons around me were having trouble keeping track of Chu's fancy foot work. I saw every step he took. I turned around and rubbed my eyes, hopping that I was just seeing things. But when I turned around – I still saw all of his moves.
"Are you OK?" Hiei asked from behind me. I jumped at his sudden presence.
"My eye's aren't working right today," I chuckled, "I can see each step that Chu takes." Hiei and Kurama exchanged surprised glances, but dropped the subject.
After a quick fight filled with explosions from Yusuke's finger and Chu's stupor, they stood in the ring, laughing at their own helplessness. Not to mention they had somehow lost their shirts when they were dodging their last attack. Alas, they were locked in an all out punch-a-thon which they called a knife edge death match. Everything seemed to darken, and then the ring was slowly lit by spots as the two started to throw punches.
"You've got to make Yusuke stop fighting," A brown haired girl yelled as she ran onto the field from where Botan and I had been just a moment before.
"Oh Keiko, this is Ann – the healer for the team," Botan smiled as she patted my head.
"Hey," I waved nervously.
"Hello," She said forcing a smile onto her face as she clung to Kuwabara. Suddenly a crack of lighting rang through the stadium, and Chu fell to the ground, Yusuke still standing at the end of ten counts – signalling that we had just won. The entire crowd burst out yelling for Yusuke to kill Chu.
"Hey everyone – if you want to say something, say it to my face. Or you'll have to deal with my fist," He yelled, the crowd automatically shutting up.
"So, Shuichi," I started lounging on the sofa in our common-room as I flipped through the book my Father had put into my duffel. The yellowed, tattered pages contained different healing arts. Ways to heal a broken limb, scratches, even a decapitation. "You fight with flowers."
He chuckled, "That's the only thing you can think about after watching one day of fighting?"
I shock my head, "There's also the fact that you lied to me, you're here at the tournament, you killed that demon in cold blood and is that Kuwabara guy sane?"
He let a small laugh break through his lips, "I'm sorry I lied to you – I just did not know that you would know of the word I have always known. I'm here at this tournament because I owe Koenma for a crime I committed. Kuwabara is in fact as sane as he can be."
"Crime," I asked as I turned the page to a diagram of the basic skeleton.
"I helped Hiei steal a mirror so I could save my mother's life by giving up my own," He let out a chuckle before he continued, "But Yusuke meddled when I was making my wish, so the mirror decided to spare both of our lives."
"I like that mirror," I started, throwing in a Texan accent for fun, "Anything you need fixing?"
"I'm perfectly fine – most of us are," He said, staring at the ceiling, "How about we go find Hiei?"
I chuckled and closed the book, "I like that idea." He held out his hand for me to take it like we always did when we were going on an adventure. It had started back in kindergarten when we went on a hunt to find the best place for hide and seek. It had stuck ever since.
We made our way to the forest, and saw Hiei trekking towards us, holding his hand in pain.
"It won't be easy to keep winning with out the use of your dominate hand," Shuichi said sternly.
"You heard what Toguro said, if we don't make it through this tournament – he will kill us all." Hiei said as we joined him, "Fighting is our only way out."
"Ann, stay behind us – when I give you a signal, run for it." Shuichi said quietly as two lizard like men came into view. "Seems like the doctors team has gotten a bit lost," He said a little louder.
"What a horrible coincidence for us both," Hiei joked.
"Get the healer first," The blonde ordered the grey haired lizard man. I ran behind the tree as he ran forward, falling to pieces as both Shuichi and Hiei attached him. "Looks like we have to kill you two first," A large mecha – like creature came waddling from the woods to his side, "We call him Tetasable – go on and get those two low lives."
Tetasable's arms extended toward the two – the only thing they could do was run.
"Get out of here Ann," Shuichi yelled. I nodded and ran towards the hotel as fast as my legs could carry me, but I found my self running back towards the fight. I leapt onto the blondes back and got him in a head lock as hard as I could. Shuichi stood frozen, staring at me with a bit of anger in his eyes as the two claws came down on him. I screamed out his name as the blonde threw me off of him roughly. I luckily missed a tree and instead fell into a pile of leaves.
"You're wrong," I heard Shuichi say from the clearing; "Even the hardest substance can be broken by being crashed into it's self. And also, the ability to feel pain is not a weakness, it's a strength. Pain tells a creature its weaknesses and when not to expose them to attack. You're robot is dead. And so – I'm afraid – are you." I stumbled back into the clearing, picking twigs and leaves out of my hair. The blonde was in Hiei's grasp, receiving punch after punch.
"Hey guys," I chuckled. Shuichi shot me a glare which stopped me from continuing.
"Why didn't you run?" He growled; his eyes filled with anger and worry.
"I – I didn't want to leave you alone to deal with that machine. I know I couldn't have done much – but I could've at least tried something." I said uneasily.
Shuichi chuckled lightly, "You're hard headed you know. How about you go back to the hotel and rest." I nodded slowly, walking off in the direction we had come just moments before. I ran the rest of the way to the hotel once I was out of the forest – heading to the hotel room that I shared with Botan, Keiko, and Shizuru. I felt the buzz of my phone in my pocket. I sighed, sitting on my bed, flipping it open.
"Hello?" I answered, falling on my back with an oomph.
"Ann, get down here now – Kuwabara's injured and we can't move him," Botan said into the phone. I closed my phone, bolted upwards, grabbed the tattered manuscript from the table and burst out the door to the stadium – running as fast as I could go. Once I arrived Yusuke was about to fire his spirit gun at his three opponents. Shuichi and Hiei were staring at the fight, unable to join in. I rushed to Kuwabara's side, flipping through the pages until I got to one I thought would help. I knelled beside him, placing my hands over his chest, my thumbs and fore fingers connecting in a triangle.
I slowly inhaled and exhaled, reading the chat over and over again in my mind. I felt a sudden coolness on my finger tips – the edges of my hands glowed a light blue. I knew that I would not be that good at healing, so he probably would not be able to fight in the next match. I must have been in deep concentration because the next thing I knew – I was in the large palm of the Dr. Ichigaki – the leader of the current team we were fighting who was no longer less then four feet.
I heard people call out my name as I pounded away at his hand; I even went as far as to bite it.
"Don't worry about me, just kill this bastard!" I yelled. Yusuke started assaulting the Doctor with punches, giving a solid reason for each. On the final one before he went flying into the audience he let go of me. The only bad point to Doctor Ichigaki letting me go was that I was falling from over eighty feet in the air. I could not scream.
I guess I was lucky that Shuichi was quickly underneath me, ready to catch me as I free fell.
"Are you OK Ann?" He asked quickly, his eyes searching me.
I nodded, "I'm fine, thanks." We just stayed in each other's arms for a moment, "I should really be tending to Kuwabara."
"Right," Shuichi said setting me down. I rushed over Kuwabara as Botan helped him into the resting room underneath the stadium. I hurried inside, resuming the position I was in before.
"May I have your attention please. The third round of the Dark Tournament will be starting immediately. We will be continuing in accordance to the diagram, starting from the left. Team Urameshi and Team Mashoo."