*Hey everyone, so it's finally here, the ending of the Dark Tournament! I honestly never thought I'd get here, mostly because I wasn't sure if anyone would like my version of a yyh fanfiction. So thank you everyone for reading this far and leaving wonderful comments and reviews, ones I always look forward to reading. Again thank you all very much and I hope you continue reading :) Enjoy!*
Kurama lifted the corner of his mouth up into a half smile once he noticed that Faith was out cold, poor thing. Her body didn't even resist the medicinal flower; it just accepted it with open arms. Before long Faith's breathing grew deep and he knew he should put her into a more comfortable position than the one she's in now. Carefully so as not to rattle Faith, Kurama slunk out from his seat and gingerly rested her down on the bench. Her blue hair draped over her face completely blocking it from his view, and like every other time he had woken in the night and discovered her asleep in some odd position or location, he would pick her up and take her to sleep in his bed. Once he had safely transferred her to his bed he'd brush the fallen hair from her face, tuck her in and leave the room so she could rest. A lot of the times he would either stay awake for the day, or sit down on the couch and close his eyes; he was content with spending the remaining hours on the sofa if it meant the woman could sleep peacefully in the bed. Only this time, there was no bed for him to tuck her into, no blanket to cover her with. Oddly enough that thought bothered Kurama, so he stood and searched the room for something he could cover Faith in, after a few minutes he found a thick blanket tucked inside one of the lockers and brought it over to Faith. With little effort Kurama covered Faith with the blanket, when he looked back up to her face he found some of her bangs had fallen back down.
Gently he brushed them back aside and softly ran the back of his fingers from her temple down to her cheek.
"Rest easy Faith."
"It's actions like that, that lead me to think someone is in love," Yusuke's voice came from over by the door.
Quickly Kurama straightened and turned to face the Spirit World detective.
"Yusuke…"
"Ah don't worry about it foxboy, I'm not going to say anything," Yusuke had a knowing smile plastered on his face.
It was a good thing it was just Yusuke who had showed up, Kurama was sure that if it had been anyone else they would've teased him for his actions and behavior.
"I was only being kind and covering her up with a blanket so that she wouldn't get cold while she slept," Kurama tried to get himself under control after getting caught.
Yusuke laughed at Kurama's excuse.
"Ya? What about the other nights? You know the ones where you brought her to your bed and tucked her in, like just now."
Damn, Kurama didn't think anyone was awake to witness him.
"Like I said Kurama, don't worry about it; I'm in no place to say anything, not when I'm close with Keiko but immediately deny it whenever someone says anything," Yusuke walked over to Kurama and rested his hand on Kurama's shoulder, "I'll keep it a secret, I give you my word."
"Thank you Yusuke, though to be honest I'm not really sure how I feel."
"Ah to be in denial, I was like that too at first."
Kurama wanted to laugh; it was as if Yusuke were his father and was giving him love advice, it was amusing.
"Yusuke you're making yourself sound like you're old and have been around for a long time."
Yusuke laughed, "I am old."
He's old? Ya right. Kurama gave him an 'oh really?' look and Yusuke thought about it for a minute.
"Oh ya, I guess you're older than I am, huh, my bad."
The fox shook his head, "It's alright Yusuke."
Clearing his throat, Yusuke removed his hand from his friends shoulder and looked down at Faith, "So how's Hope doing?"
"She'll be fine, I gave her something for the pain and she fell asleep. I suggest we see if either Botan or Yukina are up to the task of healing her again," Kurama answered.
Yusuke turned and headed back for the door, "I'm on it, and you stay here loverboy to watch the unconscious team of ours."
"Really Yusuke must you call me such names?" Kurama felt slightly embarrassed at the nickname Yusuke had just given him.
Teasingly the Spirit World detective turned around and jokingly stuck his tongue out at Kurama, "Of course I do… loverboy."
Before Kurama could say anything else to his friend, Yusuke headed out into the hall and onward in search of their friends.
While alone, though not completely alone, Kurama sighed. What did he just get himself into?
