Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. All other characters are mine though.
A New Adventure & Hiei's Match
By: Ani-Mimi
Chapter 7: Secrets Hidden
Since the match was over, and there would be no more until the next day, the group made their way back to their rooms. What they saw when they got to Team Musho's suites though was not what they had been expecting.
The room was covered in a sheet of frost, and they could see their breaths in the air. Yukina was leaning over the couch where Yuki was laying. However, unlike the quiet sleep she was in when they left, she was now tossing and turning with fever; a fever that was still raging despite the temperature of the room.
"Yukina, what happened?!" exclaimed Jin with worry.
"She woke up about 20 minutes ago and was just fine. But not long after, something scared her and she sat up, trembling like she had just seen her greatest nightmare come true, before falling unconscious. Then, just a few minutes ago she started heating up and tossing about."
During the time that Yukina had been talking, everyone had gathered around the couch to see for themselves.
"And you cooled the room down to help her fever, right?" asked Boton.
"That's right. However it seems to have made it worse rather than better."
"Yukina, drop it. The longer the room is this temperature, the longer it will take for her to recuperate."
"Okay Genkai."
Once the room started to warm up again, Yuki began to visibly improve. She stopped tossing about, and her fever began to break. Within a few minutes, she was completely back to normal.
"Well, she's sleeping peacefully again. She should be up and around in a couple hours."
"Thanks for all your help lass, I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to her again."
"You're welcome Jin, I was happy to help."
Since nothing more could be done that night, everyone went to bed, confident that they would see Yuki back to normal the next morning.
(The Next Day)
Dawn came bright and early, and found Team Urameshi and Team Musho rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. An agreement made the night before, had everyone meeting in the stadium cafeteria for breakfast. Let's join them there and see what is going on.
"It's a lovely morning that it is. Have you recovered from your match yesterday Yusuke?"
"Yes I have Jin. Speaking of yesterday's match, it's funny; Hiei didn't go into hibernation after performing the Darkness Dragon technique like he normally does."
"That's unusual Hiei; do you have any idea why?"
"No. Even if I did, do you think I'd tell you Fox?"
At this statement, Yuki, who had been sitting unnoticed beside her brother, stood up and walked out of the room without saying a word. Excusing herself, Yukina followed after her.
"What was that all about?" asked Keiko.
"I'm not sure. Jin, Kurama, any of you guys have an idea."
"Sorry Yusuke, me sis has a habit of keeping secrets, even from me."
"Whatever it is that is bugging her, it must have been pretty big. Take a look at her chair, its completely frozen." Said Genkai, who despite her words, seemed to know more than she was letting on.
(With Yuki & Yukina)
Yukina found following Yuki to be harder than she first thought. Yuki had headed to the abandoned section of the stadium, where it was dark and like a labyrinth with all of its twists and turns.
"Yuki? Yuki, where are you? Please answer me."
'Sigh' "I'm over here Yukina."
"Yuki, is everything alright? You sound sad, almost heartbroken."
Yuki didn't say anything, she just sat there, her eyes closed and body trembling from some unknown emotion.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Here's one of your tear gems. I found it on the floor the other night just before the guys came back from the arena."
This however broke whatever had been holding Yuki silent. With energy that would easily rival Yusuke's, Yuki punched the wall with such force that it and the next two walls crumbled to pieces.
"That Jerk! Doesn't he know what I did? Doesn't he know the pain I put myself through just so he could walk out of that ring alive? No wonder he hasn't said anything to you, he's just an egotistical coward."
"Are you so sure he doesn't know? If you don't mind my asking, what did you do anyway?"
"In order to get into the finals, Team Urameshi had to fight my greatest nightmare. But just like he underestimated them, they did the same to him. Itami was going to use his ultimate technique, Life Drain, on Hiei. What Hiei didn't know, is that the attack doesn't always kill. It can also send the victim into perpetual torture, with no escape, not even in death."
Here Yuki had to take a few seconds to calm herself down since she was working herself into a frenzy. She was crying up a thunderstorm while pacing up and down the hall, crushing the rubble under her feet like it was nothing.
"Itami's attack can only be countered by the Darkness Dragon, but Hiei didn't have enough energy to call upon it. So to help, I gathered all of my available energy and sent it through a link that I had established with him earlier. In sending him my energy I created a permanent link with him and took the pain of Itami's attack onto myself. The attack doesn't have to hit in order to be effective, Itami just had to be within 100 feet of his intended target."
"Yuki, I will agree that my brother is slightly egotistical, but he's no coward. Instead he is too prideful for his own good. He would never ask for help or even admit that he needed it in the first place. However in this case I would guess that he honestly doesn't know what happened. He has never encountered someone else with a Jagan and so doesn't know what they are capable of. Secondly, in the past he has experienced a second wind in the middle of a fight and probably attributed that as the source of his newfound energy. This would be especially true if he wasn't aware of the nature of your connection to him," Yukina consoled Yuki.
Yuki appeared to calm down a little and seemed to loose the bulk of her anger towards Hiei, that she had been displaying earlier, in light of Yukina's explanation. However she still had a great deal of frustration that needed to be worked out of her system. Not long after, her frustration found an outlet in an uninvited, though not un-welcomed listener.
(Meanwhile)
"Those two are taking an awfully long time. I'm going to go look for them."
"Okay Yusuke, just look out for me sis. Something tells me she's a bomb waiting to explode."
"Right Jin, I'll be careful."
"I hope the dimwit knows what he's getting himself into."
"I doubt it, Genkai," said Jin with a chuckle.
Yusuke took off in the direction that the girls had gone. As he made his way through the corridors he saw what Yukina had not; massive craters in the walls that Yuki had left in her wake.
