DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Inu-Yasha - A Feudal Fairytale and all related characters are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi.

The Youkai Strength Competition
Chapter 3: The Second Round
By Shadow's Mirror

The room set aside for the competitors of the Youkai Strength Competition, where they could rest and have their wounds tended to, was completely white. White walls, white tiles on the floor, white bench seats set out in two rows that ran the length of the room, even the lockers around the room's perimeter were painted white! Kanna looked right at home there. All in all, it was the sort of sterile room that you were afraid to drip blood on the floor of.

On one side of the room, Miroku, Sango and Kirara were fussing over a slightly bruised Shippo while Kagome tended to Kouga's wounds under the watchful, and extremely annoyed, eye of Inu-Yasha.

"Feh. I still don't see why you have to look after him, Kagome! It's his own fault he got hurt. Stupid wolf. He's got a sword. Why didn't he use it to deflect those light things?" Inu-Yasha glared at Kouga from the bench opposite the one where Kouga and Kagome were sitting, far too close together for Inu-Yasha's liking. Kouga glared back, then winced in pain as the bandage being applied around his torso suddenly became uncomfortably tight.

Kagome glared at Inu-Yasha as she wound the bandage around Kouga. "Inu-Yasha! Just because Tetsusaiga could deflect them, that doesn't mean that another sword would be able to!" Furious with Inu-Yasha, Kagome kept winding the bandage around Kouga with short, sharp tugs. Every tug made him wince, but Kagome was too angry to notice.

Shippo spoke up from Sango's lap; his voice slightly distorted by the piece of candy that Kagome had given him to make him feel better. "Besides, if he'd defended himself, Kouga wouldn't have Kagome fussing over him now." The kitsune smirked as Kouga jerked in shock, a slight tinge of colour appearing in the wolf-youkai's cheeks. He turned his glare onto the small boy, but the effect was spoiled by his wince as Kagome tightened the bandages again.

"Shippo! Now that's not a nice thing to say!" Kagome frowned at him.

"Perhaps not. But it is most likely true, all the same."

Miroku sat calmly on the edge of the bench beside Inu-Yasha. He had started off sitting beside Sango, who was currently sitting opposite him and beside Kagome, but that hadn't worked out too well, as the red handprint on his cheek confirmed. He ignored Kouga and Kagome's glares at his comment and glanced at Sango, who was obviously trying not to laugh. At his sly wink, the youkai exterminator had to quickly turn away so Kagome didn't see her grin.

Ginta and Hakkaku, Kouga's loyal companions who were sitting on the other side of Inu-Yasha, watched all this with wide, nervous eyes. They weren't quite sure what to think about it all. They weren't really used to humans, being from a wolf-youkai tribe, so they were still trying to get used to seeing humans, youkai and half-youkai relaxed enough in each other's company to trade insults and jokes without someone getting pounded… most of the time, anyway. Most of their attention though was on their leader, and the angry human girl who was bandaging him. They really wanted to point out that the bandages were too tight but… one look at Kagome's eyes and they didn't dare do it.

Sesshoumaru was also somewhat uncertain what to make of the obvious camaraderie between the group. He sat, silent and still, a short distance from them and pretended to study the empty bench opposite him as he unashamedly eavesdropped on their conversation. Every now and then, he'd spare a glance for the small girl sitting beside him, and the smaller youkai on her other side.

Jaken had returned to consciousness shortly after their arrival in the room, courtesy of Rin's way of 'helping' an unconscious or injured youkai. Oddly though, he hadn't seemed to mind having a container of water thrown over him. He had refused Rin's offer to 'help' with his shoulder though; saying that he was perfectly capable of looking after it himself.

So, while Rin handed him the things he needed and kept up her usual constant stream of chatter, Jaken tended to the gash in his shoulder. Although he kept his attention focused on his work, every now and then he'd forget that he was supposed to be ignoring the child and would utter an exclamation or grunt of acknowledge at something she said. Rin didn't seem to mind his brand of listening/ignoring and kept chattering away happily, her high piping voice carrying easily over all the over voices in the room.

