Alright everyone, it is finally completed! Sorry for the extreme delay. I've had a lack of motivation as of late. It's especially hard for me when I have to go back and edit my chapter to make sure it flows and doesn't have grammar issues. At least I finally managed to get the motivation to get it out! I hope all of you enjoy it! It's a long chapter! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Chapter 14: Kuwabara's First Match
(Name) was sound asleep in one of the beds inside of the room as Hiei and Kurama woke up for the day.
Two of the rooms in the hotel suite had three beds. Everyone decided that (Name) would share a room with Hiei and Kurama. The Masked Fighter and Kazuma decided to share the other room with Yusuke.
"(Name), it's time to wake up," Kurama said after trying for the third time to get her up.
When she didn't respond, he and Hiei both knew she wasn't going to wake up any time soon. She was still gradually recovering from the training she endured over the last month and a half. It had placed an enormous amount of strain on her. They weren't even certain if she was going to wake up today. However, as luck would have it, Team Urameshi's first match was today. In fact, the team was going to be fighting in the first match of the Dark Tournament. They had to take her to the arena even if she wasn't capable of fighting.
"I can't seem to wake up Urameshi," Kazuma said as he walked into the room along with the Masked Fighter.
"(Name)'s in the same condition," Kurama informed them. "We can't do anything else but take them to the arena while they're sleeping."
Once they were ready to head to the arena, Kazuma draped Yusuke over his back once again to carry him while Hiei held (Name) bridal style.
Trees covered the usually uninhabited island, and they had to walk down a dirt pathway until they made it to their destination.
Demons were waiting outside of the large circular building. There were many of them talking excitedly about the tournament. It wasn't very often it was allowed to be held. Many of them could also be heard talking anxiously of the future demise of Team Urameshi. It was something most of them were anticipating with glee and excitement in their eyes.
The group ignored them as they made their way inside and didn't stop walking until they reached the entrance of the arena floor. At its center was a large circular ring where all of the fighting would take place. The open roof of the building allowed sunlight to beam down onto the arena floor. Thousands of seats blanketed the sides of the massive circular room that rose in levels along each wall. There were already very few seats remaining, and demons were becoming restless as they waited for the first fight of the tournament to start.
A woman who had short light brown hair with thick bangs going across her forehead and vivid green eyes walked up to the ring with a microphone in her hand. She had a very visible set of fox ears on top of her head and a bushy tail which revealed she was a demon. Her outfit was a white sleeveless v-neck top with a gold collar and a green tie that hung down the front of it. The shirt was tucked underneath a pair of light purple shorts. A pair of black Nylon's completely covered the pale skin of her legs. On her feet she had red boots that went up to the middle of her shins and there were red wristbands on her wrists. To finish the look, she had a red choker around her neck.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the long delay," the woman said excitedly into her microphone. "I am Koto, your ring announcer, at your service! We now commence the Dark Tournament!"
"Get the hell started already!" one of the demons in the crowd shouted clearly annoyed by the delay. "All of us demons stopped eating people, and kept ourselves from stealing while we waited for this day!"
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Team Shichiyukai was standing near the entrance of the arena floor on the opposite side of the building as Team Urameshi.
The demon on the far left of the group looked completely human and was the second tallest of the group. He was slender with long, thick, curly brown hair and had a goatee and a thin mustache. His outfit was a white loose fitting long sleeve shirt and black pants. He also had a red bead necklace around his neck and a pair of round sunglasses covering his eyes.
To his left was a demon with gray colored skin, short black spiky hair, and pointed ears. His eye balls were yellow with purple pupils. He was a little shorter than Zeru and thin. He was wearing a dark green trench coat, black pants, and black boots.
Another demon was standing between him and Rinku who also looked human. He had long black hair and blue eyes. His outfit was a simple black t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots.
On the other side of Rinku was Zeru who was standing to the left of the last member on their team. The last member was the tallest of their group and muscular with short black hair. If it wasn't for his purple skin, he might have looked human. He was wearing a green t-shirt, brown pants, and brown boots.
Rinku had a carefree expression on his face as he looked around at the spectators in the arena with his hands behind his head.
"Whew!" Rinku said excitedly as he took a few steps forward. "There's an amazing number of spectators! I'm fired up!"
Four of the other members of the team were silent as they also stared into the arena with varying degrees of excitement. Zeru was the only one who had a serious expression on his face.
"We've been delayed long enough! We're tired of waiting!" another demon shouted from the crowd.
"Stop dawdling!" another one shouted as Zeru looked up at the top of the arena where one of the VIP rooms was.
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Four members of the Black Black Club were sitting inside of their VIP room at the top of the arena with two guards behind them guarding the door.
One of the men was old and bald with a long beard. He wore traditional Japanese clothing and round spectacles over his eyes. The man who was sitting to his left was another old man. He was heavyset with wavy grey hair that was parted on the left side of his head and had small black eyes. He was wearing a brown vest over a white long sleeve buttoned up shirt, a blue tie, black slacks and black shoes. A large cigar was hanging from his mouth. The man with the scar on his face and long black hair was to his left with a pleasant smile on his lips. And lastly, another older man with straight grey hair that was parted to the left was to his left. He was wearing a green business suit, a red tie, and black shoes. In his left hand he was holding a glass of red wine and had a smirk on his lips.
"I don't know if you can call it the special privilege of us humans who have taken to the underworld and sold our souls over to the devil... but to be able to see hell on earth is a feeling that the decent, poor populace cannot understand," the heavyset man said to the bald man.
"The contestants for the first match of the first round are now making their entrance," Koto announced.
She pointed over to the right at one of the entrances to the ring floor and continued to speak.
"The Shichiyukai Team!"
Zeru, Rinku, and the other four members of their team walked towards the ring confidently.
"We've been waiting for this, Shichiyukai!" one of the spectators shouted as the crowd cheered.
"The fan favorites!" another demon shouted from the crowd.
"What do you think, Sakyo-san?" the man holding the wine glass asked as he looked over at the man with long black hair. "These guys are folks we found in the heart of the amusement district. Their names are still not well known, but they are the new power behind a dark mythology I am creating."
He decided to look back down at the Shichiyukai Team as he continued to speak.
"They are the only ones who are capable of overthrowing your Toguro Team. Never mind that Urameshi and his bunch are no match for them," he said confidently.
Sakyo didn't say anything in response. He simply continued to have a small smile on his lips.
"Facing them are our guests, the Urameshi Team!" Koto announced as she pointed to the left entrance of the ring.
Sakyo gazed down at the team and his eyes landed on the girl who was in Hiei's arms. From the distance they were at he couldn't see her very clearly but there was something about her that seemed familiar. He couldn't quite place what it was though and decided to dismiss it for the time being.
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The crowd yelled insults at Team Urameshi as they walked towards the ring.
"Here they come!" one of the spectators shouted with obvious dislike in his voice.
"Go on, Urameshi! Burn in hell!" another demon shouted.
"Show your faces so calmly, will you, you bunch of hicks?!" a different demon said insultingly.
"Don't think you're going home alive!" another shouted at them confident of their demise.
"You traitors, Hiei and Kurama! You can get blown to pieces too!" a different demon shouted.
