I'm so sorry this took so long guys! I had a friend in town and I hadn't seen her in five years, so it was important that we spent time together. And I started work (naturally right during the weekend) but yes, it is here now! The next one will be much faster.
"Can you hear that?" Yusuke cocked his head to the side, listening to the soft sounds of voices through the wall.
"It's Iruni and Hiei," Kurama nodded, working over the small hibachi he had set on the counter. There wasn't an oven in the kitchen, or much of anything else. What they'd suspected was a kitchenette was really a lot of counters and cabinets with a sink. "Took her a while."
"Yeah," Yusuke grinned deviously. "Those two always take a while."
"Ya might not wanna let her hear ya saying that now Urameshi," Jin warned with a grin himself. "She gets a wee bit defensive over that stuff."
"What stuff?" Rinku stared up at the red headed wind master with wide eyes.
"Don't ya mind," Chu rubbed the child's head. "But they are awful chummy eh?"
"No, not really. They're often at each other's throats," Kurama corrected shaking his head. "But it's a mutual understanding I think. They push each other to the very edges."
"But what stuff?" Rinku whined. Chu glared down at him.
"I told ya not to worry about it!" the purple haired apparition yelled.
"Hn. So I see you weren't exaggerating," Hiei walked in the room and Iruni followed, shrugging. As soon as the door was closed she took the mask off and untied the clothe that hung around her neck like a loose ascot.
"I'm changing," she pushed passed the other and made it into the room that held her bag. She mumbled about wearing white and water until the door closed softly behind her, the latch catching.
Yusuke waited a moment to make sure the door had closed before jumping over to Hiei with his cell phone out, waving it in the youkai's face. Hiei blinked and looked up at him, eyebrows raised.
"Watch this. It's hilarious," and the detective played the video. Hiei watched it, studying the small screen carefully before taking the phone from the hanyou's hands, as if to get a better look of the show. Jin's lips crashed against the girl's and her shock was apparent in the sudden tension of her body.
"It's stored on this device?" he asked curiously, hands aching to close, and the teen nodded happily. Kurama moved to warn him but didn't manage before the resounding noise of plastic and metal breaking filled the small cabin. The fire demon smirked at the two pieces of the phone that were left, connected by the thinnest wire. He snapped the wire then handed the phone back to the shell shocked boy, smirk solidly in place.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Yusuke bellowed, taking a stance that screamed his intentions to beat the shorter demon into the ground.
A door opened behind him and Iruni walked out, her damp hair still sticking to her skin and the fresh laid bandages around her torso. She'd changed the sarashi wrap and her pants, but nothing else. Barefoot and shirtless she padded into the kitchen to stare up at Kurama expectantly. Compared to his height she almost looked like a child with those wide, pleading blue eyes.
"Answer me runt!" the hanyou yelled.
"Hn. Control yourself detective." Hiei was staring at Yusuke but watching Iruni out of the side of his vision.
"Kurama-kun?" she looked up sweetly, softening her face in a way contradictory to her nature. The innocent voice had the kitsune on edge.
"Yes Iruni?" he responded carefully.
"Would you happen to know why my clothes were strung out over the bedroom?" she continued quietly, in the same innocent way. He blanched and became engrossed with his task of cooking. "Kurama…"
"I can't say," he started on something else as she turned out of the kitchen area and walked into the living room. Her look stayed innocent as she regarded everyone and Yusuke continued to demand a reason for breaking his phone from Hiei.
"Boys?" the sweetly soothing call had everyone in the room turning towards her, eyes widened. "Can anyone tell me who exactly was brave enough to rummage through my bag?"
No one answered and she sighed, shaking her head.
"This is creepy," Yusuke muttered. She looked at him slowly. "Will you stop staring? Jin wanted to find your mp3 player so he went through your bag."
"Is there a reason you keep invoking my wrath?" she demanded, the charade done, as she marched up to the red head in question. He laughed, rubbing the back of his head, and slowly backed away. Her sword was against his throat instantly. "Give it back."
"It's in my pocket," he announced making her eyes narrow. He reached down and pulled out the small mp3 player. She snatched it from his hands and cradled it to her chest, eyes closed in rapture.
"I thought I had you in my pocket when I fell in," she whispered quietly, turning back to the room. "I'm so glad I was smart enough to leave you behind." The door closed behind her.