Time flew by in a flash; especially since I slept through most of the six hour intermission, I did manage to wake up before Younger Toguro came waltzing back with the ring on his shoulders, much like Atlas from Greek mythology. After waking up to a groggy feeling I had when I first woke, I turned and found the cunning fox demon casually leaning against the wall and when he spotted me awake he raised his hands in surrender. He claimed that he didn't know fully if I would have fallen asleep or not after eating the flower, part of me believed him and then the other part was like, nah you did that as revenge for me teasing you earlier. Either way I shot him a glare, this was not over, not by a long shot fox. But then I noticed the blanket that was covering me and I felt touched that he'd go through the trouble of making sure that I was comfortable. Sentimentally I drew the blanket in closer and smiled into it, people care about me now and it was the best feeling in the world.
After I fully awoke Kurama went on to inform me that Yukina had returned earlier to finish healing me, and I felt so foolish for not noticing from the beginning that I didn't feel any pain, not like from before. Hearing the news of being healed I felt relieved and happy, so happy that I gleefully kicked my legs out and threw my arms up and exclaimed 'hooray!' in a cheer. No pain made Faith a very happy person. Kurama watched on in silent amusement, not saying a word as I tested out my once sore body parts. At first my left leg was so stiff, but luckily the more I walked around on it the better it became, however every now and then my knee would give out and I would have to catch myself on something. Other than that I was feeling fantastic.
The rest of the intermission I spent trying to claim my winnings from the betting station, but the jerks didn't want to hand it over; their reasoning was that I cheated the system by means of already knowing the outcome of the fights, you know, because of my visions. That was a load of bull crap and it maddened me to know end, this day was already turning out to suck and now they're making it worse. Finally I had enough with dealing with those people and ended up wandering back to the locker room, my head hung low in defeat; nothing seemed to be going well today. Yusuke and Kuwabara noticed my mood when I entered the room, being their usual selves they asked me what was the matter and when I told them, they stormed out of the room dragging me behind them. Angrily they stormed the betting station and demanded that I was given the winnings I was entitled to, at first the demons again refused, but after a few threatening gestures from both Kuwabara and Yusuke the demons were more than happy to relinquish the winnings. In the end I walked away with another couple of million, I'm not sure how this whole betting thing works, but hey if I walk out a winner I'm happy.
On the way back to the locker room with Yusuke and Kuwabara I had us stop at one of the concession stands and bought some food for everyone to eat, I'm sure Kurama and Hiei must be hungry after their fights. It was kind of comical, but as I placed our order for food, both Yusuke and Kuwabara stood apart from each other but close to me, like they were my bodyguards. I could picture them clearly in black suits with sunglasses on and it humored me. My own set of bodyguards, I originally told them that I would meet them back at the locker room, but Yusuke insisted that we stick together; just in case either one of the Toguro brothers attempted to harm me. When he put it like that, I felt like I was in witness protection. Whenever I moved they moved, like there was an invisible rope tying us together and that said rope shrank to almost nonexistent once my order of food was ready. Yusuke and Kuwabara swarmed me like I was throwing handfuls of money out; they were excited about what was in the brown paper bags I carried. And like a mother shooing off her hyper children I shooed them off and scolded them whenever they went to touch the bags; knowing them they'd eat all of the food before we even reached the others. It was like that the whole way, so when we finally arrived at our destination I ran into the room and hurriedly placed the bags down, all the while both Hiei and Kurama looked at me in a peculiar way.
Boy was I glad to put those bags down, once I stepped away from them Kuwabara and Yusuke descended on them like a shark would on its prey. Those paper bags didn't last very long before they were just shreds of paper on the floor.
"Come on guys, really? Don't just throw the torn bag pieces on the floor," I chided.
When I went to take a step forward my knee gave out and I buckled, luckily for me two sets of hands grabbed a hold of me before I could hit the floor. The ones, who helped me, were the only two men in the room that didn't at the moment have food in their hands.
"Thanks Kurama and thank you Hiei."
"You should really watch where you're going," Hiei coldly stated before letting go of my arm and walked over to the bench I had set the bags down on.
"She couldn't help it Hiei, her leg was badly injured and even after all of the healing Yukina has done, it's still needs time to recuperate," Kurama defended while he helped me to the other bench.
"It's okay Kurama, I know he doesn't mean it," I eyed him mischievously and continued, "He's just a big softy on the inside."