Kazuma made a sound of annoyance as he looked at the crowd.
"What a terrible blood thirst! That's some long pent-up anger, all directed at us!" he said with mild disbelief in his voice.
"It's unexpected to be called traitors by these guys, since they don't have any sense of fellowship," Kurama said while also looking at the crowd.
"Both teams, to the center!" Koto said into her microphone as she raised her left arm up above her head.
As directed, both teams climbed up onto the ring and stopped straight across from each other at the center of it near Koto.
"Kill them all!" one of the spectators shouted as both teams stared each other down.
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Keiko, Shizuru, Botan, and Atsuko were standing outside of the arena as they waited for Koenma to appear. Keiko and Shizuru were focused on keeping a look out for Yusuke and the others. Atsuko, on the other hand, had wide eyes and could only manage to stare at the demons around them with disbelief.
Botan decided to wear something formal for the occasion and had on an orange Kimono. Around her waist she had a purple Obi sash to keep her Kimono shut and sandals. Her hair was up in a high side ponytail.
Keiko had on a white buttoned up top underneath a blue vest and a maroon long sleeve jacket. She was also wearing a blue pleaded skirt, white socks that reached up to her thighs, and black shoes.
Shizuru was wearing a boyish outfit. It consisted of a white long sleeve buttoned up top underneath a light brown vest and loose fitting charcoal black pants. Around her neck was a red tie and on her feet she had brown shoes.
Atsuko had on a simple black turtleneck and khaki pants. Over her shirt he wore a khaki suit jacket and had tan shoes on her feet.
"You're sure they're here somewhere, right?" Keiko asked.
"Go easy on him, Keiko-chan," Botan said as she looked over at her.
Keiko turned towards her with a stern expression on her face and pointed at her with her finger close to Botan's face.
"Listen, Botan-san!" Keiko said with obvious annoyance in her voice. "Because of Yusuke, we nearly died! For him to get us both so deeply involved, and then say nothing and go off to do something else dangerous is unpardonable!"
"Not to mention (Name)," Shizuru said unhappily. "I want to know why she suddenly up and vanished along with Sora! Depending on their answers I might have to kick their asses!"
"I wouldn't mind hearing the answer to that either," Atsuko said with a frown.
Keiko turned towards Shizuru and Atsuko and spoke to them.
"Shizuru-san, Atsuko-san, let's go."
"Yeah," Shizuru and Atsuko said with a nod as the three of them turned around to head towards the entrance of the arena.
"Just what you'd expect of Yusuke's mother and childhood friends!" Botan said in her mind. "They've got a lot of guts!"
"By the way, isn't Koenma-sama here yet?" Botan asked as she began to look around for him again.
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Jorge was wearing a black trench coat while he walked next to Koenma who was wearing his usual outfit. They were both heading towards the entrance of the arena to meet up with the others.
"Koenma-sama, the matches are about to begin," Jorge informed him.
"Yeah," Koenma said in response.
"Come on, let's hurry."
"But..." Koenma said with a doubtful look on his face as he looked up.
His thoughts went to the first time Yusuke, Kazuma, and (Name) set eyes on him.
"Stop joking around!" Yusuke said as he pointed at him and laughed with tears at the corners of his eyes. "This puny kid here is Yama?"
"Hey, hey, this is that bigwig Spirit Realm guy?" Kazuma asked in disbelief as he pointed at him with tears also at the corners of his eyes. "This puny little kid?"
"Are you some sort of midget that looks like a baby?" (Name) asked while staring at him with an incredulous expression on her face as she held him in her arms. "There is no way that the Spirit World could be ruled by a toddler."
Those memories were enough to make Koenma stop walking as he pouted.
"I don't want to be made fun of!" Koenma said in his mind angrily.
Jorge stared at him with wide eyes and pointed in the direction of the arena entrance.
Koenma's eyes widened as a thought occurred to him and he raised his arms up above his head.
"This calls for...!" Koenma exclaimed as he brought his arms back down and widened his stance.
"There are still tickets for good seats!" a demon shouted while holding a ticket in his hand. "The matches are about to start!"
He had green skin and thick, curly shoulder-length black hair underneath a brown hat. His ears were pointy like many of the other demons in the area, his nails were sharp, and he also had a long lizard's tail. He had yellow eye balls with black irises. His outfit consisted of a charcoal black suit, a white buttoned up top, a red tie and black shoes.
The demons black eyes landed on a man who was walking by, and he spoke out to him.
"Oh, hey there, sonny!" he shouted as he ran towards him. "I've got good tickets!"
The man stopped walking as the demon caught up to him.
"Right on the edge of the gallery!" the demon said as he tried persuading him to buy the ticket. "You'll be able to see the whole fight! How about two million for it?"
The man turned around to look at him with a ticket already in his hand.
"As far as tickets go, I have a VIP seat," he said to the demon calmly.
He was an extremely attractive man with soft brown eyes and short brown hair. His bangs were parted in the middle and on the center of his forehead were the letters "Jr". His outfit was a white long sleeve top and a pair of khaki pants underneath a blue Changshan that had black edges. Around his waist he had a red waist band. He also had a long red scarf wrapped around his neck. The only thing that was extremely odd about him was the blue pacifier in his mouth.
The demon stared at him in surprise as he looked him over then spoke as he pointed at him.
"You're Koenma, aren't you?"
Sweat formed on the demons right temple as he began to speak to him respectfully and brought his hand down.
"Are you a spectator, sir?"
"I am the Urameshi Team owner," Koenma said.
"Oh, goodness..." the demon said nervously.
"We were able to suspend the tournament in the Spirit Realm, however, special privileges were invoked and it was overturned."
"You don't say..."
"I can't dispute that this tournament will be a place to vent some stress, and the number of crimes in the Human Realm has been reduced. I can't ignore it."
"Just as I thought, sir," the demon said before a smirk appeared on his lips. "You do understand — these grounds are a black sanctuary. You're also aware that fighting is the only dialogue spoken here."
"Of course he is," Jorge said as he stood next to the demon with his hands on his hips.
The demon chuckled then spoke as he looked back over at Koenma.
"He who wins is the law. Even you are an ordinary spectator here, sir. Even if your own parents were being killed, you could only look on silently."
"I am aware of that," Koenma said calmly.
He turned his back towards him and began to walk towards the entrance once again.
"Koenma-sama!" Botan said the moment she caught sight of him. "Yusuke and the others have already come out!"
They were once again outside of the arena after checking to see if the others were already on the ring.
"Botan..." Koenma said as he stopped in front of her, Shizuru, Keiko, and Atsuko.
"You sure are popular, sir!" the demon said in surprise. "Are all four of them your sweethearts?"
"They're the guests' relatives and girlfriend," Koenma responded and continued speaking as he gave Botan a pointed look. "My dimwit assistant here let word slip out, and was forced to bring them along with her."
Botan turned around with tears in her eyes.
"He said I was a dimwit!" she said.
Koenma stepped directly in front off Keiko, Shizuru, and Atsuko and bowed to them as he introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you. Please accept my regards."
Keiko looked at him and blinked while Shizuru was silent.