"Anyone else find that strange?" Yusuke asked, a large sweat drop on the side of his head. The others nodded.
"Hn. You should've been there when she thought it had fallen into the hot spring." Hiei smirked. "She spent ten minutes diving in the water to find it."
"Hot springs?" Chu, Jin and Yusuke all leant forward and crowded the small demon with hungry looks of curiosity. "What happened?"
"Nothing," the closed eyed dismissal had all the adult demons exchanging a knowing look.
"Sure," Chu drew out the syllable until Hiei made a face and then glared, with his vein sticking out on his head. "I'm just sayin' she's suddenly in a good mood."
"She's never in a good mood," Hiei snapped. "Besides if the music keeps her occupied I think we should drown her in it. After her encounter with Hiro she needs something to keep her from being an idiot."
"She ran into Hiro?" Kurama stopped working in the kitchen to stare at his friend. "Just now when she went to get you?"
"No, when I went to get her," Hiei counted back the hours silently.
"I wonder why she didn't bring it up." Yusuke scratched his head while he looked at the closed door with concern in his eyes.
"It scares him I'll listen to you." The fire demon's recollection had him seeing her turn her back on him. "It wasn't worth mentioning. Just a pissing match between enemies."
"I don't like how much power he has over her." The leader of their small team spoke quietly. "I mean, for her to hide from him must mean something intense happened that she won't tell us about."
"It's not that difficult to understand Yusuke," Kurama sighed. "You're just blind sometimes."
"The fox has a point," Hiei leaned against a wall with an arrogant look on his face. "It's easy to see she thought she was in love with him before he ruined her life. She gave him a lot of power when she admitted her feelings to him, and now he's using them against her. Problem is he's twisted their relationship so badly now all she can see is the hatred. He's going to lose."
"Then why are you the one telling us he paid her a visit?" Yusuke challenged. The youkai didn't have a retort for that. "Exactly."
"Ah, she doesn't wanna be here, ya right 'bout that there Urameshi, but I think I know why," Jin tapped his chin thoughtfully, strung across the couch and staring at the ceiling. "If I remember right the lands we're on used to belong to the Takani family. Not too far from here is The Trapping Desert. This place is an oasis."
"What?" Kurama leaned forward curiously.
"Yeah, we came here through that desert," Chu nodded. "Nasty place. You can't seem to go five feet into it without a mirage trying to kill you."
"That's why it's called The Trapping Desert," Hiei snorted. "I've heard of it. The mirages lure you to the most dangerous spots and something tries to kill you. The heat generally gets to you first."
"Must've made one helluva battle ground," Jin's thoughtful gaze seemed lazy with memory. "I mean, I wish I'd've been there to watch that fight. Would've been interestin' to see."
"What fight?" Rinku jumped up onto the arm of the couch and stared down at the shinobi.
"That's where Hiro killed Amon-Shinpi, or so the story is told I say," Jin nodded then closed his eyes. "Damn mess they made of the place though. Apparently the reason the ridge out there is blood red is because of all the blood Amon-Shinpi lost."
"Oh, I've heard that story," Touya came forward a bit and picked up where Jin had left off. "Hiro lead her into the desert because he knew the winds weren't as strong there and there was no water for her to call. It threw her off balance."
"What happened?" Yusuke breathed, enraptured with the story.
"Ah, the lightning user and the demon lord fought like starving dogs after she took out the whole army and village he'd developed. She knew he wanted her blood so she made him spill every last drop she could lose before he paralyzed her from what I hear," Jin blinked his eyes open and sat up to stare at the Reikai Tentai. "It paints the desert now, it does. Her blood never really dried up or went away. It just stained the earth."
"The supposed killing blow went through her chest," Touya yet again picked up the tale. "Apparently he wasn't expecting her to have any other defense. She was weak, in her original form, and dying with his arm buried in her chest."
"So she laughed and opened the world up underneath them and made to kill them both. One helluva fight," the wind demon seemed lost in thought, trying to imagine what the fight was like. His voice was wistful. "Only two demons saw them fall out of all the ones who had been watching in the beginning. Only Hiro managed to claw his way back out. She closed the gap around them, jutting rocks and land out of the desert like a mountain."