Although Sesshoumaru didn't particularly care for his brother, the layout of the room had forced him to sit fairly close to his group. As much as he disliked Inu-Yasha, his hatred of Naraku was far stronger and the evil youkai was sitting on the other end of the bench that Sesshoumaru was sitting on. Fortunately, it was a large room and the bench ran almost the entire length of it, so there was plenty of space between him and Naraku. All the same, Sesshoumaru had positioned himself between Naraku's group and Rin.

Even though he had been assured that there were spell wards in place to magically enforce the temporary truce that made it possible for them all to be in the one place without trying to kill each other, he was not prepared to risk Naraku getting his evil hands on Rin. Not again. Constantly having to rescue the child from Naraku's grasp was somewhat irritating. Sesshoumaru disliked irritation.

On the far side of the room, Naraku lounged as casually as he could on the extremely uncomfortable bench and smirked to himself at the discomfort he could sense coming from the others. The strength of his enemies' hatred for him never ceased to amuse him. He was somewhat surprised that they seemed so relaxed now though, when he was so near. He supposed that it was due to that infernal truce, and their mistaken belief that he was there solely to participate in this foolish contest.

Naraku idly wondered when he should reveal his true purpose in being there. Perhaps he'd wait until the final round of the competition… Or, better still, he could wait until after he won the final round. But then again, there was the prize to consider… Yes, he decided, he would allow them to give him his prize and then he would destroy them all.

As Naraku drifted off into a very pleasant, for him anyway, daydream, Kanna sat quietly beside him, staring off into space. Nothing new there. The only movement she made was her hand's light stroking of the frame of the round mirror lying on her lap. Her face was perfectly composed, as always, and her large eyes were blank and expressionless, also as always. She seemed to be completely unaware of anything going on around her.

Kagura shifted slightly on the hard bench and continued examining her fan, which she had been doing ever since they had entered the room. The only thing she found more interesting in the room was Sesshoumaru, and that interest was the last thing that she wanted to reveal to her 'father'. She barely stopped herself from shivering at the thought of what he might do if he ever found out.

Determined not to dwell on that subject, Kagura turned her mind to another problem. Kohaku. Not for the first time, she found herself wondering what Naraku was planning that he had felt the need to bring the boy here. The invitation to the event had said that they were allowed to bring any humans along that they wished. Kagura hadn't been surprised when Naraku had insisted on Kohaku coming with them. Naraku would never pass up such a perfect opportunity to show off his control over the boy. But if he wanted to use Kohaku to cause pain and heartache for Inu-Yasha and his group, and of course he did, then why had he told Kohaku to remain in the stands? Why wasn't the boy here? Naraku must have known that Inu-Yasha's friend Sango, Kohaku's sister, would be here. If Kohaku were here too… oh, the pain it would cause the girl! Naraku loved that sort of thing, so why hadn't he done it? It didn't make sense. Unless…

Kagura's eyes narrowed slightly as she realised. Of course! Why hadn't she seen it before! Naraku probably had some evil scheme in mind to turn this whole competition to his advantage and cause Inu-Yasha and his friends even more pain. Maybe even destroy them completely.

Before Kagura could follow that line of thought any further, the door opened and the announcer and the Judge entered the room, catching everyone's attention.

The announcer looked around, his gaze settling briefly on Shippo, then on Jaken. "Oh good, you're both awake. We're here to give you all the official results of round one. I'm pleased to say that all of you have made it through to the second round!" The announcement was met with stunned silence. After a long moment, Shippo hesitantly spoke up.

"B… but I… fainted…" He looked down, blushing slightly.

"So did I… although not in my turn." Jaken glared at Kagura, who ignored him.

The announcer was about to reply when the Judge put a hand on his arm. Nodding, the announcer kept his silence and allowed the Judge to explain it personally.

"I was appointed Judge and Tester for this competition because of an ability that I possess. I can tell the results of my attacks at the moment they hit. Shippo, it was not my attack that caused you to faint. Your magical defense allowed you to withstand the Claws of Light easily. That is why you have barely a scratch now. However, it seems that the meeting of our two illusions, for my Claws of Light are as much illusion as your transformation into a stone idol, had an unusual side effect. Did you happen to notice a peculiar smell just before you fainted?" Shippo blinked and thought for a moment before his nose wrinkled and he nodded. "That was the side-effect," the Judge confirmed.

Inu-Yasha blinked. "The smoke!" he realised. The Judge nodded.