"Nice to meet you," Atsuko said.
"Well, shall we be going?" Koenma asked them.
The six of them walked through the crowd of demons that were still outside as they headed towards the entrance of the arena.
"What do you know?!" the green demon said in amazement. "They have valiant women in the Human Realm, too!"
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Dark clouds began to gather in the sky as they flew over the stadium.
"Kill them!" a demon shouted.
"Go to hell, humans!" another demon shouted.
"Those two are still asleep!" Rinku said annoyed as he stared at (Name) and Yusuke.
Zeru also had an unhappy expression on his face as he stared at them.
"We will have the captains of both teams consult to decide the methods of battle and the terms of victory," Koto announced as she spoke into her microphone again. "However, if an understanding cannot be reached then, each of the six members will fight one-on-one and whichever team has the most wins will be counted the victors. If it's a tie after the sixth match, then there will be a final match between one of the remaining members on each team to determine the victors."
"Shut up!" one of the demons shouted out impatiently.
"Captain?" Kazuma said tensely as he looked at Yusuke's sleeping form. "But this blockhead is asleep!"
"In that case, only you, Kuwabara-kun, could take his place!" Kurama said as he looked at him with a small smile.
"Me?" Kazuma asked with a happy expression on his face as he looked over at him.
"That's right, you big numbskull," Yusuke said. "I, the leader, am asleep. You do it in my place."
A forced smile appeared on Kazuma's lips as he spoke in disbelief.
"That can't be so!"
However, it was obvious Yusuke was still asleep as he stared at him and Kazuma continue to speak.
"I guess it is, huh? I don't like that I have to be next after Urameshi, but all right!" Kazuma said before a serious expression appeared on his face. "I'll decide for the time being!"
Hiei stared at him critically.
"Idiot..." he said bluntly.
"Don't do anything stupid," (Name) said bluntly.
Kazuma, Hiei, Kurama, and the Masked Fighter looked at her with a little surprise on their faces. This was the first time she had said anything since she fell asleep.
"What?" Kazuma asked her with annoyance once he realized what she said.
(Name) didn't respond and continued to sleeping in Hiei's arms.
Kurama chuckled and spoke.
"(Name) and Yusuke really are similar, aren't they?"
"That's an insult," (Name) said sounding a little offended. "I'm a lot smarter than he is."
"Shut up," Yusuke said in response despite the fact he was also asleep. "Are you calling me an idiot?"
"Yes," she said bluntly.
The four conscious members of Team Urameshi blinked as them and Kazuma laughed nervously.
"Are they really asleep?" Kazuma asked.
They were completely silent again as they continued to sleep.
"Apparently..." he said in disbelief.
Afterwards, Kazuma decided to walk forward and met Zeru at the very center of the ring. There was obvious tension in the air as they stared each other down with enough intensity that you could almost see the electricity flying between them.
"I don't care what method we use," Zeru said. "If possible, one-on-one is best. I'd like to draw out the pleasure of the game, after all."
Kazuma took another step forward as he scowled at him.
"That's just how I want it!" Kazuma declared. "One-on-one is best in a fight among men!"
"The matches will be one-on-one, best-of-six style!" Koto announced for everyone to hear.
"Now you've done it," Kazuma said as he turned around and started to walk towards his team.
Zeru acted like he was going to turn around but he decided not to as he stared at Yusuke and (Name). He clearly disliked the fact that they were asleep and a glare appeared on his face. Without warning, he began to gather his Demon Energy until green energy surrounded his body. As soon as the energy appeared, it disappeared, and flames suddenly formed around him. Kazuma stopped and turned around to look at him in surprise.
"What could this be?" Koto shouted into her microphone with surprise in her voice. "All of a sudden, extraordinary flames are being radiated around contestant Zeru!"
"I-It's like his Demon Energy is ablaze!" Kazuma said seriously and continued to speak as he noticed Zeru's glare on (Name) and Yusuke. "Are you challenging Urameshi and (Name) too?"
"An icy-cold stare and Demon Energy that appears to burn everything..." Kurama said in his mind with a serious expression on his face as wind from Zeru's energy blew through his hair. "What a fierce bloodlust!"
A scowl appeared on Hiei's face as he clenched his teeth and stared at Zeru.
"There's a guy like this in the Human Realm, huh?" Hiei said seriously in his mind. "Interesting..."
"Hey, Urameshi, wake up, would you?!" Kazuma shouted as he grabbed the front of his shirt and tried to shake him awake. "Urameshi!"
Zeru sent the flames towards the group and an alarmed expression appeared on Kazuma's face. Koto quickly ran off the ring to a safer place knowing she would be burnt to smithereens if she stayed where she was. A barrier of clear blue energy suddenly surrounded the group to protect them, and the fire was forced to circle around them instead. In response, everyone looked at (Name) in surprise.
"She created a barrier in her sleep?" Kurama asked in his mind in surprise.
Afterwards, Zeru decided to take control of the flames and sent them towards a large group of spectators. They were burnt to a crisp almost instantly.
Kazuma stared at the carnage in shock then looked back down at Yusuke.
"Urameshi!" he shouted at him again. "Wake up! Wake up, would you?!"
Yusuke didn't respond as he continued to snore.
"This is no use," Kazuma said in defeat.
"For him not to wake up after I gave off that must bloodlust, he must be just a simple fool after all," Zeru said in his mind.
Zeru then looked over at (Name) with interest as the barrier disappeared.
"That girl, however, just created a powerful barrier in her sleep. She must have felt my bloodlust and reacted unconsciously when I attacked them. Interesting..."
"It looks like she's caught his interest," Hiei said in his mind as he looked back down at (Name).
Koto hesitantly poked her head up from the edge of the ring then spoke into her microphone.
"It appears that things have subsided," she said while everyone looked at the massive area of demons that had been killed by Zeru's attack. "Even so, what intense Demon Energy contestant Zeru had! The stadium has fallen silent!"
She climbed up onto the ring and walked to the center then raised her right arm over her head as she spoke again.
"Now then, first contenders come forward!"
"I'm off!" Rinku said to Zeru with a carefree attitude as he looked over at him.
He brought his hands to the back of his head and walked forward with a confident smile on his lips while staring at everyone on Team Urameshi.
Kazuma placed Yusuke down onto the floor of the ring.
"I'm the only one who could be tops, here!" Kazuma said seriously with his arms crossed over his chest as he walked towards the center of the ring again.
"Give it to him good Kuwabara!" Yusuke said.
Kurama picked up Yusuke then he, Hiei, and the Masked Fighter walked towards the grass outside of the ring. Hiei placed (Name) down onto the ground and put her back against the edge of the ring. Kurama decided to follow his example and placed Yusuke down next to her in the same position. The three of them stood next to their unconscious team members and looked at the fighters on the ring to watch the match that was about to take place.
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Jorge and Koenma parted ways with Keiko, Shizuru, Atsuko, and Botan who had different seating arrangements and walked towards their VIP room.
"Hurry it up!" Koenma said to him impatiently once they reached the top floor of the stadium. "They're about to begin, you know!"
"Yes, we're here, Koenma-sama!" Jorge said once they made it over to one of the electronic doors.
