File 10: The roar of the White Tiger
"Kurama, are you alright?" Yusuke asked, worried.
"Still okay, thanks to Akari." The demon reassured him.
"But your injury was still quite deep, and mending internal tissues isn't quite the same as fixing a simple scratch. So as I told you, try not to move around too much, or apply too much pressure on your abdominal muscles and you're absolutely forbidden to fight another Shiseiju." The pink haired girl said sounding like one of those strict, uptight nurses. Kurama agreed like a good boy but with that charming smile that would make those very same nurses blush and stutter and melt before him. So an eye for an eye... "After all, if many girls would give anything for a mere look at your 6-pack, not all would have them spoiled. That their local Apollo had the slightest imperfection, they might not forgive it. Girls ARE scary ya know. Be extra careful when choosing your girlfriend." She half grinned half smirked. Since he couldn't laugh, he just smiled, slightly embarrassed. He had noticed that if he was used to being complimented by girls, she was the only one whose compliments would affect him. And not only her compliments, but everything she would say, didn't he just have that fleeting image of her securedly held in his arms when she said the word 'girlfriend'? And to think she was just joking around...
Akari blinked at Kurama. Was it her imagination? It seemed to her that for a second his smile became a sad one.
"And you DO know your stuff when you talk about scary girls, don't you, Akari? But I would have added heartless, violent, psychotic, sadistic, tyrannical and raving mad."
She tripped Yusuke and walked on him, one step on his back, making the ground crack, another between his shoulder blades, small rocks detached themselves, the last on his head, creating a small but deep enough crater and making the ground tremble and the pieces bounce. His bones had also been cracking. Though she had looked as light as a feather. She should really teach Yusuke how to behave with a lady. Everyone else looked at her with a sweatdrop. That wasn't exactly how a lady would or should act. Kazuma went to help his friend. Hiei sighed and went back to the first topic.
"But this isn't good, you can't battle with those injuries, now there're only Yusuke and me, since Akari doesn't want to fight, and there are three more enemies." Hiei noted. Then Kuwabara said quite confidently that he'd take on the next one but Yusuke pointed out that he had been wetting his pants before Kurama won.
"Shut up! I was merely surprised by his appearance!" Kazuma replied pushing Yusuke back down, making him crash again. Then he boasted about his new abilities and how Akari had trained him. He summoned his reiken. Hiei acknowledged that indeed, it wasn't a normal wooden sword. Kuwabara grabbed him by the front of his cloak, asking if he wanted a fight and Hiei ignored him as usual. So the human decided to further show off the results of his training by making his sword as long as a bamboo stick, he also explained that he could now make it bend and move according to his will and bragged that once he had beaten the Shiseiju he'd fight Urameshi and his reigun. And here she thought she had taught him better, the rei 'master' sighed. It was true Akari wasn't quite on par with true masters yet but among the reiki users here, she was still the most deserving.
In the Reikai, Koenma was already making plans so Kuwabara would also become a spirit detective. That is until Georges reminded him of all the lengthy procedures and the criteria to nominate a spirit detective.
Kazuma made his reiken disappear. He'd take care of the next monster. He sounded confident, but his credibility fell apart when he fell on the ground out of exhaustion, he had used too much reiki. Yusuke was mocking him, if he felt that tired before even beginning to fight he shouldn't have done it. Kurama scolded Akari a little, after all she knew, so why didn't she warn him not to do that?
"Well, he just can't resist a provocation. He's the type that must learn the hard way, just like Yusuke. These guys are not ones to hold back while fighting, but when your opponent's really strong, the slightest miscalculation in the amount of energy you spend on each attack can mean your life or death. I think that's something I know quite well. Being alone in the makai for so much time when I was so young, it's not like I had a choice." Said Genkai's granddaughter, her head down and with a distant look, ever so slightly tinted with sorrow... and hate; her right hand clutching her left arm. "But that was my decision. And that's something Kuwabara must learn too. With the difference that he has friends watching over him. Well, it's not like I didn't make any friends in the Makai, with some so strong they could destroy our old good earth in a few weeks if they wanted to." She added with a dreamy look. She was scared, and yet she longed for it so much, that strength, not to kill that man, a tenth would be enough for him, but to be able to fight equally with them. She NEEDED that strength. But she still had a little time, right?
