Saria: Alright! I'm able to write another chapter!
Zas: (has just finished duct-taping Tori to a chair) Maybe now we can dispense of the silly little girl.
SA: (Is staring at Zas) No fair! I wanted to do that! (pulls out the 50 pound mallet the same time as Zas pulls one out as well)
Saria: Those two are meant for each other. Anyway, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, and probably never will...T-T
SA and Zas: (are pounding each other with the mallets) And you never will! You're just a broke college student now. Now start the fic!
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The next few weeks in the fortress came and went too fast for Yusuke to keep track of the days, but she found a schedule on how things went. Every morning that passed, she would get breakfast with Karasu and Bui in the tiny kitchen place. Karasu hadn't forgotten about Kurama, and often asked questions about him. Yusuke eventually found a way to ignore the questions of, "How good is he in bed?" or better yet, "How BIG is he?"
Most evenings they would get dinner, if the brothers thought they had trained hard enough. This usually meant that Yusuke had to have a limp and several bruises, and that either Bui or Karasu also had to have some sort of wound. Baths were allowed only once every three to four days, and then only with Toguro's permission.
Training on the other hand, was every day and lasted anywhere from twelve to fourteen hours. Once a week, Toguro would test her to see how she was progressing, each time the fight lasted a little longer than before. On the second time, she'd actually lasted for 25 minutes before she lost power and Toguro had knocked her out. Altogether, the training slowly killed her each day, stopping only when she was within an inch of death so that the next day she could do it all over again. As harsh as Genkai had been, Toguro's regimen seemed five times harsher; then again, she'd never gone hungry during Genkai's training either.
When the day for the "tryouts" of the tournament team came, it was no surprise that Yusuke completely destroyed the competition. Even the Triad, who had supposedly been training hard for this, couldn't stand up for more than the first five seconds against her. Because there wasn't a second place contender, no alternate was named.
Yusuke was a little shocked about this chain of events. She knew that she was doing better at the training than she had been, but she hadn't actually seen that much of an improvement. She felt the same as when she had first been brought here except she was now too tired to do much more than train, eat, and sleep.
After the tryouts, life didn't get any easier. Karasu and Bui extended training so that it lasted so long anymore, it was often either near or past midnight before she was allowed to sleep. Little by little though, she began to notice a difference. Both were starting to sweat during the training and resorted to fighting her in alternating intervals, though in the end she was still always defeated. The defeats were starting to become harder for the two though, and started taking longer and longer for them to achieve.
'I want to go home,' Yusuke thought one day during the training. 'I want to sleep in my bed, eat my food, and watch TV. I even miss school, especially playing hooky and going to the arcade instead. Why me?' At that second, her frustration and anger with that question skyrocketed and she punched Karasu so hard, that he flew into a wall at the other side of the room, and followed it with a kick that launched Bui right after him, barely missing him though by about 2 inches.
All three were shocked by this sudden strange turn around, normally it was Yusuke being thrown into a wall. The silence lasted only a few more seconds as both demons collected themselves. The silence was broken by Karasu though, as he reached for his mask.
"It seems that the real training will finally be able to begin, and with three weeks until the tournament starts." He promptly removed his mask and inhaled, his hair turning blonde right before her eyes. Bui was removing his armor and for the first time, Yusuke saw them both without their restraints.
Karasu was actually quite attractive, not her type though. She had expected that he had some sort of disfigurement that he was covering, but that was obviously not so. Bui on the other hand, looked older, strange in a different sense. Or maybe that was just because of the big purple bruise/scar on his forehead. That's when their energy levels hit her.
'Not good.' was her only thought.
----------
The brothers were once again watching the training that was going on inside of the room. Neither had spoken so far as they watched the improvement that had happened to Yusuke's fighting abilities. The younger was the one who eventually spoke.
"She has definitely improved from the original 16%. During the last testing fight I had with her, she actually stood up to almost 55%."
"Well," the other said, sitting on his brother's shoulder, "that means she is almost four times stronger than originally. She won't get stronger as fast now though. She's more than strong enough now for the tournament."
The younger shook his head slightly. "She can still be stronger though. I've just received word from Sakyo that Genkai has made a bid to enter the tournament. As a leader for the guest team, one that she assembled herself."
The elder turned his gaze back into the training room where despite a tremendous effort; Yusuke was slowly having her butt handed to her by Karasu and Bui. She'd need different clothes soon; Karasu's bombs were destroying the ones she was wearing. The younger however continued to talk.
"There is no doubt in my mind that she is entering in an attempt to rescue her precious apprentice. She never took well to the idea of taking someone else's hard work and presenting it as your own, this would be no exception."
"So, do we keep her under close observation and prevent a meeting?"
"No, we keep her under observation, but give Genkai plenty of opportunities to get to her. She will undoubtedly try to help Yusuke in a way that will make Yusuke more capable of fighting us. Let's see what happens." He smirked and laughed slightly at the thought.