"You mean she intentionally tried to kill herself just so he would die?" Rinku's words hit the fire demon in the chest, making his hardened eyes widen. The story had eaten at his nerves, making him tense. "If I die…" No. She couldn't be planning to… she was too smart to try that.
"Gruesome," Yusuke stared at her door again and yelled. "You know, sometimes information like this would be helpful before it becomes important!"
There was no response and he growled.
"Yusuke, do you really think she wanted to tell us how she died?" Kurama chastised. "I don't think she wanted us to worry about it. She's a strong fighter. Leave her alone."
"That's bull! We're a team!" he complained. "Aren't we supposed to look out for each other?"
Her door cracked open again and she came out with her nose buried in a book, eyes scanning the page hungrily, with the black wires of her headphones blending into the black tresses of her hair. Ignoring the group of men she walked towards the door. Hiei's arm shot out, grabbing her shoulder and jostling her fantasy world.
"What?" she demanded snappishly, glaring. He tugged on a wire so that the earphone popped out. They held eyes for a second before he explained simply.
"Your mask."
"Oh," she blinked, then handed him the book, "Hold this."
As she ducked back into the room Yusuke raised his eyebrows, grinning at the fire demon.
"Was that an act of kindness?" he questioned, eyebrows flitting up and down. The fire demon leered then cracked the book open to scan the page. Eye widening he closed it just as she came back with her mask in place.
"Thanks. Someone come get me when the food is done," she was speaking loud enough to let them assume her music was back on. She took the book from Hiei and left.
The crowd was thicker now, hordes of demons surrounding the small, feeble tables that lined the front entrance of the freshly rebuilt arena. A giant tablecloth stretched from one end of the line to the other, and each table had a list of entrants, a stamp and a high stack of papers. Team leaders walked up with their groups behind them to get their names checked off the list and received enough sheets of paper for each member to have their own. There were new rules in play this year, and the committee wanted them to be more than clear to the competitors.
Yusuke walked up to a dour looking demon woman, hair pulled back in a bun as violet eyes scanned the list for the third time.
"I'm sorry, but there is no Urameshi on the list." She told him again. He growled.
"What do you mean? We were invited!" he yelled.
"Actually, just Amon-Shinpi was invited. We are just her team," Kurama corrected lightly, and the woman's eyes widened.
"Your Team Takani?" she gasped, taking in the three faces. "But where is Lord Amon-Shinpi?"
"I had to deal with something," Iruni walked up to the table casually, her mask in place and hair tied in a high ponytail. Her white and dark blue battle gear covered her, complimenting her eyes and bringing notice to her still bandaged hands. "Team Takani."
"How many?" the woman blinked up with a soother tone. She barely had to tilt her head to look at the standing demon from her chair.
"Four including myself. Names are Yusuke Urameshi, Kurama, and Hiei." She watched the woman scribble the information into the book in her hands. "And change the team name to Urameshi, he's the band leader."
"Are you sure?" she looked up again and Iruni nodded once. "Alright then. Take four papers and read the revisions to the rules."
"Where were you?" Yusuke demanded as soon as they'd passed into the arena itself, making their way to the open area that would serve as their fighting grounds. The arena itself was massive, containing four different fields to fight in so that the fighters involved would rarely have an easy time of offing the others. A single large circle was drawn through all four areas, serving as the ring.
"Koenma and Botan showed up while I getting dressed and I had to talk to him. They'll be watching from the sidelines." She announced carefully, her eyes scanning the paper. "Hmm."
"What is it?" Kurama looked over the sheet in his hands and felt his face fall a bit.
Welcome to the annual Makai Elite Dualist Tournament Fighters!
Some revisions have been made to the previous rule book to ensure for the most effective, sporting matches. This is the official declaration of the aforementioned alterations. Read this carefully and understand your ignorance will not exempt you from following these guidelines. Those found to be anything but compliant with be removed from the roster and taken outside of tournament grounds. The consequences for reentry or negligence to comply with the repercussions are death.
Now the new rules are as follows:
The first three sets of matches, instead of two, will be team matches allowing for paired team members to compete together to further their position.
Teams will declare once a match is on the floor which members will be fighting. Only two members are allowed in a single match at any given time. If one member of a team is beaten they are disqualified from continuing during these first rounds. After then teams no longer exist.