"Akari..." Kurama whispered, though she didn't hear. She almost never talked of her past, or at least, some of its aspects, to anyone. He wished he could know what had happened, why she needed power that much, because he felt that there was a much deeper and darker reason behind it than just wanting power for power. Because no matter no matter how warm, kind, and affectionate she usually was (albeit in her own way), he had sometimes surprised her with an extremely cold gaze, as if it emprisonned masses of hate, sorrow, and loneliness behind it. No matter how much she trusted people, there was a line that she could not cross or allow others to cross. But at that time, because now he could glimpse beyond that, the boy also began to comprehend just how much the bonds she had with other people were important to her as well as her fear of being alone and losing all her precious people. He felt it, no matter what she would say, and that above anything else, her power was meant to protect. And he wished he could ease, even just a little, the great pain she usually hid so well in her heart and that could be perceived whenever that past, and her prime reason for seeking strength, were evoked.
The two snapped out of their daydream (which had not escape Hiei's prying eyes and mind) upon hearing the familiar beeping sound of the communicating device. It was Botan of course. She had trouble with the Makai Worms, no matter how many she killed, more would replace them. And now they were infesting children. It seemed like not only did they prey upon the wicked but also the weak-minded. But as she was talking, Botan was attacked by one of those guys controlled by the Flute. She ran away and hid but her aggressor forced the door open, she knocked him out with her baseball bat after having blinded him with her fly spray. Indeed, like she was saying, it looked like the gang should hurry up a bit more. Then they all heard a terrible sound, so terrible that the whole castle shook, stones split and fell. It was Byakko's roar. Kurama said it didn't sound like he was in a good mood. Kuwabara was already scared to death. A vein appeared on her head.
"Sorry Botan, I'll contact you later, gotta teach someone some manners." Aka-chan closed the device and began to run, muttering angrily about rude guys interrupting ladies talking about important stuff. They were now at the top of a tower, a narrow passageway was leading to a quite big platform, then they had to walk round up some stairs again, at the top of these stairs were another little platform on which a huge white tiger was standing, and behind that tiger was another passageway to enter the actual dungeon. Byakko was baring his fangs at them. He made a small crater with a lash of his tail. He looked angry. What was it anyway with those guys always lashing their tails and making craters? Was it a lame attempt at intimidation? How boring. Then again, they didn't exactly look like the imaginative type. Not like Ku-chan! But combined with the impressive size of the beast, this made quite an effect, especially on Kuwabara. Byakko made it clear that he was angry at having to come down to fight them and that he thought they were being cocky just because they defeated "that lousy Genbu".
"It's different than in our agreement." Kuwabara said. But Akari pointed out that there had been NO agreement in the first place. Just his crazy hope. He should have known, the weakest ones were always sent first and the big boss was always last. That was common sense. The tiger complained about the frustration of being locked up in a boring town without even the tiniest human to eat and how now the Reikai dared send five brats - three humans and two traitors - to defeat them. Then he started yelling, calling them trash, that humans were his food and he'd feed Hiei and Ku-chan to the hungry ghouls. Tsk! He was the one boring guy who didn't know his place here. The girl sighed.
"I usually love kitties, a lot. But somehow I can't bring myself to say that is one is cute or loveable. And he's so loud, but it just means he can meow alright." That was also a little revenge for having been interrupted. Akari could prove very petty and extremely vengeful. As predicted, he didn't quite like that comment either. He called her names, said that she was all talk and to come here and fight, see if she could back up her words. But she didn't have time to reply as Hiei volunteered to go. However, Kuwabara wouldn't let him. He had said that he would take care of the next one so he would fight. One on one. The tiger roared. The outer part of the passageway and the platform collapsed. Yusuke looked at his friend's legs dubiously.
"Surely your knees are buckling because you're excited and not because you're scared?"
