Well, I guess we're past apologies here. I took way too long this time, I know. I got really busy, and then I had two weeks of break with no school and I did nothing until today, the end of my break. There's no excuse for my neglect, really. So while we're here, I'm going to make an announcement: I love fanfiction. Really I do. And I love writing this fic. It's not that I'm having a writer's block or a lack of inspiration. I really don't know what it is. So from now on I can make no promises. Sure, there still has to be 6 reviews before you'll see an update, but I cannot make any guarantees as to when the next updates will be. There will be updates, but still...it's my last year of high school this year and things are pretty hectic, and then when I get time I just waste it all. So I'm asking everyone, all the readers of this fic, a HUGE favor. Please please PLEASE bear with me, don't abandon this fic because I don't update as often. I can't make many promises, but I promise you I will see this fic through to the end, whenever that end may be. I thank you all in advance for understanding.
Thank yous:
Angelkitsune-Naomi: I looked up the lyrics to that song, and it's cool! I think it works for Hiei more than Catalyn because it would work for him all the time, rather than just when Catalyn fights, but that's really cool!
arrowgirl23: Of course Hiei softened up, but Tamora can't really understand that kind of thing. As for pairings, there is Catalyn and Kurama. One-sided Kuwabara and Yukina of course for comic relief. Possibly very subtle Hiei-Tamora.
Vitanie Tora: I'm glad you like my fight scenes. I work really hard on them.
Thunder Ring: Thanks for the review!
Psyco Anime Luver: I'm glad you likes!
Yumiko-san: Tamora is stubborn, that's all, really. She doesn't want anything to do with them, or at least as much as she can help it.
Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, yadda yadda...let's just begin.
CHAPTER TWELVE – SPEAK NO EVIL
Tamora watched, bored, as Kurama stepped up to face his opponent, Mr. Mime. He was of average height, clad in what seemed like black spandex. Tufts of dark hair stuck out at odd angles from beneath a black hat that made her think of an old man she'd seen walking down her street one morning, a long time ago. His face was painted completely white, and his cheeks, rather than being rosy, were painted with small black circles. His eyes and lips were also outlined with black. His stomach bulged slightly, and Tamora had to wonder if it was body fat or if he was hiding something in there. He also carried a small pouch over his shoulder. Unlike the mimes Tamora had once seen at a show many years ago (of which she had taken no interest), this one didn't seem sad. In fact, he seemed to be grinning.
Kurama stood with his knees slightly bent. Tamora noted that he stood lightly on the balls of his feet, ready for any sudden movement. He enters his matches well prepared, she decided. He's probably a pretty careful fighter. She remembered some of the notes on Kurama's abilities stating that his weakness was that he took too long to figure his opponents out before taking direct action against them. However, that was in his human form…she had seen strange data describing his demon form as the ruthless Youko Kurama. Now that would make for an interesting fight.
Koto raised her hand in the air and brought it down in a swift movement. "Begin!"
Nothing happened at first. The two fighters studied each other carefully without so much as a single twitch.
Kuwabara tried to shift his position to get a better view. Catalyn slapped him smartly on the shoulder and he yelped.
"Stop moving!" she commanded. "How do you expect me to fix this wound if you keep squirming like a little kid?"
"Phooo-eeee," Yusuke exclaimed suddenly, waving his hand over his nose as if wafting away a bad smell. "What a stench!"
Tamora frowned as the foul smell reached her nose, and she gave a shudder upon inhaling it. Well, it definitely wasn't coming from a person letting off gas, like she'd originally thought. It was a strange smell, one she'd never smelt before. It was foul and rotten, but she couldn't think of any other similar smell. What was that smell?
Suddenly her limbs felt as if they were on fire. Everything inside her burned. The next thing she knew, she had fallen to her knees. She stared ahead of her towards the battle area in surprise, and when she turned to see if the same thing had happened to the others, she realized she couldn't move.
"Tamora!" she heard Catalyn exclaim. She felt a hand on her shoulder, but when she tried to force her body to move to brush it off, everything burned.