Any weapon is allowed in a match so long as it is carried into the grounds by one of those competing in the current match. If another team member or audience member should aid a competitor they will be ejected and disqualified as applies.
There will be a week separating the quarterfinals from the semifinals and the semi finals from the finals. This is to allow for recuperation of all competitors to ensure the best matches possible.
No competitor will fight in consecutive matches for their team.
Killing the announcers is now considered a crime against the committee and will result in death.
Bouts will be updated and altered continuously, it is your responsibility to keep up with them.
After the third match teammates may not interfere with the outcome of any match in which one of their own is involved in.
Killing a ranked competitor will grant the victor the deceased's place in the ranking system.
Any fighter who is deemed unfit to fight will forfeit their placing and their rights to continue. If there is any doubt on this matter a committee appointed healer will inspect the fighter in question.
"He's trying to throw you off balance," Hiei noted darkly.
"This is beyond his power." She waved the paper then crumbled it in her fist and let it fall to the floor. "He's bought the entire committee. Power is such a fragile asset."
"What are these rankings they mention?" Hiei asked her, staring at the paper.
"All fighters have rankings, based on prestige and supposed ability. The better your rank the more likely you'll make it to the finals. No one will have a rank until we go through the preliminaries though."
"And where are these prelims?" Yusuke looked around like he was already bored. Iruni pointed to the battle grounds where a line of demons were waiting for their chance to hit what looked like a giant upright scale. "What is that?"
"It measures your strength," she fingered her bandages steadily thankful she'd never taken the cuffs off. She'd have too in her first match, but that could wait. "That's how we get ranked. We won't find out our places until the first round, which is later today. It also declares if you're even strong enough to be in this tournament."
"Yusuke!" Botan yelled from down the hall as they watched a few demons take their turn with the reader, making their heads turn to her and Koenma, who walked slowly behind. She came running up to them, hair bouncing on the back of her head with wide amethyst eyes. "How are things so far?"
"We haven't done anything yet," he blinked at her. "What were you expecting?"
"You haven't tested?" she asked him dully and watched him shake his head. "Well get down there! I'm dying to know how you rank!"
"She's worried," Koenma's smooth voice declared making the cerulean haired onna narrow her eyes. "We all are. Keiko says you'd better come back in one piece, because you promised."
"She of little faith," he puffed up his chest and beamed. "I'm Yusuke Urameshi, who the hell can beat me?"
"I can name a few," Kurama noted thoughtfully.
"Shut up!" he yelled. "Come on, let's get in line."
Dragging the others behind him they made their way down stairs to the ground level of the arena where the fighters were waiting to get their chance to be read. The team looked up to see their two fans, soon joined by Jin, Touya, Chu, and Rinku, staring down at him.
It took what felt like hours for them to move to the front of the never ending line, Iruni was constantly scanning the others before and after them, meeting a few eyes knowingly then moving on. Hiei and Kurama were doing the same. Yusuke alone seemed comfortable with his situation, cockily undeterred by the sneers sent his way.
"Next!" a tall man in a suit called from beside the device. He had a blank face and a furiously scribbling hand as he took down everyone's results in a book similar to that which they checked into.
"That's me!" Yusuke burst forward and the others rolled their eyes. "You sure I can't break this thing?"
"Just hit it," the man instructed, pen poised and ready.
"Seriously, I can't-" he started again.
"You either hit it or bow out." The man snapped and Yusuke shrugged.
"Whatever man, it's your machine." He hauled his arm back and slammed his fist into the pliable surface, finding it stretch beneath the force of his hand. He pulled back from the punch and stared at his balled hand, then looked at the scribe.
"S-class. Move on," he didn't look up.
"Hn. This is ridiculous," Hiei snorted coming forward, but Kurama and Yusuke noted he seemed to be putting a lot of effort into his single punch.
"High A-class, move on." He looked at the line and motioned for Kurama to come forward, and the kitsune obliged, striking quickly against the machine with his right hand as the other two before him had done.
"High A-class."
"Your machine needs to be recalibrated," Iruni stepped forward, her eyes meeting his. The look they exchanged made the man smile.
"I see, what makes you say that," he asked with humor.
"You know exactly what," she was using her best deep voice and he raised his eyebrows.
"It's a pleasure to see you again Lord Takani. I assure you these machines are accurate. Nothing slips passed them," he smiled and motioned for her to come forward. A left fist struck the machine hard and the man's eyebrows rose as a result. "Low A-class."