Hiei also seriously doubted Kuwabara's ability to win but still let him go, same for Yusuke, after a time. Akari didn't say anything but watched him intently. Kurama was looking at her, trying to make an opinion by her reactions. She knew Kuwabara best for having trained him, so if she was letting him fight, surely he could do something. Besides, as a man, Kuwabara Kazuma had to protect the girl, right? He couldn't let Hiei and Kurama get all the attention. The beast laughed outloud, too amused at being challenged on one on one by the likes of him. Katsuyama agreed that it did look like a laughable idea but he shouldn't underestimate her guys. Still, apparantly Byakko didn't see the need to go himself so he pulled off four strands of his hair and blew on them, the strands turned into four four-legged monsters. The demonic beasts attacked the boy who tried to defend himself with his reiken, but while he couldn't even touch them, he was getting creamed: the beasts were toying with him before they could deliver the death blow. The female reiki user whistled.
"Wow, these things are pretty fast." She said; a little impressed. The detective fell from the shock.
"This isn't time to be impressed, Kawabara's being mangled!" Then, Yusuke couldn't take it anymore and tried to convince Kuwabara to come back and switch with him, saying it was a matter of weapon, and that he'll do better with his reigun than him with his sword. Of course Kazuma refused. If someone intervened he would kill him.
"Kuwabara, are you really that determined? You really won't back down no matter what? You will die at this rate." Akari asked him in an imperious voice. And his answer didn't leave any doubt either. He would fight.
"Then, I'll be counting on you. Win!" She encouraged him with a sincere smile. Again, Yusuke said she was irresponsible, that she should try and dissuade him instead of encouraging him, he didn't stand a chance, he was going to die, was she really ready to let that happen?
"As expected, someone like you who's always been strong and who mainly goes undefeated can't understand his feelings." She sighed. "Actually, a sword is a perfect tool in that case. But he lacks speed and anticipation. That's the only thing he'd need to have a sure victory, I only trained his stamina and rei abilities. That was the most urgent. But I know, he knows, he's not done yet, he's more inventive than you think. Also, as someone who's always been looking up to you, he won't be able to take it if he can't call himself your rival. That's why, to get a little closer to your level, he'd do anything to win, even put his life at stake. That's how proud he is, how much you mean to him. But don't get me wrong, if he's really about to die, I don't care if he'll hate me or never forgive me, I'll go and save him. Because after all, he's one of my precious friends." Again with that distant and sorrowful yet affectionate look, but there was also resoluteness. Everyone looked at the human girl in wonder. Then Yusuke, not used used to seeing her like this, became a bit uncomfortable and tried to turn her back to her old self.
"What? You sure you're just not trying to sound cool Akari?!" He asked with a highbrow raised and a disbelieving tone. She frowned, a little vein appearing on her head but she kept her eyes fixed on Kuwabara, who wouldn't let anyone tear off his limbs after Akari had had such a hard time fixing them and making them stronger. She just slightly pushed Yusuke who nearly fell and barely had time to catch himself at the edge. The two demons sweatdropped. He shouldn't have said anything.
"Hey, Akari! Is that how you treat your friends?! I nearly died back there!" He was angry, but wasn't really.
"I always choose strong friends, because if they're strong, they can't die that easily..."
"Oh? You mean that if I'm your friend, I'm strong? Well somehow, I knew it, I knew you had finally acknowledged my superior strength!" He laughed in an embarrassed yet cocky way. Other veins appeared, why did she have to go and say that?! Akari sharply turned his head back to the fight, nearly breaking his neck and told him to shut up and watch or she'd put him on a stake, barbecue him and feed him to the monsters as she was quite tempted to do. But Kuwabara overheard her and that gave him an idea. He pretended to run back toward his friends, the beasts followed him. He stopped in mid way and extended his sword to impale all the beasts in a single line. The guys thought it was well done, even Hiei admitted he wasn't THAT stupid. But it wasn't over, the beasts continued to chase after him and he had to run around the tower they had come from, and then he tied the two ends of his rei sword together so the four demon beasts were all on a lovely merry go-round. But as Urameshi pointed out, since they were Byakko's fur they wouldn't be edible even if they roasted them. Anyway Aka-chan was glad to have been of some use to Kuwabara. Hiei gave him another compliment disguised as a so-called complaint about how illogical his ideas were.