Instantly, pink electricity came from Koenma's body and in a puff a pink smoke he turned back into his toddler form.
"This form sure is a lot easier!" Koenma said as he ran forward to press on the buttons next to the doors.
Jorge stared at him in surprise unable to say anything.
"Ah, I'm so worn out!" Koenma continued to say as the doors opened and he ran into the room.
"Koenma-sama does look nicer that way. I sure like it," Jorge said honestly before he slowly followed him into the room.
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"What's this?" Rinku asked as he blinked at Kazuma. "The very weakest-looking one has come forward. After all that playing around yesterday, you still haven't gotten it."
"Aside from keeping this a one-on-one fight, there are no rules!" Koto said into her microphone as she looked at Rinku and Kazuma. "You are allowed to use any equipment as well. Upon knockdowns and ring outs, I will begin to count. A ten-count will result in loss by K.O."
The dark clouds in the sky only seemed to become thicker, and a buzzer went off in the arena.
"Begin!" Koto shouted.
"All right!" one of the spectators shouted as Kazuma took a fighting stance.
Rinku stared up at him with an innocent child-like expression on his face as he stepped over to the side.
"Okay," Kazuma said as he moved his right hand in a "come here" motion. "Come at me anyway you like! Come on, kid!"
Rinku didn't say anything in response as he began to step to the side. Kazuma followed his lead and also began to step to the side with a confident smirk on his lips.
"Kill him!" one of the spectators shouted before they both stood in place.
A confident smile appeared on Rinku's face as he stood on the tips of his feet.
"I guess I can have some fun with him," Rinku said.
"Go get him!" another spectator shouted.
Rinku let out a yell as he jumped up into the air then began to jump and flip around on the ring in front of Kazuma.
"Just like a kid!" Kazuma said tensely as he tried following the small boys' movements.
After a few moments, Rinku jumped high into the air once again and suddenly launched his first attack.
"Hey, there!" Rinku shouted as he aimed a kick at Kazuma's face.
A surprised expression appeared on Kazuma's face as Rinku flew towards him. He just barely managed to avoid it by stepping to the side and turned around to face Rinku once again. However, he was nowhere in sight. Seconds later, blood oozed out from a scratch that had been made on his right temple from Rinku's kick.
"Damn! W-Where are you?" Kazuma asked as he looked around for him frantically.
He spotted something below and looked down only to be surprised to see Rinku there. The small boy was crouched down in front of him only a few feet away while looking up at him with an innocent smile on his face.
Rinku suddenly launched upwards and yelled out as he kicked him underneath his chin. Kazuma was forced to take several steps backwards as he fought to stay on his feet. Rinku used his right hand to catch himself just before he fell onto the floor of the ring. Afterwards, he used it to push himself back up into the air and made a series of back flips in mid-air to put some distance between them. He landed back down onto the ring on the tips of his toes with an innocent smile on his face he stared at Kazuma. His arms were behind his back while he lightly bounced up and down.
There was an unhappy expression on Kazuma's face as he looked over at him while holding his chin.
"Damn it!" he said annoyed as he let go of his chin and turned to face him. "Make a fool of me, will you?!"
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Atsuko, Keiko, Shizuru, and Botan were sitting in their seats amongst the large crowd of spectators.
"Amazing," Atsuko said with wide eyes while failing to keep up with Rinku's movements.
"That Rinku is incredibly light on his feet!" Botan said tensely. "It looks like Kuwabara can barely keep up!"
"Don't go spacing out!" Shizuru said seriously.
"Kuwabara-kun!" Keiko said with worry.
XXXXXX
Rinku decided to start toying with Kazuma and moved around the ring with enough speed to create afterimages of himself as he made flips and jumps around him. Kazuma tensed up as he tried following his movements.
"Damn this guy!" Kazuma said with sweat on his temple.
"He's incredibly light on his feet!" Kurama said seriously. "It's all I can do to follow his movement like this."
"This dude shouldn't be able to see me!" Rinku thought to himself confidently as he continued to rapidly move around the ring.
After a few more moments of looking at his afterimages, Kazuma was finally able to pinpoint his location.
"Your speed won't be of any use against me!" Kazuma exclaimed.
He charged forward and Rinku looked back at him in surprise realizing he had spotted him. Before the small boy could do anything, Kazuma punched the top of his head as hard as he could. Rinku let out a loud yell of pain as his hat fell off and he was thrown back due to the force of the punch. He slammed down onto the floor of the ring and bounced off of it several times until he slid to a stop a little way away from Kazuma.
The arena went completely silent as almost everyone inside it stared at Kazuma in shock.
"Way to go, Kuwabara," Yusuke said.
"W-What?!" one of the spectators said in disbelief.
Rinku slowly managed to get back up onto his feet before he shook his head. An annoyed expression appeared on his face as he looked at Kazuma and he took a fighting stance.
"Don't toy with me!" Kazuma said with a confident smirk. "Get me serious, and that's what happens."
Rinku slowly took a step to the side while staring at him. Afterwards, he decided to run to the side in order to try to use his speed to attack him again. However, Kazuma was faster than he was and as Rinku lunged into the air he managed to move in front of him to cut him off. Once again, Rinku looked at him in shock and before he could react Kazuma kicked him in the face with his left foot. A yell of pain escaped Rinku's lips again as he was thrown back. He crashed onto the ring before bouncing off of it several times and sliding to a stop once more.
"What's up with that Rinku kid?" one of the spectators shouted unhappily. "He's utterly weak!"
"Idiot!" another demon shouted as Rinku slowly managed to get back up onto his hands and knees. "Get out of there, you weakling!"
"No," Kurama said as he disagreed with the fact Rinku was weak. "It's just that Kuwabara has gotten stronger. I know I pushed him during his special training, but he's the type that doesn't start putting out power until he's in a real fight."
Rinku was able to get back up onto his feet for a moment but then fell back as he sat down on the ring in pain. Instead of attacking him while he was down, Kazuma stood in front of him patiently with a serious expression on his face as he waited for him to recover.
"Idiot!" Hiei said bluntly. "Is he pretending to abide by some code of honor? He could run him through and kill him with his Spirit Sword right now."
Rinku eventually stood back up then him and Kazuma charged towards each other. The small boy let out an angry yell and went to attack him. At the same time, Kazuma also aimed a punch at him as he let out a yell of his own. His fist connected with Rinku's stomach and the small boys face scrunched up in pain. He was thrown back as he let out another yell of agony and held his stomach.
"He has him completely trapped!" Kurama said. "This is where he can finish it!"
Kazuma continued to charge towards the small boy who was still flying backwards due to the attack.
"I'm not one to play around! I'm going to put you to rest!" Kazuma shouted before he jumped into the air and aimed a punch at him. "Sleep well through your ten-count!"
Rinku managed to smirk as he recovered from the pain. Moments before Kazuma's fist could make contact, he suddenly used his speed to get behind him.
"What?!" Kazuma thought in surprise as his eyes widened in shock.
"Did you enjoy your brief sense of superiority?" Rinku asked seriously while flying towards him to launch his own attack.
"What?!" Kazuma asked in surprise as he turned around to face him.