She smiled behind her mask and straightened up to look at him. Without another word she walked towards her waiting team and nodded at them to continue walking.
"That's not too bad, I guess," Yusuke's brow was pinched as he regarded their newest fighter and she chuckled darkly. "A-class I mean."
"I suppose not," she agreed with a nod.
"That's your bad arm," Kurama noted, quietly.
"Is it?" she blinked up at him, knowing he couldn't see her smirk. "I didn't notice."
"What are you playing at?" Hiei demanded.
"The same thing the both of you are," she looked between the fire demon and kitsune. "Only I'm much better at it."
Yusuke didn't seem to get the joke, but the others were grinning at her. Slowly they made their way back up the stairs to regroup with the others. Botan had disappeared, but no one seemed worried or concerned. Rinku picked on the demon lord for her low ranking, and she dealt with it with a shrug and a few minor threats. Everyone else boasted the brilliance in the other two youkai for lessening their energies for the initial test. They all knew what a surprise it would be to face them now.
It didn't take long for the bouts to be declared and Team Urameshi had to face a team called Aikou in the third match of the first round. Iruni stayed behind from the others with Koenma to watch the first few matches while Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei went to practice before the big match. None of them had heard of the low ranked team, but they didn't want to take chances. The team leader also wanted to discuss who'd go in for the first match, naturally offering himself up on a silver platter.
"Hn." Hiei stared at the tournament sheet, reading the names of their opponents and their rankings. "You and Kurama can have this one."
"What? I figured you'd want to be in the first match you could," Kurama told his younger companion innocently. "You always want to be the first to win."
"When it's worth my time. The idiot could handle these demons, and I'm not in the mood to settle for a half-assed fight." The fire demon told the kitsune.
"Should we ask Ir-Amon-Shinpi?" the Spirit Detective corrected himself quickly. The other two demons exchanged a look.
"I don't think Lord Takani will mind you stepping forward," the smooth voice behind them had them turning to meet Koenma. He was alone.
"Where's the runt at?" Yusuke asked.
"He had something better to do," the Spirit World King shrugged. "I was under the distinct impression he didn't care about this next fight though."
"Sweet!" the young hanyou punched the air in victory and grinned. "Match one to me and Kurama!"
"So the second round is mine then," Hiei declared. "If it's worthy."
"Oh no, you're fighting with Amon-Shinpi. We aren't taking any chances just because your ego needs inflation," the dark haired boy poked the smaller demon in the chest once then withdrew his hand when his skin got scorched. "You two had better work as a team too. I'm not picking up your slack."
"I don't need help."
"Too bad, because you're going to get it."
"Poke me one more time detective and I'll forcibly remove your finger." Yusuke's finger came dangerously close to the smaller demon before a voice shattered his mock hostility.
"Oh Yusuke!" small arms fastened around his neck as a head nestled into his neck, tears already spilling from dark brown eyes. Keiko's grip tightened when he went to pull her away, worry and anger on his face.
"What the hell Botan? Why'd you go get them? Don't you know how dangerous this is?" he screamed at the blue haired woman who shirked away from him, opting to stand behind Kurama. She went to respond and he opened his mouth again. "If anything happens to her I'm going to beat the hell out of you!"
"Stop yelling at Botan. I wanted to come, to make sure…"Keiko looked up at him pleading to his sensibilities with her tear stained eyes. "Oh Yusuke."
"Stop crying, it's not even that bad," he snorted, turning his head away as she continued to cling to his neck. "We're the third in line to fight then we don't go again until the first round is done. These next guys are so easy even Hiei doesn't think they're worth it."
"I thought I'd actually come to watch this time, since classes are out," Kuwabara grinned at them, Shizuru smoking behind him.
"Baby brother wanted to make sure none of you died," she explained coolly, bringing a dark red blush to the man's face. He yelled at her and received a punch to the head that silenced him. "Shut up Kazuma."
"Where are Yukina and the old woman?" Hiei asked dourly.
"Getting food," Shizuru shrugged. "They saw there was nothing to eat in the cabin thing we're staying in and went searching."
"You let Yukina go out alone?" he growled at Kuwabara, stepping forward.