Byakko was so angry that he destroyed the tower and his beasts with his energy. It was his turn to fight. Kuwabara provoked him again, he punched a hole in the guide rail and jumped down, the platform trembled and two little craters appeared. The fight began, Kuwabara seemed to have the advantage, he was going at his own pace. But he was only playing in the Saint Beast's hand. Indeed, he looked much exhausted than his opponent who appeared perfectly fine. Besides, Byakko wasn't even trying to counter-attack. There was something more, the tiger had grown taller, and he was full of her friend's reiki. He had been draining it, hence the reduced size of Kuwabara's sword. And the more the human would attack, the smaller it would get. The Beast suggested that he threw away his knife and fought bare-handed. Kazuma only gave his sword back his original size and attacked again. This time it was like he was giving his energy to the tiger, after a few seconds the sword disappeared and Kuwabara fell down. You noticed it then, it has been some time now but Byakko didn't look taller, he looked fatter. The swordsman managed to stand up again on his jelly legs, a spirit knife in his hand. The Beast punched and kicked Kuwabara, again and again. Yusuke was sure his friend was going to get killed but Kurama contradicted him.
"No, there's still a way."
"So, you noticed it too." Akari remarked.
"Yes, Byakko's body is unable to expand any further, if Kuwabara-kun realizes this then... But this move is considered suicidal! A desperate move! If it fails, Kuwabara will lose his life!" Standing next to him, a little before him on his left, the young girl gave him a little blow on the chest with the back of her hand. She looked up at him, barely turning her head.
"What are you saying? If it fails I shall be there and kill Byakko before he can do anything." She corrected him with a smile." And don't underestimate my healing power."
"Indeed..." The fox smiled too. She was right.
"But can he really do that?" Hiei questioned Kuwabara's sense of fight and resolve.
"I don't have the slightest doubt about it" She assured him.
In the Reikai, Koenma was on the contrary very worried, as he had expected, it seemed like Kuwabara wouldn't be able to make it. Georges pointed out that if Byakko was a ki-eating demon, Yusuke's reigun would be as ineffective as Kuwabara's sword. Then there was Kurama who couldn't fight and Hiei and his total lack of motivation. At this rate, Akari was the only one they could rely on.
But Kuwabara had noticed. He willingly gave most of his reiki to Byakko and fell down. The beast was going to kill him. Kurama stopped Yusuke from shooting his spirit gun by putting his arm before him. But Akari was so tense she had also stepped forward on instinct, ready to intervene. However, the kitsune caught her by the waist.
"Akari, you said it yourself, it's a battle for his pride, don't intervene." He whispered.
"But I also said I wouldn't let him die no matter what." She replied.
"Let's just watch him and trust him, like you told us to." He said with a tiny smile on his lips, though she couldn't see, pulling her back a step against him. She let him, but her fists only loosened when Byakko's belly swelled in many places. Kuwabara struggled to stand up on his trembling legs but he was smirking, looking quite satisfied despite his bruised face and body.
"Hey, overeating is bad for health, especially heavy stuff like my reiki." He taunted. And just as he said that, the top of the tiger's belly burst and the reiki rushed out, Byakko took off to the sky like rocket and flew around like a pierced balloon, then out of reiki, he stopped in mid-air and crashed down in the forest below. Kurama explained that Kuwabara's reiki slightly exceeded what Byakko could bear. Urameshi, laughing his head off, put it in a more personal way:
"That was the funniest and the most exploding overeating ever!"
"Indeed, when YOU overeat, the blast is more disgusting and stinking than funny, really, you have no more manners than that animal does. But I guess that's because you ARE also an animal..." Katsuyama boredly looked away, her arms crossed behind her head, with still a little smirk.
"Why you... You're the one who eats the most!" He yelled pointing at her.