Hiei straightened to his full height and turned to face me with one of his annoyed looks, "What did you just say."
"You heard me."
Hiei let out a 'hmph' and turned his head to the side, "I knew I should've killed you when I had the chance."
Good-naturally I shrugged my shoulders, "And yet you didn't."
I shot him a knowing smile.
Yusuke then cleared his throat, "Ya so… what did you end up getting for us Hope?"
My smile widened, ah Yusuke are you ever going to call me by my actual name and stick with it?
"I have no idea," I answered with an innocent smile.
It was the truth and I have no idea what I ordered, I just looked at the menu and chose a few random things.
"How do you not know what you ordered?" Kuwabara looked at me with his brow raised, then questioningly looked down to the food containers.
"Well, I'm a tourist here and have no clue what some of these things are."
"Do you remember any of the names?" Kurama inquired.
"Oh-kimo-yuckie? Or… something like that," I furrowed my brow as I tried to remember what the heck it was I picked.
"You mean Okonomiyaki?" Yusuke sounded it out slowly for me.
"Sure…" I didn't sound confident at all and Yusuke was enjoying it.
"What else?"
"Taco something..."
Kurama tried to hide his amusement, "Takoyaki?"
I shot them all an unamused stare, "I hate you guys."
"Did you get soup?" Kuwabara asked as he lifted out five containers of soup.
"Yes I did, miso soup, see Yusuke I know the name of that one."
"Did you get anything else?" Hiei piped up.
"A small variety of sweets, and please don't ask me the names of them because I have no frigging clue."
"Hope, when you buy stuff from menus it's like having a blind taste test," Yusuke joked.
That's it; I'm not buying them food anymore.
"No more food for you, so enjoy it while you can."
Kuwabara laughed at the mortified Yusuke.
"You too Kuwabara," I smiled evilly.
"What!" it was his turn to look horrified.
"That's what you get for making fun of me. Wasn't such a good idea now was it?"
Hiei silently smirked and Kurama laughed at the distraught looking pair. Both Yusuke and Kuwabara dropped to their knees and put their hands together like they were in a prayer. What the heck are they doing?
"I'm sorry Faith; don't exclude me from your awesomely delicious meals!" Yusuke begged.
Well… this is… interesting, I have them in the palm of my hand. I could have a lot of fun with this, but the more I observed them the more my heart softened; they really do enjoy my meals and I appreciate that. I guess I really am a softy.
I rolled my eyes, "Okay, fine."
Giving in was a mistake, once I forgave them they pounced on me. I've never been hugged so tightly before, I've been squeezed, but not hugged.
It felt… comforting.
"Guys… ouch!" my recently healed ribs throbbed in protest.
"Sorry," they said in unison.
"Idiots, you should eat your food before they call us back for the fights," Hiei interrupted.
He did have a point.
Mentioning the last two fights made Kuwabara pale and turn almost skittish, poor guy, I could only imagine how he's feeling. Maybe I should say something comforting to him? Or at least reassure him about his fight.
What would you tell him? You don't really kill him, but at least you win?
That sounds kind of pointless if I told him that.
Or are you going to warn him about what Elder Toguro says about Genkai?
Ah fudge.
I had forgotten about that and how it's the way he learns of Genkai's death.
Sneakily I stole a peek at Kuwabara, but he looks so troubled.
"Hey Kazuma," I called to get his attention and it worked.
"Ya?"
"You're going to do your best, and don't let what Elder Toguro spews distract you."
"What is he going to say?"
"A history lesson, just ignore it," I paused and thought something over, then decided to go with it, "Oh and Kazuma… he's a sneaky bastard, go for his heart or brain. It's the only way to kill him, but he can move them at will so be on your guard."
Kuwabara and the others became motionless and looked my way.
"What do you mean? How is he sneaky?"
"Think of a puddle of water and what happens when it's placed above a crack in a surface."
"I don't get it."
"You will," reassuringly I put my hand on his shoulder and give it a light squeeze, "And don't forget to swat that asshole."
He looked at me puzzled.
"What about my fight?" Yusuke asked.
"He lies."
Which is the truth; when Younger Toguro says he's at his all, he was really only at eighty-five percent. So technically he did lie.
Yusuke shot me an unamused stare, "that's all I get?"