"What the –" Yusuke started. "People all over the stadium are frozen, too!"
"What?" Catalyn exclaimed worriedly. "Why are some frozen and others not?"
Tamora's eyes burned, for she could barely blink. She could only stare ahead, to where Kurama was eyeing his surroundings with a surprised frown. They still hadn't made any move to fight.
"Poison," Kurama said calmly and suddenly. "It enters the body through inhalation and stops all movement. It's not deadly, but it takes a while to wear off."
"Hn," Hiei said gruffly. "This kind's from the demon plane. It only affects those with low spiritual energy."
"What's he playing at?" Yusuke demanded. He directed his question at Mr. Mime. "Hey, what kind of trick are you trying to pull?"
Mr. Mime smiled at Yusuke and shook his head. Then he brought a finger to his lips.
"A secret, eh?" said Kurama. He reached into the back of his hair and pulled out a single rose. It transformed into his rose whip, riddled with dangerous thorns.
Tamora heard a sniffing noise that seemed to be coming from Catalyn. "I get it now!" she said. "The strange aura. He's a poison master!"
Kurama nodded. "I assumed as much," he said, readying his whip. "But low-level poisons won't have much effect on me." His eyes narrowed. "I'll make this quick."
Kurama charged forwards with agility whose grace almost rivaled Catalyn's. Mr. Mime grinned and reached into his pouch. Kurama brought the rose whip striking down, and the mime dodged at the last second, jumping high into the air and out of the whip's reach.
"Mr. Mime dodges!" Koto yelled. She had enough spirit energy that the poison hadn't affected her, so she could still announce. "And what is that vial he's holding in his hand?"
Sure enough, Mr. Mime was twiddling a small vial of purple liquid between his fingers. As he reached the height of his jump, he tossed it downwards. Kurama leaped back and the vial shattered as it hit the tile. As soon as it did, it evaporated into a purple haze, filling the area with smoke.
Kurama tried to escape the smoky area and stumbled. Still gripping his whip with his right hand, he brought his left hand to his face, rubbing his eyes. When he looked back up, Tamora saw that his eyes were extremely bloodshot, so much so that she couldn't see the iris or pupil. Could Kurama even see at all at this point?
"Poison to damage the eyes," Hiei remarked. "By now, Kurama can barely see a blur."
"No way!" Kuwabara yelled.
"How many poisons does this guy have?" exclaimed Yusuke.
As the smoke mixed in with the air, the area cleared and Tamora was able to see Mr. Mime charging Kurama from behind.
"Kurama!" Catalyn screamed. "Behind you!"
At what seemed like the last second, Kurama dove to the side, lashing his whip out behind him and striking Mr. Mime on the knee. The black spandex tore and his knee bled. It was a surprisingly deep cut for such a blind strike. Mr. Mime gazed at his injury and then glared at Catalyn. He pulled a red vial from his pouch.
"With the help of his teammates, Kurama was able to land a serious blow!" Koto was announcing. "But what kind of poison will Mr. Mime deploy now? Let's see what he does – he's throwing it straight down!"
Before anyone could say anything, the entire arena erupted with a pinkish smoke.
"Oh my!" Koto said. "He's using it on the whole stadium –" She choked and clutched her throat, unable to continue.
Similar hacking noises came from Catalyn, Yusuke, and Kuwabara. Tamora nearly gasped in realization. He's not letting anyone speak! He doesn't want to leave Kurama with any hint at all of what he's doing! What a strategy…Kurama is certainly in big trouble here.
As the pink smoke blended into the air, Tamora saw Mr. Mime running towards Kurama once more. Then – with a huge punch, Kurama was hit straight in the jaw, and he rolled to the edge of the ring, coughing. His eyesight was still caput, and he struggled to his feet.
Mr. Mime charged again, and Tamora realized his objective: he wanted to knock Kurama out of the ring while he was blinded so that Kurama wouldn't be able to get back in. But there was a flaw to his plan. She was sure Kurama would be able to rely on his other senses to avoid him. After all, he could still hear his movements.