"Oh? And what makes you say that? You've been stalking me? You're more perverted than I thought. Now, now, how should I tell Keiko? Wonder how she'll take it. Besides I'm too slim to eat as much as you say. " Akari smugly retorted, posing, before going to heal Kuwabara, who was more than happy to let her do so. Although it was true that she fitted into the 'big eater' category, her training regimen easily burnt it all up. She gave Kazu some reiki, ignoring the detective's cries about how evil and dirty she was. Then Botan called again. The sweet, petite and extraordinarily beautiful maiden caught Kuwa by the throat and threw him away before he could do anything. Of course she had still been careful when she did, he was already hurt enough. The ferry girl was hoping they had defeated at least three monsters.
"Oi, oi, Botan-chan, aren't you overestimating the guys? They're not that strong you know. And it's not like the Beasts are THAT weak either." Aka-chan braked, not caring about the sound of veins popping behind her. But the situation wasn't good in ningenkai as more insects were infesting people. Botan was attacked just as she said that but she knocked the zombie out with a good kick and she hanged up. She had work to do and the guys weren't finished either. Still two more beasts. Well still three, Byakko sounded quite healthy and angry from that roar just now. They all ran to safety before the platform collapsed. And to show his appreaciation of her friend's fighting spirit regardless of his life, he invited everyone to his personal room, the Hell Room. The name sounded interesting. If it wasn't boasting, Akari was tempted to literally freeze that hell over.
They went down and down the hallways, to that room. A huge cave filled with boiling acid, (though no matter how much she would look at it, the only name coming to her mind was 'lava') and many small roundish portions of floor sustained by columns. So this was the kitten's playground. He was standing in the middle with a bandage on his belly. Easy enough: just have to be careful not to fall, or that might hurt just a tiny little bit. Yusuke wanted to be the one to fight this time but of course, Kuwabara didn't let him. It was HIS fight, and Byakko was HIS opponent. Surprisingly enough, Hiei showed his concern for the human and advised him to let Yusuke fight. He fought well, so now he should concentrate on his recovery... Kazuma insisted that a fight was a one on one, as a man, he would solve his own problems. The reserve should sit and drink tea. Hiei snorted, the human was being too stubborn, Yusuke agreed with it but Kurama pointed out that he was just as stubborn as Kuwabara. The beast was getting impatient, so the boy shouted that he was coming over. He jumped, lost his footing and fell, barely catching the edge of the little platform.
Urameshi teased him and suggested a switch that was naturally denied. That little fall had been on purpose to surprise the opponent. But geez... almost dying before even starting the fight... Akari heaved a sigh. The orange head climbed up on the platform and took off his jacket. He summoned his reiken and challenged Byakko again who accepted it. But the beast came up with an unexpected attack: he held his throat with both hands, youki gathered in his mouth and he roared. The youki and sound formed a green sphere that flew at Kazuma. His first instinct was to hit it straight back with his sword like with a baseball bat but Kurama shouted that he shouldn't do that, so he dodged and jumped on another stalagmite. And he had been right to do so for the one he just left disintegrated. The youki-mixed vibrations had reduced it to ashes. So the kitty possessed the meiko-shoukai-ha huh? Akari smirked. Hiei was quite impressed, even a little apprehensive, saying one couldn't possibly defend against that technique since it destroyed everything it touched. The only way was to dodge it. The 'human elemental' was a little ticked off. A vein appeared on her head as Kuwabara jumped from stalagmite to stalagmite to avoid his own destruction. Koenma was surely thinking everything was already lost and all that was left for him to do was praying. What with that defeatist attitude?!
She wanted to show them. It was a simple matter of physics. The basis of Byakko's attack, the Meiko Shoukai Ha, was vibrations. They thus had a certain frequence. She just needed to use the exact same frequence to disrupt the flow, as for the youki, it wasn't even worth mentioning. Every technique could be countered. It was only a matter of whether you're able to find out how and if you possessed the ability. Sometimes you just didn't have what it took. Well, there was always, well, usually, a possibility to win without that, but it always dealt a great blow to have your best technique countered, and there was a good chance the opponent could become scared to death and lose all will to fight and self-destruct. Akari wanted to show them but somehow, the more she looked at the beast, the less she wanted to act, or have anything to do with it for that matter. People might call her picky but she'd still prefer something... someone... more... well... better... She also convinced herself that it was for Kuwabara's sake. If he didn't win, he'd never grow up. So she kept quiet and didn't do anything and stuck to her role as an observer.