----------
The last three weeks before the tournament were the most painful of all for Yusuke. She barely was able to improve enough to avoid major hits from Karasu and Bui, who both were much stronger and faster without their restraints. Her energy attacks became much stronger though, and her dodging improved, but she was still hurt so badly each day that if Bui or Karasu didn't help her back to the cells (which wasn't very often anyway) she either slept on the floor in the training room, or if she was hungry enough, she would crawl back to Toguro's sanctum. She couldn't get up the stairs anymore without help, so she usually ended up crashing in the kitchen.
Once she had tried to get to her cell, but she was so exhausted that she had fallen asleep in the hall at the foot of the stairs. The elder brother had caught her there during the night and the punishment had been three days of training without food. By the end of the three days, she hadn't been able to move at all, in an act of pity Bui had actually carried the girl piggy-back up to the Toguro's sanctum, their prison, and had given her half of his meal to add to her own. Karasu hadn't done anything to help nor hinder.
The younger Toguro called an end to training three days before the tournament and ordered all of them to focus on preserving their strength and healing their wounds. Yusuke could have kissed him right then, but she was to busy trying to scrape herself off the training room floor. Karasu's previous attack had been brutal.
----------
"Are you certain that you want to go through with this?" an aged voice asked. "There are many beings that owe me favors or would love to aid me in this."
"No," replied a wise, young voice. "Master Genkai, we made our decision. Yusuke is our friend, and we will help her in anyway that we can."
"Hn," said another voice. "Besides, Yusuke owes me a fight."
"I, the Great Kuwabara, have yet to defeat Urameshi also! I will go so I can pound her!"
"Good, now we just need a fifth member for our team. And I know just the person."
----------
The three were once more gathered in their meeting place. They stood in the traditional triangle, showing respect for each and granting them their space. The first to speak was the oldest, who took a direct interest in the subject.
"I have found a way to contain her once we bring Yusuke here. She will soon be with us."
"Soon? As in, as soon as we are able to catch the child? She has not let her defenses down even once when she was most exhausted, how are we supposed to catch her?"
"I have been studying in the field of telepathy since last we met. Plus, the strain of the upcoming tournament is bound to bring her defenses down, even if only for a moment. We underestimated her the first time, but we will be able to win her this time. I even sent some of my trusted subordinates to retrieve the mirror and hide it on Hanging Neck Island. She will be among us soon, probably within the next 10 days."
----------
Saria: So, what do you think? Please review!
Zas and SA: (are still swinging the mallets at each other)
Tori: OO (is still tied to the chair)
Zas: (has just finished duct-taping Tori to a chair) Maybe now we can dispense of the silly little girl.
SA: (Is staring at Zas) No fair! I wanted to do that! (pulls out the 50 pound mallet the same time as Zas pulls one out as well)
Saria: Those two are meant for each other. Anyway, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, and probably never will...T-T
SA and Zas: (are pounding each other with the mallets) And you never will! You're just a broke college student now. Now start the fic!
----------
The next few weeks in the fortress came and went too fast for Yusuke to keep track of the days, but she found a schedule on how things went. Every morning that passed, she would get breakfast with Karasu and Bui in the tiny kitchen place. Karasu hadn't forgotten about Kurama, and often asked questions about him. Yusuke eventually found a way to ignore the questions of, "How good is he in bed?" or better yet, "How BIG is he?"
Most evenings they would get dinner, if the brothers thought they had trained hard enough. This usually meant that Yusuke had to have a limp and several bruises, and that either Bui or Karasu also had to have some sort of wound. Baths were allowed only once every three to four days, and then only with Toguro's permission.
Training on the other hand, was every day and lasted anywhere from twelve to fourteen hours. Once a week, Toguro would test her to see how she was progressing, each time the fight lasted a little longer than before. On the second time, she'd actually lasted for 25 minutes before she lost power and Toguro had knocked her out. Altogether, the training slowly killed her each day, stopping only when she was within an inch of death so that the next day she could do it all over again. As harsh as Genkai had been, Toguro's regimen seemed five times harsher; then again, she'd never gone hungry during Genkai's training either.
When the day for the "tryouts" of the tournament team came, it was no surprise that Yusuke completely destroyed the competition. Even the Triad, who had supposedly been training hard for this, couldn't stand up for more than the first five seconds against her. Because there wasn't a second place contender, no alternate was named.
Yusuke was a little shocked about this chain of events. She knew that she was doing better at the training than she had been, but she hadn't actually seen that much of an improvement. She felt the same as when she had first been brought here except she was now too tired to do much more than train, eat, and sleep.
After the tryouts, life didn't get any easier. Karasu and Bui extended training so that it lasted so long anymore, it was often either near or past midnight before she was allowed to sleep. Little by little though, she began to notice a difference. Both were starting to sweat during the training and resorted to fighting her in alternating intervals, though in the end she was still always defeated. The defeats were starting to become harder for the two though, and started taking longer and longer for them to achieve.
