Here's is the next chapter! It's a little short, so I apologize. I'll ramble more at the end, get to reading!
Disclaimer: I own nothing Yu Yu Hakusho and any dialogue you may recognize comes from episode 29 of the anime. I also own nothing by Relient K.
Recap: After a trying battle, Kuwabara lost his match against Rinku of Team Rokuyukai. Now it's Roto versus Kurama. Who will be the victor?
I am a hostage to my own humanity. Self-detained and forced to live in this mess I made. And all I'm asking is for you to do what you can with me, but I can't ask you to give what you already gave. (Relient K: Be My Escape)
Roto was a sneaky looking demon. He had greyish purple skin and greasy dark hair. His oversized jacket was rumpled and hung messily off his skinny frame. And the energy he gave off had Allia gripping the edge off the wall so tight, her knuckles were turning white. It wasn't that he was strong. Allia could just tell that Kurama would have no problem overpowering Roto. The problem was Allia could tell there was something underhanded about Roto and the confidence he had walking into the ring. Allia took a deep breath and looked at Kurama. She would just have to listen to Botan and try to stay positive, no matter what her gut was telling her.
"Kurama," Hiei's deep voice carried across the arena, " Considering the stakes, we can't afford to take any chances. Don't leave the ring with him still alive."
"Naturally." Kurama said, his tone suggesting he didn't need to be told how to end this match.
"I don't know if you want to fight him...Be careful, Kurama..." Yusuke mumbled, still asleep on the ground.
"What is he talking about?" Keiko wondered. Botan sighed and shook her head.
"Yes, it's simply time I stepped in." she said. She placed her hands on the ledge and proceeded to swing herself over. She fell gracefully to the ground, landing lightly on her feet.
"Um, are you sure you can do that?" Keiko asked, looking down at her.
Allia blinked and watched in shock as Botan ran over to the boys. She leaned over the edge, looking at where Botan had landed. What the Hell.
"Wait for me, Botan!" She called, before swinging her legs over and dropping to the ground. She stumbled a little when she landed.
"Allia!" Shizuru and Keiko called, "Get back up here!"
Allia just smiled up at them before taking off.
"We will deal with the rest of their team, you relax." She heard Hiei say to Kuwabara. Kuwabara was sitting on the ground, clutching at his injured arm.
"Hey, I'm not out of this yet. If Yusuke doesn't wake up, I'll take the last guy." he said angrily to Hiei.
"We'll pray that that doesn't happen."
"Alright Boys, I'm here." Botan said as she finally reached them, Allia catching up a few seconds later. "Now, let's whip this team into shape!"
"Hey, how did you two get here?" Kuwabara asked.
"Leave, before you hurt yourselves." Hiei said, looking away from them.
"Well that's a jolly thing to say to someone who's going to help you win, don't you think?" Botan said, glaring at Hiei.
"You mean one of you is like a replacement fighter for Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked.
Botan laughed. "No, silly." She grabbed the edge of her Kimono, and the next thing they knew she was pulling it off in a flourish. Underneath her kimono she wore brown pants with a yellow button up shirt tucked in and red suspenders. "Ta-da! In addition to detective's assistant and pilot of the River Styx, I'm also a licensed trainer!"
Kuwabara just stared at her. "I'll be looking after you all and making sure you stay in tip top shape for fighting." She smiled at them.
Kuwabara then turned to Allia. "What about you Allia? Urameshi's not gonna be happy when he sees you down here. You could get hurt."
"Uhhh..." She hesitated. Thinking on her feet, she linked arms with Botan and smiled at her. "Every trainer needs her assistant!"
Botan smiled back at her, playing along. "Of course! And what a great assistant you are!"
Kuwabara blinked, and then smiled as he began unbuttoning his shirt. "Oh great! Then maybe you can help me nurse this wound here. See-"
Before Kuwabara could finish his sentence, Botan was pulling Allia along behind her as she moved to kneel down next to Yusuke. "Spirit world to Yusuke! Wake up!" she yelled as she slapped his cheeks. Allia stood behind her, leaning over with her hands resting on her knees, as she looked worriedly at her sleeping friend. "Come on now!"
"None of that will work." Hiei said, glancing at them out of the corner of his eye, "The boy is determined."
Botan stood. "Well, at least I'll get him out of the way." She motioned for Allia to grab a leg. Together the girls pulled Yusuke away from the side of the ring and over to the wall. Once Yusuke was safely out of harms way, they turned towards the ring, where Kurama's fight was about to begin.
"You know, that rose whip he's got must be ten feet long." Kuwabara said, looking at Hiei. "Where's he stash it? All the ways I can think of sound kinda painful."