Kurama wanted to go and help him, Hiei agreed, but this time, Akari was the one to hold them back. The human yelled again that it was his fight, they must not interfere. Yusuke called him stupid for refusing their help even now, though he was exactly the same. Kurama was wondering whether the human had found a way out but visibly doubted it. Hiei thought it purely impossible.
"Now, now, I'm sure he has something in mind, if not, let's just trust his instinct. After all, he's much like Yusuke, in many aspects, right?" She said to the guys with a smile.
"Hey, what d'you mean by that?" Yusuke asked in a threatening way, he had felt it wasn't exactly a compliment. But the two demons knew exactly what she had meant. They also had that strange smile, a little embarrassed, a little condescending.
"Indeed." Both agreed in sync.
"Indeed." Katsuyama repeated. The three of them looked at each other and sighed in the same time. The detective was all the more angry. "Besides it'd be troublesome if Kuwabara attacked you while you were trying to help him. It is wiser to wait for him to croak and replace him then. And I'll bring him back and torture and kill him again for the time he wasted." She cracked smartly. This time it was the carrot head's turn to fly off the handle. Although he knew it was her way of encouraging him, there were other ways to do it! She really had a knack for needling people. Well, all humans here had a hatred for losing deeper than most people so it was natural to bet on that. What more... Akari was much more terrifying than any beast...
That woman trusted Kuwabara. Everyone could see it clearly, and especially Hiei couldn't believe it... how much she trusted people, even more so in the darkest times, when there was apparently no ground behind that trust. It was something he just couldn't comprehend.
Then Byakko fired at Kuwabara, who jumped toward him, but the distance was too big, Yusuke cried out his name, Kurama was sure he couldn't reach it, the Beast was already savouring his victory. But the human was far more resourceful than they had thought and Akari smirked as he summoned his reiken and made it grow to use it as a pole and jump and punch Byakko's face with all his might. However, the momentum from the jump was too great and both fell down. There was a loud splash and a blood curdling scream. Tears were already streaming down Yusuke's face as he was swearing, Kurama and Hiei were mourning silently. The girl smirked again, jumped on the nearest platform and took off to the sky (ceiling) dust flying from the spot and she and landed gracefully after a perfect front flip on the column Byakko had been standing just seconds before. The guys were wondering what was up with her until they noticed Kuwabara screaming for help, he was hooked up by the fabric strip of his belt. The pink haired one put on her sweetest smile.
"Kuwabara-kun, do you need some help? Surely you don't. I mean, you just defeated one of the Four Saint Beasts and proved how great a man you are, so surely you don't need help for something as easy as climbing back over here, do you?" She asked with a most charming tone.
"Right, right, you didn't want us to help back there, you should be able to handle it now." Yusuke agreed.
"Exactely, we're just obeying your orders." Kurama added.
"Hn, you were really fortunate, you might be able to defeat another one with the same method." Hiei commented. And indeed with all the teasing Kuwabara had climbed back up all by himself simply for the sake of threatening Hiei, waving his fist under the demon's nose and swearing he'd never try again something as terrifying and asking if they were really rejoicing.
Well, at least, Georges and Koenma WERE rejoicing in the Spirit World. But the little prince didn't lose his sense of reality, though two were defeated, there were two more Beasts to go, now was not the time to get careless!
Author's note: this one came late since I add more things to revise and I wavered a lot. In the end, I did some major cleaning compared to original version. I deleted pans I thought 'over the top'. I don't know how many of you knew my story from its quizilla days but there's the possibility that you'll find this chapter a bit duller, in which case I apologize. I also want to thank my faithful fans and notably scarlet rose white. And concerning my question 'do you ship Akari with Kurama or Hiei?' There's no time limit. For now I have 3 votes in Kurama's favor :p