"I'd give you more, but I can't, sorry."
He waved my apology off, "It's okay, I get it."
A sigh of relief left me, it's a good thing he's the way he is; otherwise I might be in a tight spot with trying to tip-toe around his questions.
The speaker system crackled to life and Koto's voice came over the speakers, "Ladies and gentlemen, the fights will continue in roughly forty minutes. Please begin making your way back to your seats shortly and get ready for some blood splattering fun!"
Wow, I didn't think it was this close to coming to the end; this week has felt like it's gone on for so much longer, like I've been her months rather than just a few days.
"Perhaps we should start eating the food?" Kurama said before he reached for one of the cartons.
"Good idea Kurama," Yusuke took his chopsticks and began shoveling food into his open mouth.
With a laugh I shook my head and wondered if he actually ever tasted his food before.
The crowds had returned to their seats and their excessive shouting and rude chants once again filled the stadium, over and over they'd chant the same cheer or slander, they need to think up new ones already. Die Urameshi die has been well worn out by now.
At first I thought that I would be once again joining the girls up at their seats, but Yusuke and the others insisted that I should remain with them, just as a precaution were Elder Toguro come after me again. This way they could help protect me, and I felt like an absolute third wheel and weakling because of it; having to always rely on them to keep me safe, I felt pathetic. On the way through the halls to the ring, Yusuke and playfully nudged me and told me not to worry about it, and that they wouldn't be able to call themselves men if they were to just let someone bully a woman.
I guess chivalry isn't dead then.
Unfortunately before the fights could resume, we had hit a bump in the road, me being down here with the team. Both Juri and Koto had proclaimed that I wasn't qualified or allowed to be down here with the boys and that I would have to leave and return to my seat. Of course Yusuke argued with them every step of the way, he went on to say that I was more than qualified to be down here given the fact that Elder Toguro had ripped me from my seat, and brought me down here in the first place. There was more arguing and I was about to just turn and walk out, but Younger Toguro and Sakyo both told the announcers that it was fine; all the while Elder Toguro just laughed and eyed me evilly with his beady little eyes. My body had trembled, so much so that Kuwabara had become angered towards Elder Toguro for making me frightened like I was. In the end because Younger Toguro approved of it I was allowed to stay, but again Elder Toguro looked my way and threateningly flexed his stretched fingers at me, to which Hiei protectively threw his hand out in front of me as Kurama stepped so that he was blocking me slightly. The feeling of being weak returned with more force, it's like I was a newborn compared to these guys' power and strength.
"Tell me girl, do you feel so untouchable that you choose to remain down here?" Elder Toguro shot my way.
Yes that's me alright.
"Leave her out of this!" Kuwabara shouted while his eyes narrowed at the elder brother.
"Oh Kuwabara, you still haven't learned that I can do whatever I want, and if I wanted to harm the brat of a girl, then you can't stop me!"
"I'm going to make you eat those words you half pint loony! She never deserved to have her body almost ripped apart by you, whether she could see the future or not!"
Aww Kuwabara, I felt touched at his words.
Angrily and in a huff of unchecked emotions, Kuwabara jumped up into the ring and strode over to where Elder Toguro waited; Juri must have sensed their clashing energies and immediately called the beginning of the fight before hightailing it out of there. I've never pictured Kuwabara to just charge at Elder Toguro, in fact, this isn't how it went. Immediately Kuwabara rushed his opponent and threw punch after punch, some landed and some were dodged, but what surprised me were Kuwabara's eyes. His eyes were so… dark, they didn't hold a trace of his usually happy-go-lucky self, and I don't know if I should be concerned about this or not; what if it's my worst fear coming true? What if Kuwabara is turning darker and that this fight is just the catalyst to his downfall?
What have I done?
A flash of movement on the ring snatched my attention; Kuwabara's shoulder was impaled by Toguro's fingers, he didn't even so much as blink as he tore them out and went after the smaller fighter. Ouch, that looked like it had hurt a bit. Elder Toguro repeatedly swiped his hands at Kuwabara and he dodged as best as he could, when he had the chance he tried to throw a punch at Toguro, but the small bastard jumped far back and stood up with that cocky look of his. I wanted to permanently remove that smirk.