Rinku let out an angry yell and aimed a kick at his head. Kazuma's eyes widened in surprise and he let out a yell of alarm knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge it. The impact was strong enough to force Kazuma's head to the side and his neck cracked as it bent unnaturally. A strangled noise came from his lips as his body was forced to follow his head as it turned.
Kurama, Hiei, and the Masked Fighter stared at the scene in shock as Kazuma fell down to the floor on his stomach completely motionless.
A wary expression appeared on Koto's face as she stared at him and took a few steps back. His eyes were wide open, and his expression was blank.
The crowd immediately began cheering in excitement. They were happy the Urameshi Team had lost the match, and one of its members was dead.
Rinku stood near Kazuma's head to peer down at him as a grin appeared on his face. Koto slowly walked over to Kazuma and stared at him for a moment then raised her right arm.
"One..." she said as she swung her arm down and started the count while repeating her arm movements. "Two... Three... Four..."
XXXXXX
"What do you think, Sakyo-san?" the man next to him said with a crazed smile on his face while still holding a glass of wine in his left hand. "This group I found will have no trouble."
Sakyo didn't say anything and simply continued to smile as he stared down at the ring below.
XXXXXX
"Get up!" Koenma shouted before he slammed his fists down onto the table in front of him and stood on his seat. "Kuwabara, get up!"
"It may be hopeless!" Jorge said with a tense and alarmed expression on his face.
XXXXXX
"Five..." Koto said into her microphone.
Rinku began to laugh as he laced his hands together behind his head.
"How about that? Were you on pins and needles?" he asked with a smirk before a massive grin appeared on his face. "If I had simply defeated him, it wouldn't have been much fun, so I put on a little production."
A small confident smile appeared on Hiei's face as he spoke.
"He's an impudent bastard, enjoying fighting from the bottom of his heart."
"Six... Seven..." Koto continued.
"It's no use counting. I broke his neck good, after all," Rinku said with a small smile as he lowered his arms to his sides. "I'll bet he's just about dead."
"That was some damn nice work, punk!" one of the spectators shouted out to him.
Rinku immediately looked in the demons direction with a grin.
"Way to go! Now that was satisfying!" another demon shouted.
His grin widened, and he walked towards the edge of the ring.
"Eight..." Koto said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Rinku said to the crowd as he waved his arms and blew them a kiss.
"Nine..."
"Thanks for cheering for me!" Rinku shouted towards them.
Koto suddenly stopped counting and the crowd fell silent as they looked behind him in surprise. In response, the smile on his face disappeared as he blinked at the spectators in front of him in confusion.
Kazuma was very much alive as he pushed up onto his hands and knees after recovering from the attack.
"Whose neck... did you say you broke?" Kazuma asked seriously as he looked over at Rinku.
Rinku's eyes widened in surprise and he didn't say anything in response to his words. He was in too much shock to say anything. Kazuma didn't say anything else as he stared at his back prepared to continue the fight. He had no intention of losing as he stared at him with a serious and determined expression on his face.
The moment Rinku recovered from his surprise, an unhappy expression appeared on his face before he shook his head. Rinku turned towards him and spoke coldly.
"So, you can stand up to a beating, can you?"
Kazuma stood, unsteadily, onto his feet and held his left cheek in his hand. It only took him a moment to steady himself as Rinku took a step towards him also prepared to continue the fight.
XXXXXX
Keiko had an extremely worried expression on her face as she stared down at Kazuma.
"Kuwabara-kun!" she said.
"Impressive," Atsuko said. "It looks like those beatings Yusuke used to give him have worked out in his favor. No one else would have been able to recover from a kick like that."
"He's got grit!" Botan said in amazement.
"He's my little brother, after all," Shizuru said with a hint of pride in her voice.
XXXXXX
"Amazingly, he's gotten back up!" Koto shouted into her microphone. "The match continues!"
Kazuma took a single step to the side as he continued trying to fight off the pain flowing through his neck and cheek. Rinku took several steps to the side in order to stand directly in front of him and took a fighting stance with a confident look on his face. The pain on Kazuma's face worsened as he moved his head before he removed his hand from his cheek and also took a fighting stance.
"I'll get you back ten thousand-fold for making a mockery of me!" Kazuma exclaimed unhappily.
"He's a tough bastard!" one of the spectators said unhappily. "He took that kick and still got back up!"
"Never mind, little guy!" another demon shouted towards Rinku. "Kill him like you mean business!"
Rinku and Kazuma seemed to ignore everyone else around them as they stared each other down with unhappy expressions on their faces.
"One side uses a psychological strategy to catch the other off guard, and the other side takes it and gets back up!" Kurama said seriously.
"This has turned out to be an interesting fight, huh?" Hiei said calmly.
"Right from the first match of the first round, a fine, white-hot battle has come about!" Koto shouted.
Lightening suddenly began to come down from the dark clouds in the sky, and golden light filled the roofless arena.
Rinku and Kazuma suddenly smirked at each other confidently as they prepared for the real fight that was about to start between them. Lightening continued to come down from the sky and loud thunder crackled through the air.
"To be honest, it's true that I got outsmarted," Kazuma said as he took a step forward. "However, seeing as how you were unable to defeat me, even after kicking me in the noggin while I was defenseless, you must not have that much power, huh?"
"That's my "guest," all right," Rinku said before he grabbed his small green bag that was still strapped across his body and reached inside of it. "Absolutely... if I couldn't defeat you with that kick, then I'll just have to beat you with spectral powers..." he said before he trailed off.
He took his left hand out of the bag and held whatever had been inside of it in his closed fist. Everyone silently watch as he brought his hands together and quickly slid his pointer, middle, ring, and pinky fingers into the loop of eight green strings. He brought up his right hand and revealed a yo-yo he was holding between his right thumb and pointer finger.
It was a small yellow yo-yo, probably only an inch in diameter, with a blue circle on the side of it. Inside of the circle was a red star that matched the three underneath his left eye.
"...instead," Rinku said as he finished his sentence.
Moments later, he revealed seven other yo-yos by holding each of them between the five fingers on both of his hands. His green eyes glowed red for a moment and purple energy flowed from his body. The stars on his yo-yos glowed white and small strands of purple electricity surrounded him because of his energy.
"Serpent yo-yos!" Rinku shouted.
"Serpent yo-yos?" Kurama asked seriously as the wind created from Rinku's energy blew through his hair.
"What a tremendous Demon Energy!" Hiei thought to himself seriously.
"You're finally displaying your specialty, are you? In that case, so will I!" Kazuma shouted as he created a Spirit Sword in each hand. "I won't hold back on you! Spirit Sword, double-blade style!"
Rinku stared at him for only a moment then jumped into the air with a yell.
"Shot!" Rinku shouted as he flung his yo-yos towards Kazuma.
Kazuma let out a scoff.
"I'll just take those things and whack them clean in half!" Kazuma shouted as he raised his right arm into the air then sliced at them.
His eyes widened in surprise when they began swerving around strangely.
"W-What?!" Kazuma asked in disbelief.
The yo-yos maneuvered around his sword with ease and continued to fly towards him until they slammed into his face and chest. He let out a sound of pain as a result.