"Kurama simply carries a normal rose." Hiei answered. "By manipulating it with his spirit energy it's transformed into a whip. Even weeds can turn into a deadly weapon for Kurama." Allia looked at Kurama, interested in seeing this power of his. She had never seen he or Hiei fight in a battle before, so she was curious to see just how strong the demon members of the team actually were.
"SECOND FIGHT, ROTO VERSUS KURAMA, BEGIN!" Koto yelled.
Allia couldn't exactly make out what they were saying, but she saw Roto bow to Kurama as he mumbled something to him. She glared at the sketchy demon, still worrying about the feeling he was giving her.
Suddenly, a blade seemed to grow out of Roto's hand. It was the same purplish gray as his skin and the sun reflected off the blade. Roto charged at Kurama then, his weapon held high in the air. Kurama easily jumped out of the way, avoiding Roto's attack. Roto continued to swipe at Kurama with the oversized blade, and each time he did, Kurama would gracefully dance just out of his reach. He was dodging the attacks so fast, Allia was having a hard time following his movements.
"He's clearly no match for Kurama." Hiei said, "What a joke of a round. It's a pity you couldn't have taken him and let Kurama deal with the little child and his yo-yos" Hiei glanced snidely at Kuwabara.
"Hey! You watch it shrimpy! I just got cheated is all!" Kuwabara yelled.
Roto lunged at Kurama, but just like before, Kurama easily avoided him. Out of nowhere, Kurama appeared behind Roto. He raised his arm, ready to deliver the final hit. Allia couldn't help the little gasp that escaped her lips. A frightening chill had ran down her spine and somehow she just knew something wrong was about to happen.
Just like Allia predicted, Kurama stopped, just long enough for Roto to swing his blade around. They watched as Kurama jumped away from Roto, but the damage had already been done. A long slice had been cut into Kurama's cheek and the blood was flowing heavily from the wound.
"What happened?" Kuwabara asked. "He's bleeding! You said no match!"
"Stupid...cheater.." Yusuke mumbled. Botan and Allia turned to look at him. "I hate him...little...stupid...piece of..."
"You sure you're asleep?" Botan wondered.
Allia watched Yusuke for a moment, before standing up from where she and Botan had been sitting beside the sleeping form of her best friend.
"I'm going up there with Kuwabara and the others." she told Botan. Botan looked at Yusuke again and then stood as well.
"Alright, let's see what's going on with Kurama." The girls jogged over to the boys. Botan went to stand between Kuwabara and the short masked fighter. (Allia thought it was pretty strange they hadn't said a single word so far. She didn't even know who this person was!) Allia stood beside Hiei.
Roto was holding something in his hand now. Allia wasn't exactly sure, but it looked like some kind of button. Is it to a bomb or something? She wondered. She still couldn't hear what Roto was mumbling to Kuwabara, but she was pretty sure whatever it was had to do with whatever that thing was in his hand. Goosebumps were beginning to raise on her arms. A sudden feeling told her that maybe the button wasn't to a bomb. Some part of her knew though, Roto was using some kind of dirty trick in this fight.
Kurama's arms fell to his side and Roto lunged at him again. This time, Kurama just stood there as Roto landed punch after punch onto Kurama's face. Kurama was jerked back and forth as Roto's fists struck him over and over again. Suddenly, Kurama twisted away from the hit, and Allia felt his spirit energy rise as he flicked something unknown at his enemy.
Roto yelled something at Kurama, but it was lost to Allia's ears as the crowd began to cheer even louder. She saw Kurama put his hands behind his back again.
"MYSTERIOUS...KURAMA HAS BECOME TOTALLY OBEDIENT TO HIS OPPONANT!" Koto called.
"What's wrong, Kurama? Let him have it!" Kuwabara yelled, looking worriedly at his teammate.
"Quiet." Hiei said. His gaze was focused on Kurama. Allia tried glancing out of the corner of her eye to read his expression, but his face was blank.
Roto walked calmly towards Kurama, his hands in the pockets of his jacket. Allia thought she could hear him laughing as he stopped to stand in front of their friend. Roto lifted the object in his hand to Kurama's face, leaning in so he could whisper to him. Allia noticed that, despite Roto seeming to have the upper hand in this fight, Kurama was calm. She could feel that his energy had remained at the same level ever since that moment earlier in the fight, when it had suddenly spiked. When she focused on his energy, she could feel his even breaths, and the anxious feeling Roto was giving her would slowly ebb away. It was like Kurama knew Roto was no match for him.
"Then why aren't you fighting back..." Allia mumbled. She thought she saw Hiei glance at her, so she bit her lip and turned her full attention to the fighters in the ring again.(All the while making a mental note to stop talking to herself in front of Hiei. The guy already thought she had a few screws loose. No need to make him question her sanity even more.)