"Tell me boy, where is this rage coming from? Is it from the death of Genkai? Or how I harmed your precious soothsayer?"
That cockroach!
"What are you talking about!? Genkai's just sick…"
Oh Kuwabara, I'm sorry you have to find out this way.
Elder Toguro focused his attention on me, his malicious smile was back, "Tell me girl, do you know what I'm thinking?"
"I'm not a mind reader you parasite, but yes I know what you're planning on doing. You're going to put on a little puppet show with your grotesque fingers and tell the history between Genkai and your brother. Yes they were friends and comrades; yes they may have had feelings towards one another, but let me tell you something, Genkai would never stoop so low as to lay with you, you were never so much as a second thought to her, and how dare you bastardize her memory by insinuating as much!"
"Ooh that look in your eye, it sends such wonderful tingles through my body. Perhaps I'll make you my new favorite toy," in a suggestive manner he ran his hands down the length of his body.
Chills ran down my spine, that is the sickest thing I've ever heard, and I feared what he would do to make it happen.
"Hey! Pay attention to ME!" Kuwabara yelled as he slashed his spirit sword down at Toguro.
It split the little gremlin in two.
"Remember what I said Kuwabara…" I quietly whispered, Toguro's threat echoing in the back of my mind.
"Whoa, I guess he wasn't so strong after all, he was nothing but all show," Kuwabara blinked at his sword that was still embedded in Elder Toguro's open chest cavity.
"Remember Kuwabara…" I tried my hardest not to shout at the over confident friend of mine, but he was caught up in the moment.
I didn't want to voice to Kuwabara what it was he should be remembering just to be safe so that Elder Toguro doesn't hear me; I can't have him changing his tactics too much, I wouldn't be able to tell if Kuwabara will walk away from this fight if he did.
"Hey Kuwabara look out! He's under the surface of the ring!" Yusuke hollered.
Yusuke suddenly yelling out like that startled me to the point where my heart felt like it might burst from my chest. Holy shit Yusuke, I think a few years have been removed from my lifespan.
Just in time I managed to catch the moment where Toguro's fingers sprang from between the cracks in the stone and went once again towards Kuwabara's heart. I let out a sigh of relief when Kuwabara jumped away, the fingers missed his heart; maybe he did remember what I told him and was just waiting for it to happen.
"Whoa man that was close! Hey you short bastard, you didn't say anything about being able to do that!" Kuwabara looked enraged.
Unbelievably I dropped my head, nope he totally forgot.
"Like any respectable fighter would tell you all of his abilities," Elder Toguro laughed at Kuwabara.
"Well no more turning into putty! I'm here to smash your teeth in for what you've done to my friends, now stay solid and no more tricks!"
"Oh Kuwabara," Kurama mumbled with a shake of his head.
"The idiot's honor code is going to get him killed," Hiei agreed.
"He can do it, I know he can," I did my best to sound confident, but the truth was I have no idea how this is going to go.
This isn't like how it was in the show, and Kuwabara seems to be more and more unlike his usual self and this worries me.
Vigorously I shook my head, no! I can't think like that, Kuwabara will always be Kuwabara; he's just upset and is taking everything unpleasant that's happened and is unleashing it on Toguro.
Tear him apart Kazuma.
The fight seemed to go on forever and ever as I was held prisoner to my worrying mind, the fear of screwing up the chain of events was never far, it was constant and unyielding. It was a pain in my ass and I wished it would cease. Kuwabara went on and on doing whatever he could to inflict harm onto Elder Toguro and for a while it seemed to be working, but that short-stacked asshole kept pulling things out of his bag of tricks. At first I had thought he had retreated back underground because he stood his ground and didn't move, but only to find that he had doubled himself and was attacking Kuwabara from two sides. The double was without eyes and had a mouth that was in a permanent wicked smile, it was horrible looking. During this move Kazuma took massive damage to his shoulder and leg, so much so that I flinched and wanted to pull him from the ring, but I knew I couldn't so I was forced to look on in woe. Another hit Kuwabara took, this one was to the middle of his back. Blood splattered everywhere, and my friend looked dreadful; his clothing was torn and speckled with blood, but what scared me the most were his eyes. He looked on to us at the ring side like he was accepting it, like he knew he wasn't going to make it out alive.