"Rinku's yo-yos twisted their way in...!" Kurama said in surprise.
Kazuma's feet left the floor as he was thrown back by the attack. His back slammed down onto the ring causing him to make another grunt of pain and he slid backwards until he came to a stop.
"Whoa!" Koto said in amazement. "Ladies and gentlemen, were you able to see that? Just now, contestant Kuwabara was unmistakably thrown about by that peculiar motion!"
Rinku had a mocking smirk on his face as he played with the yo-yos hooked to the fingers of his right hand.
"Dummy!" he said to Kazuma. "This isn't some child's squabble, you know! Did you think all I could do was cast these?"
Kazuma slowly sat up from the floor and glared at him angrily.
"Damn!" Kazuma said as he formed a Spirit Sword in his right hand.
"The Serpent yo-yos are receiving plenty of Demon Energy from my fingers. All eight of them individually..." he said as they began to cut into the concrete of the ring floor before he pulled them back up to his fingers. "...move the way I want them to."
His yo-yo's suddenly began to rapidly move all around him as he showed Kazuma what he could do with them.
"Just like this," Rinku continued.
The image of a snake appeared behind him in Kazuma's mind as he stared at him tensely. Afterwards, he stood back up onto his feet and created another Spirit Sword in his left hand. Rinku ran towards him and prepared his next attack.
"You can't even hurt the strings on my yo-yos with those blunt swords of yours!" Rinku shouted before he launched them forward.
The yo-yos touched the floor and made little cuts into the concrete as they pulled Rinku forward and lifted him a few feet up into the air.
"Now this is walking the dog!" Rinku said obviously enjoying himself.
Kazuma stood there for a few moments before an idea came to his mind.
"Damn it!" Kazuma shouted as he stabbed one of his Spirit Swords into the floor in front of him.
He used his sword as leverage to push up a concrete slab of the floor and used it as a wall to protect himself then backed away. It did little to help, however, and Rinku's yo-yos continued to move towards him as they sliced through the slab. That didn't stop Kazuma from continuing to try. He began to repeat the action several times as he stepped backwards. He was hoping that eventually the yo-yos wouldn't be able to reach him once he had a certain number of slabs in front of him.
After there were five slabs in front of him, Rinku let out a yell and launched the yo-yos hooked to his left hand at him. They easily began to pierce through the slabs one after another and Kazuma's eyes widened in alarm.
"W-What?!" Kazuma said in shock and disbelief.
Moments later he was hit by them in multiple places before he could even try to avoid it. Three of them slammed into his chest. One of them collided with his face. Then the last two hit both of his wrists effectively knocking his swords out of his hands. His Spirit Swords were cast away as a result before they disappeared into nothing.
Kazuma was thrown back by the attack and the strings of Rinku's yo-yos wrapped around his ankles and wrists. Then Rinku used them to lift him a few feet into the air. Three other yo-yos made their way behind him and slammed into Kazuma's back, and he let out another yell of pain. Afterwards, Rinku decided to pull down onto the strings and his body slammed into the floor of the ring.
"The force exhibited by those yo-yos, which Rinku can intuitively use as weapons, is incomparable to his kick," Zeru stated confidently.
Rinku poured more of his Demon Energy into his yo-yos and slowly raised his arms above his head as he lifted him up into the air once again.
"Incredibly, contestant Kuwabara's five foot nine frame is being raised by the yo-yos! What fearsome spectral power!" Koto said into her microphone.
"Here you go!" Rinku shouted as he pulled down on the strings for a second time.
Kazuma let out a yell of alarm before his face slammed into the ring floor.
"I can't have you extending those things again!" Rinku shouted as he pulled on his yo-yos once more.
Kazuma was thrown over him and his back slammed down onto the ring with enough force that a small about of blood came from his mouth.
"You've got nothing to worry about!" one of the demons in the crowd shouted gleefully. "Pound him some more!"
"Way to go, way to go!" another shouted as he cheered him on. "Get him, get him, get him!"
Afterwards, Kazuma face planted into the ring floor again.
"Contestant Rinku is overwhelmingly strong!" Koto shouted into her microphone in amazement as Rinku continued to repeatedly throw Kazuma into the floor of the ring. "Contestant Kuwabara can do nothing before the terrifying Serpent yo-yos!"
"Kurama, it looks like your special training was useless," Hiei said before he looked over at him. "He can't defend himself against those yo-yos with his pair of swords."
"No," Kurama said confidently. "He hasn't gone through everything in his training yet."
A small smile appeared on Yusuke's lips in response to his words.
Rinku stopped throwing Kazuma around and left him lying on his stomach. After a few moments, Kazuma lifted his head and looked at the small boy with irritation on his face.
"W-Why you...! I'm gonna kill you!" Kazuma said.
Rinku let out a sigh and a mildly worn out expression appeared on his face.
"You're sure one tough guy!" Rinku said with a hint of tiredness in his voice. "I'm going to get worn out."
A confident smile appeared on Rinku's face as he continued to speak.
"And, since today isn't the only day of fighting, it's about time I settled this!" he exclaimed.
He widened his stance as he released more of his Demon Energy and let it flow into his yo-yos once more. Kazuma knew something was up as the Demon Energy flowed through the threads and created an aura around his body.
"What's this?!" Kazuma shouted when Rinku began to lift him up into the air once more. "Hey, come on! Hold on a second! Hey! Hello, there?!" he shouted as he moved his arms and legs with a panicked expression on his face.
Rinku didn't say anything and simply lifted his arms over his head as he raised him higher and higher into the air. Kazuma let out a yell of alarm when he realized he was higher than most of the stadium seats in the arena.
XXXXXX
A freaked out expression appeared on Atsuko's face while she and everyone else stared up at Kazuma.
"If he falls, he'll die... The situation looks critical!" Atsuko said.
"Kazuma sure has risen up to a place where we can see him well, huh?" Shizuru said with a strange amount of calmness.
She was holding a cigarette between her fingers with an indifferent expression on her face that didn't match the situation.
Atsuko, Keiko, and Botan looked over at her in disbelief.
"J-Just a minute, now! If he is dropped from that height-!" Keiko said.
"Just like Atsuko said he'll die, no doubt about it," she said while still acting indifferent.
"Shizuru-san!" Botan shouted at her. "You know, he's your own brother! Is talking about him so coldly the only thing you can do?! He might actually die, you know!"
Shizuru looked over at her and spoke.
"That's all up to fate. He's just out of luck," she said before she calmly placed the cigarette back into her mouth.
"What?" Keiko said in disbelief.
XXXXXX
Kazuma glared down at Rinku and shouted at him.
"Why, you...! Let me down!"
"How is the view?!" Rinku shouted up to him with a smirk. "Once I raise you a little bit higher, I'll drop you!"
"Ah, I see, pardon me," Kazuma said while continuing to move around in a lame attempt to break free. "You dumbass! Let me down!"
Rinku ignored him and continued to raise him higher and higher into the air.
XXXXXX
An extremely worried expression appeared on Keiko's face before she gasped as something occurred to her. She quickly looked down at Yusuke and realized he was still asleep along with (Name).