"Yes. I was suspicious about it, since neither my attack nor Shippo's defense should have caused it. According to the competition rules, the only thing that determines whether a competitor proceeds to the next round is how well they withstand the attack that is made against them. Shippo withstood my attack. It was the side effect that was the problem. He didn't faint from injury; he fainted from the smell of the smoke. It shall not be taken into account." The Judge nodded to Jaken. "That also applies to you, Jaken. You withstood the attack I made against you. That is all that matters. Both of you may proceed to the next round." Both Shippo and Jaken breathed sighs of relief.

The announcer smiled slightly and addressed the whole group. "Now for the next order of business. The instructions for the second round." Everyone snapped to attention. "Again, this round is testing your defensive abilities. This time however, you are not permitted to use any items, or magic, to aid you. Instead, you must rely on your physical abilities to evade the attack, and you must evade it. The attack will last for twenty seconds, and if it hits you, you will be eliminated. You don't need to stay on your marker for this one, but you are not permitted to move any further than the marker to either side of your own. Naraku and Sesshoumaru, since you are on either end, you'll see that a line has been drawn to indicate how far you can go on the side with no other markers. As with the last round, retaliation will be cause for immediate disqualification." He gave Inu-Yasha and Kouga hard looks as he spoke. They both tried, and failed miserably, to look innocent.

"One last thing. To keep the death toll to a minimum, if you don't think you can handle any round, based on the instructions for it, you are permitted to withdraw from the competition from this round onwards. Is there anyone here who wishes to withdraw now?"

"Not me! This sounds like fun!" Inu-Yasha grinned, but his smile didn't quite meet his eyes as he darted a glance over to Shippo. The little kitsune had crossed his arms and legs and had a very serious expression on his face as he considered the offer seriously.

"If Dogface is in, then I'm in!" Kouga confirmed confidently, earning a glare from In-Yasha.

"I will continue, of course." Naraku looked bored, but there was something remarkably like concern in his eyes as he glanced at the small youkai girl beside him.

"I'm in," Kagura confirmed quietly. She glanced at her sister too, a slightly worried expression on her face.

Kanna turned her head slightly towards the Judge and announcer. When she spoke, her voice was so soft it could barely be heard. "I cannot use my mirror?"

The announcer shook his head. "No, it's counted as an item."

Kanna looked up at Naraku. "Father…" Her tone was as emotionless as ever.

Naraku frowned at her, obviously displeased. "You will participate, Kanna."

Kanna turned back to the Judge and announcer. "I will participate."

Opposite her, Kagura clenched her hands into fists. For just a moment, as she darted a glance at Naraku, her ruby eyes blazed with hatred. Naraku was too busy frowning at Kanna to notice, but someone else saw the look, and wondered at it.

Sesshoumaru turned his attention from Kagura and nodded to the Judge and announcer. He had no doubts about his capabilities. But Jaken was another matter entirely. "I will proceed. Jaken will not."

Inu-Yasha glared at his brother. "Hey! That's his decision, not yours!" He had no liking for the small youkai, but he liked his brother's attitude even less.

Jaken sighed heavily and shook his head, refusing to look at anyone. "No, Sesshoumaru-sama is right. You all saw what happened in the last round. One attack and I was unconscious. I only got through my turn because of…" He put his hand on the staff lying across his knees and sighed again, dejected.

"Jaken-sama strong." Rin's voice was quieter than usual, but her conviction was unhesitant. She patted the toad-like youkai's arm and looked up at the Judge and announcer. "Jaken-sama showed his strength. Jaken-sama not need to do it again." Jaken smiled slightly and sat up a little straighter.

Inu-Yasha and Kouga snickered, earning themselves glares from Kagome before she smiled at the little girl. "Well said, Rin!" She looked anxiously over at Shippo. "How about you, Shippo?" Inu-Yasha's smile faded as he too looked at the kitsune.

"Shippo…"

The little fox-youkai smiled slightly as he shook his head. "Don't worry. I'm not stupid. I don't want to get myself killed. I'm out." He looked calmly up at the Judge and announcer before his smile widened. "I just wanted to last at least one round, and I did! I'm happy with that." His friends smiled at him, understanding.

The announcer and Judge nodded. "In that case, if the six of you who are competing in this round are ready, the crowd is starting to grow restless. Considering how many youkai are out there, that isn't a good thing. I'll go make the opening round announcement."