No, don't you dare!
Back and forth he was thrown between the copy and Elder Toguro.
This isn't how things were to go! His life isn't supposed to end here!
Again I cringe as they wounded his other leg. He screamed in pain.
Not like this!
Please, whoever or whatever that granted my wish, please don't let him die! Don't bring me here just to face someone that I've finally let in to my heart, die. And it's all because I told them about their future.
More blood sprayed from Kuwabara.
PLEASE!
"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted when he collapsed to the ground and didn't get back up.
"Don't you give up Kuwabara… FIGHT!" I yelled with my eyes closed tight as tears flowed freely.
My eyes were tear-filled and I looked back to the ring, Toguro had rejoined his copy back to his body and just stood there laughing. Kuwabara still didn't get up. I can't hear anything… he doesn't look to be breathing.
"What have I done…" my body was frozen in place.
What have I done?
Yusuke ran to the edge of the ring and shouted at Kuwabara more, still he didn't respond. Hiei tightened his fists and looked away as Shiziru called out for her brother, the other girls yelled for Kuwabara to get back up, and Kurama down casted his eyes.
What have I done!?
It's my fault… Kuwabara's dead because of me.
I gripped at my head in despair.
IT'S ALL MY FAULT!
"That's the kind of look I love to see on people's faces, utter defeat and misery," Elder Toguro sauntered over to our side of the ring, he completely ignored Kuwabara, "It looks good on you."
He laughed that maniacal laugh of his.
"BASTARD!" I screamed and ran for him.
"Faith no!" Yusuke grabbed me around the waist and held me back before I could reach him.
"Ooh, those eyes of yours girl, they're exciting me."
I'll kill him!
"You're going to be my prize once my brother and I win this tournament. Oh the fun I'm going to have with you," Elder Toguro took a few steps closer to me.
"Kuwabara looks to be down people! How is Juri going to rule this fight?" Koto's voice came over the speakers.
Please Kuwabara get up!
It was like I was watching Darren die all over again, only this time is was my brotherly figure that I've lost.
"Well Koto, since Kuwabara doesn't seem to be moving and I'm not hearing a heartbeat… the winner of this match is Team-" Juri started to announce the winner, but she stopped mid announcement.
"I'm not finished yet."
Kuwabara!
Painfully Kuwabara pushed himself up off the floor and weakly stood, his legs wobbled and nearly buckled under his weight.
"I've had enough of your crap Toguro! I'm not gonna stand you threatening my friends any longer!" Kuwabara tightly grasped the sword hilt Suzuka bestowed to him, "It ends now!"
"Impossible…" Koenma gasped.
I turned to him and held back the glare, "Why?"
"His soul was leaving him… he… died."
So he wasn't just unconscious like I was hoping, he really did die?
"I suppose I'll just have to do a better job at permanently shutting your mouth boy," Elder Toguro appeared to be upset over the fact that we were now happy our friend was alive.
"Bring it!" Kuwabara challenged.
He could hardly stand.
Behind his back I could see Elder Toguro was forming a spike with his hand, he's going to try and pierce Kuwabara's heart!
"No!" I exclaimed and reached a hand out towards Kuwabara as Yusuke continued to hold me back.
Elder Toguro launched his spike shaped hand at Kuwabara, and all I could feel was the overwhelming need to protect him. The spike didn't pierce his heart, in fact just like how in the show it was held back by a force, it was the same here; the only difference is that a thin clear blue color outlined Kuwabara. It's strange how it isn't the same yellow as Kuwabara's energy.
"Incredible, Kuwabara's spirit energy and emotions must be on the same level!" Kurama was aghast.
From the corner of my eye I could see Yusuke shaking his head no at Kurama and slightly nudged his head. I couldn't care less what they were saying to each other, I was just happy that Kuwabara was okay.
While Elder Toguro was busy being too shocked with the fact that he couldn't reach Kuwabara's heart, Kuwabara sent what spirit energy he had into the hilt and watched as it transformed.
Hopefully it's the end.
"What is that!?" Elder Toguro screeched in horror.
Man I am not going to miss his voice, not one bit.
"It's time for you to meet your maker Toguro," Kuwabara held up his new spirit weapon, "Now say goodnight!"