"Yusuke!" she suddenly shouted.
The demons around them looked at her in surprise as she stood up and continued to shout at him.
"Yusuke! Hey, Yusuke! Come on, Yusuke! How can you sleep so easily when Kuwabara-kun is in trouble?!"
XXXXXX
"Sheesh!" Koenma said tensely as he looked down at her. "Such a loud voice! The other demons are going to realize she's Yusuke's friend!"
Jorge had a look of disbelief on his face as he put his hand on his chin in thought.
"That's like cheering for the Giants from the right field at Koshien Stadium, huh?"
"She's going to get ganged up on and beaten up," Koenma said nervously before he looked over at Jorge. "You! Go over there and help her!" he ordered him.
A fearful expression appeared on Jorge's face.
"Y-You mean me? I hate getting into fights. Koenma-sama, you should go, please!"
Koenma made a yell of disbelief and alarm.
"Eh?! Me?!" he shouted.
Koenma looked away from him and let out a laugh as he crossed his arms over his chest before speaking again.
"Humans progress by overcoming difficulty on their own, no matter how difficult!"
Jorge immediately looked at him with a put out expression but Koenma continued to speak anyway.
"Besides, Botan is there, too, as well as Kuwabara's older sister and Yusuke's mother, who both might be pretty capable themselves."
XXXXXX
"Enough already!" Keiko said before she ran towards the stairs.
"Just a minute!" Botan shouted after her. "Keiko-chan! Where are you going?!"
Keiko stopped running as she made it over to the stairs and turned around to look at her.
"He can't hear me from this far away! I have to go shout in his ear!"
A large shadow appeared over Keiko as someone approached her from behind. Her eyes widened a little in surprise and she turned around to look at whoever it was.
"Who are you, now?" the large blue demon in front of her asked. "A human, taking Urameshi's side?"
A fearful expression appeared on her face.
"What about it?!" Atsuko shouted at him annoyed as she stood up and walked over to them.
"Go on back home, now! This tournament is for demons!"
"I don't take advice from monsters!" she retorted.
Keiko gathered up her courage and also shouted at him.
"So what about you demons?! Yusuke has already died once and come back to life!"
A chuckle escaped the demons lips in response.
"Sweethearts, you both look quite tasty! How about I eat you?!"
He opened his mouth wide to eat them and Keiko let out a scream. Atsuko simply looked at him annoyed. Shizuru, who had been making her way over to them, calmly used her cigarette to burn his tongue the moment she could. The demon yelled out in pain and held his tongue while the rest of the demons stared at him in disbelief.
"Water! Help! Water! Water!" he shouted before he ran away as Botan made it over to them.
"You idiot!" one of the other spectators shouted as Keiko began to run down the stairs again.
"Just what you'd expect from Kuwabara's sister," Botan said clearly impressed. "You chased him away brilliantly!"
She looked over at her while Shizuru simply looked forward with an indifferent expression on her face.
"This is getting seriously dangerous, isn't it?!" Kazuma shouted at Rinku as he slowly moved higher into the air. "Hey, come on, squirt! If you're a man, then let's fight each other a bit more fair and square!"
Keiko made it down to the front of the spectator area and shouted towards Yusuke once more.
"See here, Yusuke! Wake up, I say!" she demanded as Botan, Shizuru, and Atsuko approached her. "Wake up and help Kuwabara!"
"Shut up..." (Name) said annoyed. "Idiot."
Botan, Atsuko, and Shizuru looked up at Kazuma.
"Kuwabara! Have some guts!" Atsuko shouted up to him.
"Be brave! Be brave, and fly right!" Botan shouted up at him.
Kazuma didn't hear them through his screaming as Keiko looked up at him with a worried expression on her face. Like before, Shizuru simply stared up at him impassively.
XXXXXX
"Let me down, you piece of crap!" Kazuma shouted.
"Oh, how high in the air contestant Kuwabara has been lifted up!" Koto said. "He is in a real predicament now!"
The crowd began to become restless and cheered Rinku on.
"Drop him!" a demon shouted from the stands. "Let him have it!"
"You're finished, Kuwabara!" another demon shouted excitedly.
"What are you doing, Rinku?!" a different demon shouted impatiently. "Hurry up and get him!"
"Drop him... Drop him... Drop him!" chanted another demon.
"That's about the right height," Rinku said. "Now, be squashed like a frog and die!" Rinku shouted up at Kazuma.
Kazuma let out a yell of alarm expecting him to pull down on the strings. Instead, Rinku removed the strings from his ankles and wrists and retracted his yo-yos to let him fall to his death.
"W-What?!" Kazuma asked in his mind in surprise.
Alarmed expressions appeared on Kurama's, Hiei's, Keiko's, Botan's and Atsuko's faces. Even Shizuru seemed to be mildly worried.
Rinku's yo-yos quickly came back to him, and Kazuma immediately began to fall towards the floor of the ring. Kazuma, for obvious reasons, screamed out in horror.
"He's falling!" Koto shouted. "There's no hope for him now!"
Yusuke rolled onto his right side as he and (Name) continued to sleep. (Name) fell onto her right side then curled into a ball.
Kazuma moved his hands out in front of him and placed them close together. Gold energy appeared between them as he gathered his Spirit Energy.
"I'm not done yet!" he exclaimed. "I'm not about to snuff it like this! Sword, extend!"
A large amount of energy shot out from his hands and an extremely long Spirit Sword formed between them. It quickly planted itself into the floor of the ring and prevented him from slamming into it. Rinku stared at him in disbelief as he shrunk it at little then allowed it to bend backwards. Kazuma decided to use it as a spring and launched himself at Rinku before it completely disappeared as he flew forward.
"Contestant Kuwabara has extended a sword, and using it as a spring, he as leapt sideways from the recoil force of his fall!"
Rinku made a sound clearly impressed by his quick thinking.
"You thought that up pretty well! The adrenaline must have rushed to your head!" he said before he widened his stance and prepared his next attack. "However, coming directly at me like this is the same as saying, "Please hit me in the face with all your yo-yos!"!"
Rinku let out a yell and launched his yo-yos at him. Kazuma let out a scoff with a determined expression on his face.
"I'm going to take you down with me!" he exclaimed. "Spirit Sword!" he shouted before forming it in his left hand.
"That's useless! Coming straight at me with your blade-!" Rinku said confidently.
However, Rinku's confidence quickly disappeared when Kazuma's sword swerved around his yo-yos.
"What?" Rinku thought in surprise.
Kazuma's sword twisted around in a similar fashion as Rinku's yo-yos as it headed straight for Rinku.
"The blade is curving its way between the yo-yos' threads!" Rinku thought in alarm.
XXXXXX
Sakyo made an impressed sound as he smiled.
"What?!" the man next to him said in shock.
XXXXXX
"Rinku!" Zeru shouted in alarm as Rinku jumped back as far as he could to try to avoid it. "Jump back further!"
"I can't avoid it completely!" Rinku shouted in his mind while staring at the tip of the blade that was only inches away from him. "It's going to hit me!"
"Now you know how tough I am?!" Kazuma shouted in his mind as the yo-yos quickly approached him.