"She's fine with Genkai. Don't worry." The orange haired human waved off the aggression with the ease that comes with years of repeated exposure with no ill effect. "Iruni told them where to go for the best stuff before she took off."
"Its Amon-Shinpi baka, and he's a man," Hiei reminded him frostily.
"Where'd he go?" Koenma asked as Keiko finally released Yusuke after he kissed her. The prince looked with disdain at the short fire youkai. Kurama chuckled at the couple beside him.
"Said something about needing a reminder and just disappeared." Kazuma shrugged again, offering his hands up in a gesture to suggest he wished he could help. Koenma just nodded and turned to the others.
"Are we all going to fit in the cabin? There was only four beds." He pointed out counting heads, present and otherwise. Genkai, Yukina, Shizuru, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Kurama, Iruni, Hiei, himself, Botan, Keiko: eleven.
"Shinpi and I sleep outside," Hiei told him. "The rest of you can work it out yourselves."
"Well, Keiko and I can split a bed," Yusuke scratched his head nonchalantly. Kazuma raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"So that leaves three beds and a couch to be split between, what, seven people?"Kuwabara tapped his chin. "If Yukina and I split…"
"I'll cut your heart out where you stand if you finish that sentence, mentally or verbally," Hiei warned darkly. "Yukina can share a room with the other women."
"You aren't her boss you know, if she wants to stay with Kazuma, she has every right too," Shizuru argued, stamping out her cigarette. He glared at her. The quiet defense brought a wry smile to the woman's lips.
"If he wants to live, he won't do it. And he wants to live. Swooning like a fool I can tolerate, because its relatively harmless, but touching her results in appendages being sliced off as bluntly as my sword allows." He snapped.
"Why don't we finish the discussion later?" Kurama suggested. "For now we can go back to the room and talk about this first match. Hopefully by then Amon-Shinpi will have returned."
"I wouldn't count on it, she seemed like she'd be gone for a while." Botan looked at Yusuke, then Kurama. Sighing she looked away, her accented voice thicker. "She mentioned visiting Kin Jiro. I'd just leave her alone for a while, let her have her peace until the match."
A few eyes expectantly shot to the glowering fire demon, but he stayed with them, choosing to accompany them back to the suite rather than take off. Kurama smiled a bit, understanding. There were some moments that were not meant to be intruded on, and Hiei was counting this as one of them. The short youkai seemed more claustrophobic than usual once they all packed into the small two bedroom unit they'd be staying in, as he stationed himself by the open window, but other than staring out over the horizon he seemed to be there with the group as they discussed the upcoming fight.
Koto stood in the center of the arena with a wide smile, wearing an old outfit for the new tournament she was commentating for. Her tan ears twitched with excitement as the crowd murmured over the upcoming match.
"Ladies and Gentleman, if you can be called such things," she yelled into the microphone, one of the four cameras stationed around the ring focused on her so that she was jumbo sized on both large television screens that hung on the far walls of the arena. "This next match is sure to be full of energy and we all know we can depend on at least one team for a good fight! Now to introduce our third match's teams!"
The crowd exploded in screams and shouts of various intents. Keiko, Botan, Koenma and the others huddled close together in their seats, daring to glare at the rambunctious demons. Shizuru snapped at one near her who'd made the mistake of bending too far forward during his primal yell.
"The first team!"Koto's voice cut through the thick noise, "Is Team Aikou! A team of three brothers from the Eastern Deserts! Please welcome Sanjo, Renti and Kapu!"
Three demons walked in from the entrance behind the fox woman, all dressed in white and orange to match their hair and eyes in order. The three looked alike, almost identical except for their hairstyles. The first had long flour white hair that was braided and fell to the back of his knees. The second had cropped hair and the last had spiked. Each man had three horns moving across his forehead, one on each side and one in the middle.
"And their opponents Team Urameshi!" she yelled and her hand fell to three demons. Stopping, she stared and counted quietly, "Wait, there are supposed to be four of you. I can't get this match started if all of you aren't here."
"What?" Yusuke yelled. "But he's not even fighting!"
"Rules are rules," she snapped. "I'm having déjà vu here. Didn't you pull this stunt back in the Dark Tournament too?"
"It isn't a stunt," the quiet voice radiated through the room with enough prowess to earn silence and stares from the audience. Iruni walked in behind her team, steadily, and finally stopped on the other side of Yusuke. "I got…tied up."