With as much force as he could Kuwabara brought down his 'spirit flyswatter' and effectively squashed all of Elder Toguro.
Unfortunately though, I knew the truth, but I wasn't going to chance saying anything; I'm done telling people their futures.
No more.
"Oh wow, there's nothing left but a stain on the floor!" Juri toed at said stain, "Kuwabara is the winner!"
No sooner after Juri announced him the winner, Kuwabara collapsed down onto his knees and his spirit weapon faded almost instantly. Oh Kuwabara. Yusuke jumped up onto the ring and helped his wounded friend down, as they passed by me all I could hear was Kuwabara's joints cracking and popping, it sounded painful. Dutifully I followed them, I may not know much but I wanted to help treat Kuwabara as best as I could, and beg for his forgiveness; he died because of me.
Gently Yusuke set Kuwabara down on the ground and leaned him back against the barrier wall, blood trickled from open wounds.
Tiredly he glanced around at all of us and did one of his goofy smiles, "Looks like I won."
"Yes Kuwabara, you won, congratulations," Kurama congratulated while he inspected Kuwabara's injuries.
His goofy grin was plastered on his face.
Somberly I looked at all of the wounds he acquired from this new version of his fight, it was way more than what he was originally supposed to get, not to mention that he actually died too. Each new cut, scrape, gash and bruise ate away at my heart; how could I be so naive and think that it would be okay for me to tell him about his fight? Maybe I had just grown too cocky and folded in to their curiosity because I assumed nothing would happen; nothing changed when I had told Genkai about her death, everything still unfolded like it should have.
"Faith?" Kuwabara softly called my name.
The switch that held back the tears flipped, and I cried once again.
"Oh Kuwabara…" I threw my arm up and hid my crying eyes from everyone, "I'm so sorry!"
"Don't cry, I'm okay," Kuwabara's voice called out to me.
"He'll be alright Faith," Kurama tried to help console me, but I wouldn't have it.
"You died because of me Kazuma, if I hadn't of told you what I did, you wouldn't be this hurt and you wouldn't have died!"
More tears fell.
Weakly I dropped my arm and kept my eyes clamped shut, how could I look at him the same anymore? Something shuffled slightly before I felt someone's hand grasp my upper arm and gently pulled me. I landed in someone's lap with my torso resting against their chest, in surprise I opened my eyes and found myself in Kuwabara's embrace.
"It's okay Faith, I don't blame you," he whispered kindly into my ear, "I should be the one to apologize to you for getting you into all of this mess, if I had just kept my mouth shut outside Toguro wouldn't have overheard me and tried to kill you."
A new wave of tears began.
Never in a million years would I have blamed him for that.
"Oh Kuwabara…" I threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly.
I didn't care if I got blood on my clothes, I didn't care if the people in the audience watched; I was just glad that my friend was alive, the friend that I looked up to like a big brother figure. The only thing I was worried about was how hard I was hugging him; I didn't want to cause him anymore pain than what he was already in.
Slowly we pulled away from our hug and I carefully climbed out of his lap and knelt beside Kuwabara.
"I'm not going to do it ever again," I whispered.
"Do what?" Kurama asked; he leaned in to start treating Kuwabara's wounds.
"I'm not going to divulge any more information about your futures, I don't care what happens to me anymore; I'm going to take what I know to the grave."
No more.
The entire team turned my way and held my gaze, after a few short seconds they nodded their heads in understanding; they know I'm serious and determined to keep my word on this matter.
It's a curse.
No shit Sherlock.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the most anticipated fight has finally arrived! It is team captain versus team captain, Toguro versus Yusuke Urameshi!" Koto excitedly commented into her mic.
The stadium went into an uproar of cheers and jeers; it was all just a blur of colors and movement as they moved, talk about being antsy. While I observed the rambunctious crowd I noticed near where the girls were sitting, appeared to be a female demon with pale blue skin, dark colored eyes, and blonde hair, but she wasn't what caught my attention… it was the two childlike versions of her sitting on either side. Who the hell brings their children to an event like this!? I was appalled by the idea, but then again maybe it was just something demons did, I can't sit here and judge her when I don't know their cultures. Still… knowing that there were children in this crowd didn't sit well with me, it was like my mind was telling me to take note of them, like a small alarm was going off somewhere inside my head.