"KURAMA REMAINS ABSOLUTELY MOTIONLESS! WHAT IS THE CAUSE? HAS HE LOST HIS WILLINGNESS TO FIGHT?" Koto announced, her amplified voice ringing around the stadium.
Allia could hear Roto laugh again as he slammed his knee into Kurama's stomach. Kurama's grunt of pain echoed back to them as Roto's laughter continued. He began punching Kurama's face again, but still Kurama refused to defend himself.
"IT'S BRUTAL. IT'S VIOLENT. IT'S WONDERFUL! ROTO IS PUNCHING HIM LIKE A SIDE OF MEAT AND THERE'S NO RETALIATION!" Koto called happily to the crowd. Over and over, Roto hit him. With each hit, he seemed to become angrier. Allia wondered if Roto could sense how, despite the constant attacks, Kurama remained calm. It was like Kurama wanted Roto to become more and more enraged with each blow. It was like he was waiting for something to happen.
Roto stopped his violent assault on Kurama's face and summoned his blade out of his arm again. He reached forward, the edge of the blade leaning against the already injured cheek. Roto slowly drug the weapon across Kurama's face, before suddenly ripping it away. Kurama's head jerked in the direction the knife went, blood flying from the cut. Kuwabara gasped in shock.
Kurama let the blood run down his cheek for a moment, before slowly standing straight, staring at Roto the entire time. Roto glared angrily at the red head for a moment, before smiling. Allia didn't like that smile. It was nasty and conniving and Allia knew, had this slimeball been playing fair, Roto would never have the guts to smile at Kurama like that.
Roto, that wicked grin still on his face, lifted his left leg up and rested his arm on the raised knee. Allia could see his lips moving as he mumbled something to Kurama again. He seemed to chuckle, before licking some of Kurama's blood off his blade. Whatever Roto had said, Kurama was finally done listening. He took his arms out from behind his back and began brushing some dirt off his right sleeve. The energy around Roto began to change. He was growing steadily more nervous now that Kurama seemed done playing Roto's little game.
Roto called back his sword and jabbed his finger in Kurama's face. His voice was beginning to grow louder. Allia swore she heard him call Kurama a "selfish demon" before raising the hand that held the device. It seemed Roto had finally decided to push the button and finish whatever dirty trick he'd kept hidden up his sleeve. There was another spike in Kurama's energy. Allia watched as Roto became motionless, his thumb hovering over the button.
Kurama stepped forward and knocked the device out of the demon's hand, catching it before it could hit the ground.
"IT'S HARD TO TELL WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW, BUT IT'S CLEAR, KURAMA HAS CONTROL!" echoed Koto's voice. Kurama leaned back, seeming to study the now immobile creature in front of him. He said something to Roto and Allia noticed that as he spoke, Roto's energy began to twist in fear. Kurama turned away, sliding his hands into his pockets as he moved away from the frightened demon.
Roto called after Kurama, causing the red head to stop and look back. Kurama watched him for a moment. Suddenly, countless stems burst through Roto's body, killing him instantly. Allia watched in shock as beautiful purple and pink flowers bloomed from the stems jutting out of the slain demon's corpse.
"What irony," she could hear Kurama say as he made his way back over to them, "such beauty, sprung from such an ugly soil."
"WELL, THAT ONES DEFINITELY OVER. THE SCORE IS TIED AT ONE!" Koto said.
"What a fool," Hiei said to Kurama as he neared them, "so intent on proving himself, he couldn't notice your moves. Don't worry about his demon friend. He vanished the moment Roto died."
"Then you knew?" Kurama asked, smiling down at Hiei.
"What a relief..." Yusuke mumbled from over at the wall. Kurama and Hiei turned to look at the sleeping boy.
"Yes.." Kurama whispered.
"Okay, enough with the secret glancing stuff, what just happened?" Kuwabara asked.
"Yes, do tell!" Botan added.
"It's passed." Hiei said.
"Agreed." Kurama smiled. They turned away and faced the ring again.
Botan huffed in aggravation. "That isn't very friendly of them!"
"Those demons think they're so darn cool." Kuwabara grumbled.
Allia looked at Kurama and smiled. The bad feeling that Roto had given her had finally passed. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened up in the ring, but she was definitely glad Kurama had made it out of there relatively unharmed.
She just hoped the rest of the fights would be that easy.
So, sorry again for the short chapter. I just wanted Kurama's battle to have a chapter of its own. Did I do okay? I was a little nervous writing this fight. I know Hiei was the only one aware of what Roto was trying to do at the time (besides the sleeping Yusuke of course), but I still wanted to show that he was playing dirty. I might have Allia stick her nose into his business sometime in the next few chapters so she can find out what went on. I'm a busybody so I feel the need to make her one too. :) Well, until next time!