As he and the Judge headed to the door, the announcer suddenly remembered something. "Oh! By the way, this round the attack will be… the Chain of Light."

Naraku frowned slightly. The Claws of Light… the Chain of Light… he was starting to have his suspicions that this Judge might not be evil…

* * *

The announcer's voice rang out over the wild cheers, shouts, screams and applause of the crowd. "Let the second round of the Feudal Era Youkai Strength Challenge commence!"

Naraku sneered as the Judge took up position opposite him. He intensely disliked the instructions for this round. He preferred to defend with either his miasma or his barrier rather than his agility. Still, that didn't mean that he'd have any trouble passing the test.

He was so confident of his abilities that the Judge's attack almost caught him by surprise.

With a throwing motion, the Judge released what looked like a glowing silver chain about six feet long. The chain whipped through the air in a snakelike motion that was startling in its speed. Naraku leaped to avoid it and the chase was on!

For twenty seconds, the glowing chain followed Naraku through a series of leaps and somersaults, twists and turns. At every point, it kept pace with him. Three times it almost cornered him and once he barely managed to turn before he left his appointed area and earned himself a disqualification. As the seconds passed, Naraku started looking more and more annoyed. By the time the twenty seconds were up, and the chain faded away to nothing, he was nothing short of furious.

Naraku was convinced that the Judge had deliberately made that chain so fast because the Judge wanted him out of the contest. Even though the attacks were supposed to be stronger each round, there was such a big difference between the first round's attack and the chain that there was no way it could have been the true attack intended for that round!

As Naraku returned to his marker and the Judge moved to stand in front of Kanna, Naraku had a sudden, very unwelcome, thought. If the chain was the true attack for that round… He tensed, for once not even noticing the roar of the approving crowd gathered in the stands.

It was all over in the blink of an eye.

The chain of light whipped towards Kanna with the same speed as when it had been used against Naraku. Kanna didn't move. She seemed frozen to the spot as the chain snaked through the air. Just as the chain hit, a flash of fear crossed her face. For a single instant, her eyes widened and her lips parted in a silent cry. Then the glowing chain wrapped around her and a brilliant light enveloped her.

The Judge tensed and immediately made a slashing motion with one hand, cancelling the attack. The light faded to reveal the small youkai girl lying unmoving on the ground. The Judge moved swiftly to her side as the other competitors looked on in shock. Except for Naraku and Kagura. Naraku scowled and looked away, as though furious with Kanna for not being able to avoid the attack. Kagura clenched her fists and looked as though she was giving serious consideration to either running to her sister's side, storming off or sending her wind blades in Naraku's direction.

The Judge raised a hand and two humans in white medic uniforms hurried out with a stretcher. As they carried Kanna off the field, the low thunder of confused mumbling came from the surprised crowd. Most of them were wondering why the girl had entered the round if she hadn't intended to even try to avoid the attack.

Kouga looked more serious than usual when the Judge came to stand in front of him, but that didn't stop him from saying confidently, "Bring it on! Let's see if that chain of yours is any match for my speed!" The Judged silently released the chain of light and the chase began.

From the first leap, it was clear to everyone watching that Kouga and the chain were almost equally matched in terms of speed. Still, he managed to keep several steps ahead of the chain as it wound after him. Kouga preferred outright running to leaping about, but that didn't mean that he couldn't jump if he had to, as he proved several times when the chain almost caught him at the edge of his allotted area. That seemed to be his biggest problem, more than avoiding the chain. He ran so fast that he was literally running out of room all the time!

Kouga managed to avoid the chain for fourteen seconds before he found himself cornered. With the chain rapidly coming up behind him, he wasted a second glancing behind him before leaping up. But the moment he jumped, the chain suddenly shot straight up in the air and Kouga was unable to maneuver well enough to avoid it! The chain wrapped around him, enveloping him in light just as it had with Kanna. Again, the Judge quickly cancelled the attack. As soon as the glow faded, Kouga fell from the sky.

As the crowd gasped in shock, a flash of red moved to intercept the unconscious boy in mid-air. Inu-Yasha landed lightly and frowned down at the unconscious boy in his arms for a moment before looking up and shouting, "Hey! Can we get some help over here?"