Kurama dodged and lashed out with his rose whip. At first, the way the whip curved, it almost seemed like a blind swing – but no, it swerved back and caught Mr. Mime in the shoulder.
Mr. Mime glared at Kurama, but Kurama was just standing. Since Mr. Mime wasn't moving, it was impossible to tell where he was, and though his eyes seemed a bit less bloodshot, he still hadn't regained his vision. Then the mime pulled out a vile of yellow liquid and whipped it at Kurama.
Kurama somehow caught the whizzing noise of the vial and tried to slash it with his rose whip. The force of the blow knocked the vial back towards Mr. Mime, where it exploded. However, the yellow smoke still traveled, engulfing the two fighters. Then Tamora saw Kurama put a hand to his ears.
Mr. Mime faced the crowd. He pointed at Kurama, then at his ears, and then made an X with his arms. Sure enough, Kurama's hearing had also been lost.
That guy must have some sort of poison for each of the five senses, Tamora guessed. So far, Kurama's lost sight, speech in lieu of taste, and hearing. The sense of touch will do nothing for him until it is too late and the blow has already landed. That means that his nose is the only thing he can rely on now. But with the entire stadium thick with poison, how is he going to sniff him out?
Kurama raised his free hand with a flourish and summoned hundreds of tiny rose petals to the arena. They gently floated around him, surrounding him. Tamora remembered reading that Kurama's rose petals could slice through almost anything, but she knew that right now, they served as his last line of defense.
Mr. Mime faked laughing as he pointed to the petals and doubled over, shaking with silent, mock laughter. Then he raised his fist and prepared to charge.
The mime closed in on the petals, but nothing happened. They didn't attack, like Tamora's description of the technique had informed her. So what were they there for? She'd assumed they were there to buy time until he got his eyesight back, but what good were they if they couldn't hold back the mime?
Mr. Mime leaped through the petals, bringing his fist down from above. Then suddenly Kurama's rose whip lashed out, wrapping itself around the mime's legs, trapping him. Their purpose served, the rose petals fell to the ground. The thorns of Kurama's whip dug into the mime's legs, causing blood to spurt in numerous places. The Kurama swung the whip around and forcefully drove Mr. Mime's body to the ground.
So that was his plan, Tamora realized. He engulfed himself in the smell of the rose petals. Then when Mr. Mime's poison scent interfered, he knew where to aim. She had to admit, Kurama's tactics were quite impressive against such a foe. To top that off, she noticed that the red was slowly fading from his eyes. Soon, his vision would be back, and Kurama would gain the advantage.
Mr. Mime rose from the rubble created from when he crashed, wincing in pain and struggling to his feet. Once he was up, however, he grinned evilly. Facing the crowd, he held up a new vial of black liquid. He pointed at Kurama and mimed a person dropping dead.
Lethal poison!
Then he threw the vial.
For Tamora, time seemed to slow as she watched the vial twist and turn as it arched across the ring to where Kurama stood, rubbing his eyes.
Then –
Kurama's hand reached out and snatched the vial out of the air. With the back of his hand, he rubbed his eyes once more. When he drew his hand away, Tamora could see no more red in his eyes. Instead, what she saw kind of surprised her: Kurama was glaring, something she'd never thought possible from such a calm guy. It was almost scary.
Kurama walked to the edge of the ring, towards Tamora and the others. He stepped out of the ring and handed the vial to Catalyn. Then he returned to the ring before a stunned Koto could even start a silent count. Mr. Mime rummaged hurriedly through his pouch, but he'd run out of poison. He angrily threw the pouch aside, then caught sight of Kurama's glare and gulped.
That's that, then, Tamora thought. Kurama's won.
Kurama readied his whip, and Mr. Mime took a step back in fright. His belly jiggled. Tamora stared at it for a moment. What if there was more poison hidden there? Kurama's whip lashed out. Mr. Mime leaped into the air, ready to come down on Kurama. He was grinning. Kurama took aim.