"I hope that's wasn't literal," Hiei muttered and she flashed her eyes to him.
"Then I guess I shouldn't elaborate," she sighed and looked up at Koto imploringly. The fox girl stared back at blue eyes willingly, the apples of her cheeks darkening pink. "Koto, go ahead. Continue."
"Oh, alright," the girl floundered a moment before returning to her announcement. "The completed Team Urameshi! With team leader Yusuke, and members Hiei, my personal favorite Kurama, and Lord Amon-Shinpi. Choose your fighters and meet in the ring."
"Hey, we're going to take this one alright?" Yusuke gestured between himself and Kurama as he explained to Iruni, who nodded vaguely. Hiei watched as her right fist tightened, and realized the bandages were tainted a brownish red. Dried blood. Her eyes were pinched at the corners, her brow slightly furrowed, as if she was repressing pain.
"Take the win," she offered quietly and the two fighters looked her worriedly before racing to the ring. The long haired and spiked haired brothers entered the ring, both looking coolly confident. Hiei stared at the girl, eyes narrowed, as their teammates prepared to fight.
"You and I have to fight together the next round," he told her coldly and she shrugged. Half shrugged, he corrected himself, she still wasn't using her right arm. "What happened?"
"Nothing," she winced and his hand clasped her right shoulder, fingers digging into soft flesh. He was surprised at the strength in her muscles and the fact her body had still retained its femininity in some ways. She hissed at him, "Bastard."
"You're hurt," he turned to watch the beginning of the fight while standing closer to her, as if they were about to jumped.
"Yeah, well, you said you didn't want to hear about it," she hedged, eyes on the ring. Koto had taken a lesson from her previous tournament experiences and decided it was best to commentate using the cameras as she stayed to the wayside of the competitors.
"You look like albinos," Yusuke snorted at the demons, while Kurama gave him a forlorn sidelong stare. "Being from the desert shouldn't you be all tan and glisteny?"
"We're from the Eastern Desert," they replied in unison. Yusuke's eyebrows rose.
"That's just creepy. It's like watching Village of the Damned," Iruni remarked sarcastically, her left hand glowing faintly as she pressed her grip onto her shoulder.
"I've never heard of such a village," Hiei turned to look at her and her face fell behind the protection of her mask.
"It's a movie Hiei."
"Hn. I don't watch those idiotic human creations."
"When we get back I might just have to force you to change your mind," she shook her head and dropped her healing hand. The muscle was less stiff now and she could move easily. Good. "Everything in life can be equated to films."
"So, what's so special about the East?" Yusuke demanded, cocking his head to the side. In the audience Keiko called him a jerk worriedly, muttering about his tendencies to get himself hurt.
"It's an arctic desert," Kurama explained softly, his voice calm. "But they are not ice demons."
"No, not ice demons," the long haired one stepped forward.
"And Sanjo steps up to challenge the two fighters from the Ningenkai team!" Koto screamed into the microphone hyperactively. "What a display of power. Neither Kurama nor Yusuke seems to want to approach him, but with this team's track record it's only a matter of time until someone is in shambles!"
"Which side are you on?" someone yelled from the crowd.
"Oh shut up!" she yelled back. "I'm just calling the facts here buddy!"
"We must be very-" Kurama started to explain his slight plan just as Yusuke launched forward with a barrage of punches. Sighing the kitsune focused on the other brother. "-careful."
"Your friend isn't as cautious," the breath came from behind him as the second brother hovered in the air, the air becoming thick with white smog. "but caution won't save you fox!"
The fighting floor was starting to fill with the fog, too thick to see through without a piercing light. The pairs were officially divided, unable to seek help from the others. Rolling white clouds covered the whole floor, keeping the announcer from seeing the fight as the cameras became fogged up, and the bystanders were left with no way of witnessing their partners' battle. Somewhere in the white mass someone yelled rose whip, and there were many soft pounding sounds of flesh against flesh. As the cloud thickened Iruni stepped closer to Hiei until their arms were touching, keeping him in her line of sight.
"Definitely not ice demons," she whispered and he turned to look at her and found her image distorted slightly. "Whatever you do Hiei, don't stop touching me."