As the medics carried Kouga off the field, the air filled with the cries and wails of the thousands of disappointed and worried fangirls (and fanyoukai). More than a few of them immediately left their seats and headed for the infirmary in the hope that they might be able to comfort their idol.

Inu-Yasha was looking very serious as he headed back to his marker. A moment later, the Judge moved in front of him. Inu-Yasha tensed.

From the moment the chain of light took flight, the crowd was silent, held spellbound by awe at what they were seeing. Inu-Yasha didn't bother with anything fancy. He simply leaped back and then up. Way up. As the chain pursued him, Inu-Yasha suddenly flipped forward. He dove down, past the chain, too fast for it to catch him. By the time it had reversed direction, he was back on the ground and already moving. He bounded forward a few steps and then jumped up again, flipping in mid air. Again the chain followed but this time he didn't try any tricks, he just landed and started bounding backwards and forwards, moving so fast the audience could barely keep track of him. The chain tried to follow, but it was slow compared to the half-youkai. When the time was up, it faded away without having come close to catching Inu-Yasha even once!

The stadium erupted into thunderous applause, shouts, cries, cheers and screams. Quite a few fangirls (and fanyoukai) fainted from the sheer delight of watching such an incredible show of agility. Even Sesshoumaru looked slightly surprised.

He had fought his brother several times and he couldn't remember the boy ever having so much speed before. His movements had even seemed more graceful than usual, which was a shock in itself. The youkai lord regarded his younger half-brother thoughtfully. He was starting to wonder if perhaps he'd been overly hasty in disregarding Inu-Yasha just because he was half human. He couldn't win the contest of course; there was no chance that Sesshoumaru would allow a pathetic half-youkai to beat him, after all. But he might at least provide a little amusement along the way.

As the Judge moved to stand in front of Kagura, she tensed. Normally, she used her power over the wind to avoid attacks, so it wasn't often that she needed to rely on her physical agility. But just because she didn't do it often, that didn't mean she couldn't do it. As the crowd soon found out.

Like Inu-Yasha, Kagura started off with a leap backwards to get herself a little more room to maneuver, then she was off, leaping, flipping and spinning with stunning speed and grace as the chain made the best attempt to follow her that it could. Kagura's sharp eyes kept a careful watch on the chain's movements and she made sure that it came nowhere near her. Her movements were like a carefully choreographed dance and by the time the chain faded away, the watching crowd were roaring and cheering just as loudly for her as they had for Inu-Yasha. No… more! Kagura smiled smugly at the glaring half-youkai as she walked calmly back to her marker and posed for her fans.

She looked over at her father almost defiantly, then looked away again as he gave her a smirk and a nod. Apparently he was pleased with her. A quick glance at Sesshoumaru revealed… nothing, as usual. Kagura caught herself before she released a sigh. What did it matter what that arrogant youkai lord thought of her anyway? Nothing, she told herself firmly. His opinion didn't matter in the least. She refused to acknowledge the part of her mind that said otherwise.

The moment the Judge stepped in front of Sesshoumaru, every member of the audience moved to the edge of their seat, confident that they were about to see something incredible. They were not disappointed.

From the moment the chain was released, Sesshoumaru was a picture of grace, speed and precision. He preferred the wait-until-it's-near-then-avoid-it approach. He would remain perfectly still until it began to close in on him and then he would jump out of the way, avoiding the chain easily each and every time. As soon as he landed, he would wait for it to come at him again and repeat the procedure. He didn't waste a single movement. By the time his twenty seconds were up, the chain hadn't come near him once and he wasn't even slightly out of breath. In fact, he'd made it look ridiculously easy!

As the stadium shook with the noise of the crowd's excitement and appreciation for the show, the announcer stepped up to the microphone. He held up his hand for silence and frowned in irritation when the gesture was completely ignored. He tried again, with the same result, and his frown darkened into a scowl. When the third try also went unnoticed, a black aura surrounded him.

The audience might not have seen his gesture, but there was no mistaking the beam of darkness that shot into the sky and formed the command, 'Silence!'.

When the stunned crowd was finally quiet, the announcer smiled and spoke into his microphone.

"That ends the second round of the Challenge! Once again, there will be a brief break before the start of the third round."

To be continued…