Chapter 9: Matchless
Sōta was bored, sure there may have been a bit of excitement when the first team they would be fighting decided to drop by for some pre-match intimidation that sadly worked fairly well on Kuwabara. But clearly he shook it all off by the time morning rolled around and it was time to begin the tournament.
Honestly he was more interested in Genkai-Obasama showing up in the stands with Botan-san, Keiko-chan and another woman (who would later be introduced as Shizuru Kuwabara, the elder sister of his teammate), than he was with the actual fighting. But that was understandable, when you got to witness sparring matches/ lovers quarrels between Kagura-neechan and her mate Sesshōmaru-sama fights like this looked like a bunch of kids at a schoolyard brawl.
Funny enough their first opponent was actually a very young yōkai in appearance. Of course as an elemental yōkai with the element of thread there was no telling for how long he had actually existed, only that he was mentally and emotionally equivalent to an elementary school student… one which thoroughly defeated Kuwabara… with Yo-Yo's.
He won't even call the what Kurama-san did with his opponent a fight. And Hiei-san so completely outclassed his opponent in the realm of fire affinity that there was no reason for him to use the Jagan much less something as powerful as the dragon of the darkness flame. If Deku-neechan was here she would be giving him that look, the one she gives to everyone right before she ruffles their hair. With a sigh he returns his attention to the glorified testosterone-fest that is Urameshi's match with a muscle bound yōkai toting a purple Mohawk and an alcohol element. ((Dear anesan please in the name of all battlefields, don't let the rest of the tournament be like this or I will surely lose my mind. Thank you.)) As he finishes his prayer he can almost hear his sister laughing.
Funny. He of all people should know that you should be careful what you wish for.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Something had happened. Sōta wasn't exactly sure what, but Urameshi had done little more than grunt at him in irritation when he stomped in after watching more of the days matches. His go-to for understanding the moody teen, Kurama, was off helping Hiei deal with the aftermath of trying to subjugate the dragon of the darkness flame. Though if anyone could do it Hiei-san could. And hopefully a little alone time would push their relationship along.
Of course he considered just walking up and asking Urameshi what his problem was now, but he couldn't see how there wouldn't be property damage to the hotel room afterwards and he doubted any of them had the kind of money it would take to replace what broke. All well it was probably nothing.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"What do you mean you can't use your spirit gun!?" Sōta hissed in irritation while mentally tracking Hiei's movements across the island. He could only assume that Kurama was with him as he had no way of tracking the kitsune's energy signature at this distance. As for his ability to sense Hiei at this distance, Dekuyume had promised the Higurashi that no matter where they go or what they become… they would always be able to find their way back to each other. He tunes out the words coming out of Urameshi's foul mouth focusing on the details. Apparently he had discovered this yesterday and was waiting for Kurama to come back instead of sucking up his pride and asking Sōta for help.
A smile ghosts across his face in spite of his anger as Kuwabara chastises Urameshi for being an idiot and Urameshi's sputtering indignation. Sōta closes his eyes and with a bow to the image of his sister/niece in his mind, he claps twice before he prays, ((This Higurashi Sōta prays to Shikon-Neesan of The Colloquium of Souls, please see to it that the rest of my teammates know to be back at the arena in time as Urameshi is currently experiencing performance issues and is unable to fire his gun. We also appear to be going up against other human psychics and I doubt the two boys will be able to handle this well. Thank you)) Reassurance filters through him from a familiar outside source and almost immediately Hiei begins moving rapidly towards the stadium.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Dekuyume looks in askance at her father who shrugs in his samurai armor. Word had spread of her success with her father and from around the globe kannushi and holy servants, shamans and prayer givers of flickering kami from nearly every pantheon had been sent with requests from their kami. Unwilling to allow that many visitors into the Higurashi Sanctuary at one time, Kiyoshi had graciously allowed the meeting to take place at the foot of The Sacred Tree.
It had rather quickly degenerated into a squabble as each holy person did their best to proclaim that their kami/god/holy-being was the one in the greatest need of her assistance. Fortunately for the preservation of her sanity simply stating; "That is enough I have already made my decision." was enough to quiet their babbling. Days later the last visitor would leave the shrine, and each one who had come leaving easily under the impression that they were the first ones to receive her aid in secret. It was a pleasant thing, to be in multiple places at the same time, albeit very time consuming.
With a sigh she leans back in her office chair listening to the pitter patter of blood-raindrops falling upon the clear barrier above for a few moments of blessed near silence. Rubbing her eyes she idly directs a screen and computer to her right to move her body from its position at the gates of the Higurashi Sanctuary back to her usual idling position at the sakura tree and kotatsu. Just as she is about to start working on her newest project (and the best way to explain why each kami had to grant two seeds of eternity to two souls only for her to take them away) the message center to her left which was solely reserved for the protection and happiness of her family beeps with a new notification.
With a sigh she shakes her head in exasperation at the request shown, all battlefields were her domain and frankly so much blood had been spilt on hanging neck island that she didn't even have to wait for the two lizard yōkai and their giant robot to engage Hiei and Kurama in combat to be able to manipulate events so that Higurashi and his kitsune could make it to the stadium in time to participate. Though they would be a little out of breath from the sprint, she didn't want to make it too easy now did she?
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Ignoring the idiots who were playing around in the forest with a giant robot only to forget the fact that the island had been used for the Dark tournament for 500 years and as such, the forest had been used to discreetly take care of the competition between matches and was thus littered with traps of all kinds, including traps that would only be sprung if a certain weight threshold was passed… Kurama and Hiei made a slight detour that wound up taking them nearly twice as long as it should have to get to the arena.
But breathless and leaning against each other in a mildly embarrassing display of weakness, Kurama still mustered up the ability to ask. "Hiei. If I asked you how you knew that we had to leave at right that moment or risk being late would you tell me?" Hiei shakes the kitsune off and stalks over to the wall with a simple "Hn." Kurama smiles as he follows after and not even Yusuke's silly questions can break his good mood. Sharp eyes travel over the opposing team fully aware that the ones left behind in the forest were meant to stall and perhaps even kill them before they could make it to the arena; if the expression on Dr. Ichigaki's face is anything to go by.
Attempting to salvage his plans Ichigaki tries to calculate what would give him the best chances of success and attempts to lure the three humans of Team Urameshi into combat with the three humans on his, but no one wins a battle of wits against a kitsune. As a result Kuwabara and Sōta watch from the sidelines as Yusuke plays target while Hiei moves too fast for the mind-controlled humans to even see preventing their attacks from hitting the idiot boy taunting them. Truly, the two serve as an excellent distraction from Kurama as he plays witchdoctor with a sample of their blood that Hiei had so generously collected for him. Within 10 minutes of the start of the fight, Yusuke has finally run out of insults, Hiei is very bored, and Kurama has undone 50years of Ichigaki's research with aloe and a hand full of flowers.
Enraged, the doctor stabs himself with a needle full of a mutagen of his own devious creation and attempts to attack even after the match has been declared in favor of Team Urameshi. Pleased to finally shed some blood Hiei deals with the trash in a brilliant display of swordsmanship… which lasts all of 0.3seconds and leaves quite a bit of a mess for the tournaments cleaning crew to deal with and Sōta still matchless.