As Tamora could only stare, she heard a gurgle next to her. It sounded as though Catalyn was trying to speak. "Ku-Ku-!"
So she'd realized it too, Tamora thought as Kurama swung.
"Kurama!" Catalyn cried, her voice breaking.
But it was too late. The whip pierced through the stomach, and dark liquid sprayed down upon Kurama before he could do anything. He shut his eyes and mouth and brought his hands over his face, but that couldn't stop the liquid from drenching him. Then, before anyone could do anything, Kurama flung his whip furiously at Mr. Mime, and he was torn to pieces before he could utter a single cry.
Koto stepped forward. She cleared her throat, having regained her voice as well. "I guess there's no need to give a count here," she commented, wrinkling her nose at the sight of the mangled body. "Kurama wins! Team Urameshi advances to the next round! Now, if both teams could leave the area so that the next match can begin!"
"Yes! He did it!" Kuwabara exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. Then he winced and clutched the burn wound.
Kurama took shaky steps off the ring towards them. His clothes were stained with the dark liquid, and it had been absorbed into his skin wherever it touched. The liquid on his clothes seemed to be dry already. Tamora supposed it wasn't harmful like that.
Kurama glanced sideways at her. "You can move again, Tamora," he said with a small smile. "The poison must have worn off sometime during the match."
Tamora looked down and around. So she could move. She wondered vaguely why she hadn't noticed when it wore off, then shrugged it off and stood up.
"You okay?" Yusuke asked. "That was a heckuva fight, though."
Kurama nodded. "I'm fine."
"And we never heard his voice," Yusuke added regretfully.
Kurama chuckled lightly. Then he pitched downwards.
"Kurama!" Yusuke and Catalyn rushed to catch him before he hit the ground. "Kurama, what's wrong?"
"It's the poison," said a voice.
They all turned around to see the twin clowns facing them, speaking in unison with strange, nasal voices that were exactly alike. "A liquid poison that is absorbed into the skin. You'd better find a doctor. If you get rid of it within fifteen minutes, he'll only be out for a little bit. However, if after thirty minutes the poison is still in his system, he will surely die." Then they left the stadium without another word.
"Damn!" cried Yusuke angrily. "Catalyn, can you fix this?"
Catalyn's face was etched with lines of worry. "I don't know!" she said. "I can try, but –"
"Okay, that settles it!" Yusuke said. He hoisted Kurama onto his back. "Once we get to the hall, Hiei and I will look for a doctor. In the meantime, you have to try to help him."
Catalyn bent to help Kuwabara to his feet, but he was able to move on his own. "Okay," she said.
Then they all sprinted out of the stadium, Tamora only running so she didn't lose them.
When they'd reached a safe corner in the hall, Yusuke hurriedly deposited Kurama into Catalyn's arms and took off. "Come on, Hiei!"
But there was no need to yell. Hiei had taken off long before him.
Catalyn and Kuwabara lay Kurama down, and Catalyn hurriedly set to work. She placed her hands on his chest and focused.
"Can you do it?" Kuwabara asked quietly.
Catalyn seemed to almost be on the verge of tears. "I don't know!" she said. "I've never dealt with poison before! Damn it, why did this have to happen?"
Kuwabara straightened. "I'm going to look for Yukina," he announced. "She might know what to do."
"But you don't know where she is!" Catalyn protested.
"She was here yesterday, so she must be around here somewhere!" Kuwabara reasoned. "I'll be back as soon as I can!" And he, too, ran off.
Catalyn shook herself over. Her face set, she set to work. Tamora could tell she cared for Kurama very much and would do anything to save him. But would it be enough? Kuwabara was out searching for his lovely Yukina, who also possessed healing powers. Yusuke was out in search of a doctor. So was Hiei, and Tamora had never seen him so ready to do something for another teammate. Catalyn was doing all she could at that moment to save Kurama. They were all doing their part.
So what was her part in this race against time? Did she even have one with this team of Spirit Detectives?
Yes, she had a part. And that was to watch and wait.