He was glad for the cover as he pressed more firmly against her to be sure they didn't get separated. For the fog to cover so much space it meant that the two brothers in the ring weren't the only ones conjuring it, and he told himself that he didn't want either of them to be caught alone in this mess. He opened his mouth to tell her he thought she had a good idea but the words came out differently.
"Is your arm injured?" he asked instead, eyes hard.
"I healed it," she looked at him firmly. They had the same idea about the fog, she could tell from his voice.
"I can't see a thing," Botan muttered, staring out over the floor with the others.
"Nah, ya won't be able too, the fog is too thick it is," Jin's voice sounded from over her shoulder. "Urameshi did a wise thing in not letting the other two fight this round. Him and the fox, they have a much better chance."
"What do you mean?" Keiko looked up at him, then flattened her expression when she took in his wild mane of red hair and single horn.
"I mean Yusuke is so hard headed no fog is gonna stop him. He'll find a way through it real quick like. And Kurama is so measured it won't be a big thing for him to turn it to his advantage. Hiei is more brash. Brash is bad in fog because ya can't see what's coming next." The wind master nodded sagely, surprising Touya.
"That actually made sense," the ice demon pointed out dully.
"Course it did, I always make sense." The red head defended.
"Will you two shut it before I force you to?" Shizuru threatened with a short glare. "I'm trying to watch."
They all turned their eyes to the arena, watching as the white cloud furled around the bottom level, concealing the fighters and the announcer completely.
"Can't see a damn thing in this fog!" Yusuke complained, batting at the air angrily, hoping to push the thick condensation away from his skin. The humidity had spiked, thickening the air and coating him with beads of cold water. The temperature had dropped significantly, creating icy flurries in the air. "What the hell?"
"Do you like this trick Urameshi?" the voice of Sanjo surrounding him as if it were coming from all sides. "We call it Fog of Distortions."
Kurama stared around at the white cloud he'd been engulfed in. There were no sounds coming to his ears, no scents for his nose to pick up. The silence was as thick as the air, smothering him. It wasn't a natural silence, not when so many voices should be coming to him. He tried to locate his team and found them gone.
Then he realized he was trapped.
A razor sharp slash of ice cut into his side, ripping flesh and clothing and sent blood splattering to the ground. Grunting he clutched his side and glared at the whiteness around him, trying to discern the direction from the attack. Somewhere around him Kapu's voice chuckled, lost in the density of the fog.
Yusuke spun in a fast circle, trying to find Sanjo.
"What do you mean, distortions?" the Spirit Detective demanded angrily. "Like illusions?"
"Not quite," the demon appeared in front of the teen and lunged, striking him in the gut once with his fist. Yusuke bounced back quickly, attacking with a furious punch to the midsection that seemed to have no effect. Sanjo disappeared into the whiteness again.
"I feel like there's something I should remember about fog," Yusuke scratched his head and prepared for another surprise barrage.
"And our fighters can't see a thing folks! Neither can I actually, so I have no idea what's happening in the ring. I can only assume its carnage and mayhem. Hopefully this haze will clear enough so that we can see all the gore!" Koto yelled into the microphone.
"Will you shut up!" the young detective yelled at his opponent, tired of hearing is voice from all corners of the ring. "Just come out and fight me!"
Sanjo reappeared behind him, slamming his fist into the back of the hanyou's neck so that he flew forward and landed at an awkward angle on the floor. Yusuke turned so that his shoulders pressed into the cold ground and he held his arm out from him, his left hand clasped around his right wrist as his fist aimed at the fog.
Kurama staggered after the third blow, now certain of the signs of an oncoming attack. The air would get colder, and it would sharpen. That's how he made the ice form, he used the water hanging in the air around them. Nodding to himself the kitsune pulled out his whip in time to meet the fourth ice shard head on, cutting it in half before it could reach him.
The air changed consistency. Tensing in preparation the fox demon's eyes widened when he saw what was coming at him this time. Over two dozen spears of ice formed in the air around him, all the points aimed in the center.
"I told you caution wouldn't help you this time," Kapu's voice was low and thick, like the dense haze as the spikes surged forward.
"What's the matter Spirit Detective, have you lost your edge so quickly?" the taunting voice of Sanjo tickled Yusuke's senses, and the young man smiled at the whiteness surrounding him. "What no sharp words for me?"
"Yeah, just this one," the detective smirked. "Shotgun!"