Both of their attacks hit their target simultaneous, and they were thrown back due to the force.
"Impossible!" Rinku said in shock before the sword disappeared.
"That's... what you get!" Kazuma said.
They continued to fly back until they crashed down onto their backs on the grass outside of the ring.
For a moment, the arena fell completely silent as everyone took in the sight before them.
"Nicely done," Shizuru said.
"Kuwa-chan!" Botan said with worry.
"I-Incredibly both contestants have left the ring opposite each other!" Koto said once she recovered from her shock. "They struck each other... They simultaneously struck each other!"
Hiei looked over at Kurama and spoke.
"Was that the result of your special training?"
"Yes," Kurama said with a small smile before he looked over at him. "The purpose of his training was to be able to manipulate his Spirit Sword at will."
"Now then, I will take a count! One..." Koto said as she started counting.
"The question is, which one took the greater damage?" Hiei asked while he and Kurama stared at the ring.
"I don't know," Kurama said seriously. "Both of them thoroughly hit the other. This could turn out to be a tie."
"Get up!" Yusuke shouted annoyed causing Hiei, Kurama and the Masked Fighter to look at him in varying degrees of surprise. "Get up, Kuwabara!"
"Five..." Koto said.
A look of surprise appeared on her face as she looked over and noticed Rinku grab the edge of the ring. He climbed back up onto it with a determined expression on his face and slowly managed to stand up.
"Rinku has gotten up!" one of the demons in the crowd said in amazement.
"That means the Shichiyukai has won once!" another demon said excitedly.
Rinku was panting in exhaustion. There was a hole at the front of his shirt where Kazuma's sword slammed into him.
"Who'd have thought that I would have a hard time with him?" Rinku said as he placed his hands near each other in front of his wound. "Damn!" he said in frustration as a blue sphere of energy gathered between them. "I have to treat myself quickly or it'll cause trouble!"
"Contestant Rinku has returned to the ring on the count of five," Koto announced.
"Yeah... I'm the one who won, after all..." Rinku said as he smirked with sweat all over his face.
"We don't know that yet!" Yusuke shouted.
"Yeah!" (Name) shouted in agreement. "What the hell are you doing Kuwabara?!" she shouted at him in annoyance.
"Come on, get up Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted. "Or are you a dog that's been beaten?"
Kazuma's left ear twitched as the insult filled his ears.
"Six..." Koto shouted.
Kazuma quickly jumped back up onto his feet with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Am I a what?!" he shouted annoyed.
Koto looked at him in surprise for a moment then smiled.
"Oh! Contestant Kuwabara has gotten up too!"
Instead of jumping back up onto the ring, Kazuma looked over at Yusuke.
"Urameshi!" Kazuma exclaimed before he ran over to him and crouched down to grab the front of his jacket. "What did you say?! Hey! Who did you say was losing?!"
Yusuke didn't respond and continued to snore. Kazuma let out an annoyed scoff.
"Is this guy really asleep?" he asked.
"Seven... Eight..." Koto shouted as she continued counting.
Rinku had an annoyed look on his face as he stared at him from on top of the ring.
"W-Wait! I'm coming now!" Kazuma shouted in alarm.
"What a tough scumbag he is!" Rinku said nervously before he lifted his right hand and blue energy formed around it. "Damn!"
The yo-yos that had managed to wrap themselves around Kazuma's wrists and ankles came to life and wrapped around his upper body and thighs.
"What?!" Kazuma said in shock.
"Nine..." Koto counted.
"Damn it, what is this with these yo-yos?!" Kazuma shouted as he tried to break free.
Rinku didn't respond and continued to control them so he couldn't escape. Koto's mouth seemed to move in slow motion as it opened again. Alarmed expressions appeared on Keiko's, Botan's, Atsuko's, Kurama's and Hiei's faces.
"Ten!" Koto shouted.
The moment she finished the count Kazuma fell onto his back and the yo-yos loosened their hold on him.
"Idiot!" Shizuru said bluntly as she pulled her cigarette out her mouth.
"Instead of worry about what Urameshi said, you should have jumped back onto the ring!" (Name) shouted annoyed. "Idiot. Idiot! Idiot! You're even more idiotic than the spiky haired baboon!"
Hiei looked down at her with an annoyed expression on his face. It was obvious from the fact he had his hand on the handle of his sword that he was extremely close to attacking her. She had insulted him in more ways than he could stand. She had called him an idiot and a spiky haired baboon then proceeded to compare him to the fool who had just lost his match.
"What?!" Kazuma shouted at her annoyed.
She didn't say anything in response and continued to sleep despite the fact he was yelling at her.
"It looks like she can even insult you while she's asleep," Kurama said to Hiei with a chuckle. "Try not to do anything to her. She's still a valuable member of our team."
Hiei let out a scoff and crossed his arms over his chest still annoyed.
"The Shichiyukai Team is the winner of the first match!" Koto announced as she waved her arm towards the score board.
Kazuma decided he had bigger fish to fry than dealing with (Name) and climbed back onto the ring.
"Stop messing around, you dumbass!" Kazuma shouted at Rinku and Koto. "I can still keep going! Bring it on!"
"You've got to be kidding! There's no way!" Rinku said nervously. "I've never seen anyone as persistent as you!"
"He's quite the expert," Kurama said with a small smile. "To be able to control his yo-yos after they left his hands."
"Humph, that runt was saved by the rules," Hiei said with a confident smile.
Kazuma made a sound of annoyance and pointed at Rinku.
"Okay, you!" Kazuma exclaimed. "Once this tournament is over, you wait for me behind the gym!"
"Nothing doing!" Rinku shouted as he turned around and ran off of the ring to get away from him.
"This isn't school, you know!" Keiko said.
"What was he thinking?" Botan asked annoyed.
"He doesn't think. That's the problem," (Name) said bluntly. "Kuwabara's the most idiotic person I know."
Rinku jumped off the ring and ran past his team and didn't stop until he felt like he was a safe distance away. He crouched down with a worried expression on his face and gathered blue energy between his hands to continue to heal himself once again.
Kazuma heard (Name)'s insult and quickly made a beeline for her. He jumped off the ring and grabbed the front of her shirt as he pulled her up onto her feet.
"Why you...!" he shouted annoyed. "I would like to see you fight! I bet you wouldn't last a minute in the ring!"
She didn't say anything in response and continued to sleep which only made him more aggravated.
"Damn it! Wake up already, so I can yell at you properly!"
"Let go of me before I punch you," she threatened.
"What?!" he shouted.
When he didn't do as she asked, (Name) placed her feet firmly onto the ground and punched him in the stomach. Keiko, Shizuru, Botan, Atsuko, Kurama, Hiei and the Masked Fighter stared at her in disbelief. It was obvious she was still asleep since her eyes were closed. Kazuma let out a yell of pain as he was thrown back and crashed down onto the grass a few feet away. Her legs collapsed, and she fell back onto the ground and leaned her back against the edge of the ring.
"They really are quite similar, aren't they?" Kurama said with a sweat drop on the back of his head.
Hiei couldn't say anything in response as his right eye twitched and he stared down at her with even more disbelief than before.