'I want to go home,' Yusuke thought one day during the training. 'I want to sleep in my bed, eat my food, and watch TV. I even miss school, especially playing hooky and going to the arcade instead. Why me?' At that second, her frustration and anger with that question skyrocketed and she punched Karasu so hard, that he flew into a wall at the other side of the room, and followed it with a kick that launched Bui right after him, barely missing him though by about 2 inches.
All three were shocked by this sudden strange turn around, normally it was Yusuke being thrown into a wall. The silence lasted only a few more seconds as both demons collected themselves. The silence was broken by Karasu though, as he reached for his mask.
"It seems that the real training will finally be able to begin, and with three weeks until the tournament starts." He promptly removed his mask and inhaled, his hair turning blonde right before her eyes. Bui was removing his armor and for the first time, Yusuke saw them both without their restraints.
Karasu was actually quite attractive, not her type though. She had expected that he had some sort of disfigurement that he was covering, but that was obviously not so. Bui on the other hand, looked older, strange in a different sense. Or maybe that was just because of the big purple bruise/scar on his forehead. That's when their energy levels hit her.
'Not good.' was her only thought.
----------
The brothers were once again watching the training that was going on inside of the room. Neither had spoken so far as they watched the improvement that had happened to Yusuke's fighting abilities. The younger was the one who eventually spoke.
"She has definitely improved from the original 16%. During the last testing fight I had with her, she actually stood up to almost 55%."
"Well," the other said, sitting on his brother's shoulder, "that means she is almost four times stronger than originally. She won't get stronger as fast now though. She's more than strong enough now for the tournament."
The younger shook his head slightly. "She can still be stronger though. I've just received word from Sakyo that Genkai has made a bid to enter the tournament. As a leader for the guest team, one that she assembled herself."
The elder turned his gaze back into the training room where despite a tremendous effort; Yusuke was slowly having her butt handed to her by Karasu and Bui. She'd need different clothes soon; Karasu's bombs were destroying the ones she was wearing. The younger however continued to talk.
"There is no doubt in my mind that she is entering in an attempt to rescue her precious apprentice. She never took well to the idea of taking someone else's hard work and presenting it as your own, this would be no exception."
"So, do we keep her under close observation and prevent a meeting?"
"No, we keep her under observation, but give Genkai plenty of opportunities to get to her. She will undoubtedly try to help Yusuke in a way that will make Yusuke more capable of fighting us. Let's see what happens." He smirked and laughed slightly at the thought.
----------
The last three weeks before the tournament were the most painful of all for Yusuke. She barely was able to improve enough to avoid major hits from Karasu and Bui, who both were much stronger and faster without their restraints. Her energy attacks became much stronger though, and her dodging improved, but she was still hurt so badly each day that if Bui or Karasu didn't help her back to the cells (which wasn't very often anyway) she either slept on the floor in the training room, or if she was hungry enough, she would crawl back to Toguro's sanctum. She couldn't get up the stairs anymore without help, so she usually ended up crashing in the kitchen.
Once she had tried to get to her cell, but she was so exhausted that she had fallen asleep in the hall at the foot of the stairs. The elder brother had caught her there during the night and the punishment had been three days of training without food. By the end of the three days, she hadn't been able to move at all, in an act of pity Bui had actually carried the girl piggy-back up to the Toguro's sanctum, their prison, and had given her half of his meal to add to her own. Karasu hadn't done anything to help nor hinder.
The younger Toguro called an end to training three days before the tournament and ordered all of them to focus on preserving their strength and healing their wounds. Yusuke could have kissed him right then, but she was to busy trying to scrape herself off the training room floor. Karasu's previous attack had been brutal.
----------
"Are you certain that you want to go through with this?" an aged voice asked. "There are many beings that owe me favors or would love to aid me in this."
"No," replied a wise, young voice. "Master Genkai, we made our decision. Yusuke is our friend, and we will help her in anyway that we can."
"Hn," said another voice. "Besides, Yusuke owes me a fight."
"I, the Great Kuwabara, have yet to defeat Urameshi also! I will go so I can pound her!"
"Good, now we just need a fifth member for our team. And I know just the person."
----------
The three were once more gathered in their meeting place. They stood in the traditional triangle, showing respect for each and granting them their space. The first to speak was the oldest, who took a direct interest in the subject.
"I have found a way to contain her once we bring Yusuke here. She will soon be with us."
"Soon? As in, as soon as we are able to catch the child? She has not let her defenses down even once when she was most exhausted, how are we supposed to catch her?"
"I have been studying in the field of telepathy since last we met. Plus, the strain of the upcoming tournament is bound to bring her defenses down, even if only for a moment. We underestimated her the first time, but we will be able to win her this time. I even sent some of my trusted subordinates to retrieve the mirror and hide it on Hanging Neck Island. She will be among us soon, probably within the next 10 days."
----------
Saria: So, what do you think? Please review!
Zas and SA: (are still swinging the mallets at each other)
Tori: OO (is still tied to the chair)