'Man, I wouldn't want to be whoever she's mad at right now.'
The farther Yusuke went the more damage he saw. Eventually the craters stopped, but then huge sections of wall began littering the floor. Five minutes later he came across a gaping hole in the wall. Looking through it, he saw two more walls in the same condition as the first.
'Jin was right, and I think she just exploded.'
While standing there, Yusuke heard the conversation between the two girls and couldn't help but feel for Yuki. He knew first hand just how prideful Hiei was and how frustrating he could be.
Suddenly the conversation stopped, and the wall he was standing next to exploded. Seconds later he was being tackled by Yuki, and since he was flat on his back, blocking her power punches seemed next to impossible.
"Yuki calm down will you. You're overreacting to everything."
Throwing her off of him, Yusuke backed up a ways, standing ready just in case she came after him again. From his vantage point, he was able to get a good look at Yuki, and what he saw came as a bit of a surprise.
Yuki's face was set in a frustrated frown, her eyes were closed and had tears running down her face, causing gems to litter the floor around them.
"Hey, its okay Yuki. We'll work everything out. You have a whole bunch of new friends that are willing to be there for you."
"I know Yusuke, just help me now. What do I do?"
"You're frustrated and mad, so you need to get that out of your system. Sparring with me will help. Go ahead; come at me with everything you've got."
And she did just that. She came at Yusuke with more power than he had anticipated, catching him off guard. He had to dodge an oncoming punch, that, while it missed him, it didn't miss the wall behind him. Reminding him of the three decimated walls that he had seen earlier.
"That's it Yuki, get it all out."
Suddenly the temperature dropped drastically, causing Yusuke to have to move around more to keep himself warm. This however, hindered him in keeping track of Yuki's movements. For this reason he wasn't prepared for the roundhouse kick she landed to his ribs, nor for the punch to his jaw that followed immediately afterwards.
Once he had regained his footing, he took stock of his condition and found his ribs cracked and jaw bleeding profusely. Taking a second to think back on her attacks he realized that they had both been powered with fire energy, making them much more damaging due to the contrasting temperatures.
Yusuke didn't have anymore time to contemplate anything because Yuki was coming at him again, though she seemed to be winding down a bit. After another dozen attacks or so she stopped altogether. But just because she had stopped attacking didn't mean that she had stopped venting. Yusuke, having had previous experience from dealing with Keiko's various mood swings, just held her and let her cry.
"Its okay Yuki, it doesn't hurt to cry. Just let it all out."
After thoroughly soaking the front of Yusuke's shirt, Yuki finally calmed down enough to speak coherently again.
"Thank you so much for putting up with me Yusuke. Though I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this or about what you heard."
"Sure thing kid. Now let's get these tear gems of yours cleaned up before joining the others."
"Okay."
During the time that Yusuke and Yuki had been fighting, Yukina had returned to the group. So, when the two made it back, everyone else was packed up and ready to head down to the arena for Team Musho's next match.
While on the way there, Jin pulled his sister aside.
"Hey sis, do you feel up to fighting?"
"Of course I do Jin, I still have some things to get worked out and a fight is just the thing I need."
"Captains to the ring please."
The semifinal match for Team Musho went relatively quickly, considering how tough the competition was at this point in the tournament. Of course, having Yuki fight like she had a bone to pick with someone was certainly an added bonus.
"Team Musho will move onto the finals where they will fight Team Urameshi for the Championship." announced Koto.
Since the next day was the finals, each team went their separate ways to rest up and prepare for what was sure to be a grueling day.
Later that afternoon, Genkai was wandering along the seashore when she came across Yuki sitting on a rock a little ways out from land.
"Yuki, would you mind coming over here? I would like to speak with you."
"Okay, I'll be right over Master Genkai."
With a slight gust of wind she was standing next to the old fighting master.
"Yes Genkai?"
"I wanted to commend you on your strength and abilities, as well as on your control earlier today. I don't think I've seen Yusuke get that beat up since the Demon Tournament almost 3 years ago."
"Thank you Genkai, but I really wasn't thinking correctly. I shouldn't have gotten so caught up in my own emotions to let him get to me like that. Obviously he doesn't need someone to look out for him or care for him."
"I understand how you feel kid, but give him a chance anyway. However, I think it's about time he be on the receiving end of his own attitude and behavior. I suggest you give him everything you've got tomorrow, no holding back.
I say this because I know you're strong kid. Your skill with the sword is something to be envied, along with your unusual arsenal of techniques, most of which I have figured out or at least have an idea about. But tell me, how are you a fire master?"
'Sigh.' "To get a Jagan Eye, it must be implanted through an extremely painful process; however I was born with it. This feature alone is what gives me control over fire. Making me a fire, ice and wind master due to my heritage and the Jagan."
"I take it that you want me to keep this a secret?"
"I would Genkai. I'm not someone that anyone would need to know about. Genkai, I'm not going to hope, but when you feel that the time is right would you give this to Hiei? If you don't ever feel that it should belong to him then take it as a gift to yourself and Yukina for all that you have done for me."
With a heartbroken sign, Yuki handed over the unusually colored tear gem that she had cried the night before. Only now it was attached to a silver chain. When Genkai got a good look at it, her heart went out to the young demon and hoped for her sake that Hiei would one day come to his senses.
"Are you still trying to get his attention by fighting with your eyes closed?"
"You're not as observant as I first thought Genkai. If you had been paying closer attention you would have noticed that I can't use my eyes. It is a side effect to giving him my energy to fight with. That information and the jewel you are holding are to be added to my list of secrets that will remain hidden."