"Well guys, wish me luck," Yusuke shot us his goofy grin before he turned and headed for the ring.
"Go get him Urameshi!" Kuwabara called after him.
Yusuke waved his hand and focused all of his attention on Younger Toguro, there was a score to settle between them and I just pray that everything turns out how it should.
Or has my idiotic move doomed us all?
So far everything has gone according to the show, Elder Toguro had popped back up from the ring only to be annihilated by his younger brother and Yusuke has been fighting with everything he has. When Elder Toguro reappeared he kept his eyes locked on where I was, it was very unnerving, but luckily for me I had a whole team who put themselves in front of me for protection. Before Younger Toguro dealt with his brother, Elder Toguro spewed things about wanting to take me out of the picture, because he didn't like the idea of having someone around who knew how things were going to be, and again said that if he couldn't own me then I couldn't live. After that Toguro went against his older brother and booted him from the stadium, he disintegrated as he went through the air; blood splattered everywhere and fortunately for me, his tainted blood didn't touch me. If it had, I would've ran for the nearest faucet to try and wash it off, I wouldn't want his blood somehow staining my skin or somehow corrupting me. I hated that bastard with a passion like none other.
Then Genkai came back as a possessed Puu and decided that it was still a good idea to tell Toguro he needed to kill one of us, and the stupid fucker still chose Kuwabara! Like what the hell man he already died! When Toguro had decided it was to be Kuwabara, I wanted to punch Genkai in the face I was so mad. Yusuke was overtaken with grief over the loss of Kuwabara, though he didn't know he was actually still alive… barely.
Here I now sat up against the barrier wall with Kuwabara's head resting in my lap, while everyone thought he was dead, again, a select few knew otherwise; he was just sleeping it off, and I kept watch to make sure his heart kept beating. It would be kind of awkward to have to call Kurama or the others over to my side to try and save an already supposedly dead guy, try explaining that and still have Yusuke come out on top.
It started to go downhill for me a bit when I remembered that soon Toguro will steal the souls of the audience and I couldn't help but worry about what will happen to me; I'm not exactly the strongest person in this group. At first when he changed and began to feed on the souls of the weaker beings, I knew I was in trouble; it felt like a hand was reaching inside of me and ripping my insides apart, like the cold hand of death was claiming its bounty. My body convulsed as I grew weak and my breathing became labored, the feeling of my soul being forcefully taken from me was something beyond words could describe, and the pain was unmeasurable.
"Faith!" Kurama exclaimed and rushed to my side.
I couldn't answer, I couldn't breathe.
Without resistance my body slumped forward and hung over Kuwabara's resting head.
"Koenma!" Kurama called, his voice sounded so far away, like it was washed out by crashing waves.
My vision grew dark as the ripping sensation grew more dominant, I could feel my soul leaving me.
"Stay behind me!" Koenma ordered and created his barrier.
After the barrier had been erected, everything snapped back into place like it was a taut elastic band giving way and relieved the stretching pressure. I gasped; the air filled my lungs, my vision returned and my body felt more energetic.
"Faith, are you okay?" Kurama crouched next to me and gently patted my shoulder.
I huffed and tried to get my breathing back to normal.
"God, is that what it feels like to have your soul stolen from you?" I asked between deep breaths.
Kurama's expression was unwavering, "Yes,"
"Oh god, that's horrible! It felt like death was reaching inside of my chest and messing things around!" with a shiver I wrapped my arms around myself.
Those poor people that was a horrible way to die, having your very soul viciously ripped from you.
I shuttered as the feeling echoed inside of me.
"So close you came to dying Faith, I wonder what your soul was going to taste like, or if it would have empowered me more," Younger Toguro directed at me from afar.
I didn't know what would have happened if I died, for all I know if I did die I would wake up back in my world. The possible outcomes were endless.
"Leave her alone Toguro, I'm not going to let you harm anymore of my friends, new or otherwise. I'm going to give you what you wanted," Yusuke pointed his spirit gun at Toguro.
"Finally Yusuke, let us see who is stronger."
Yusuke's spirit gun blast was massive as it travelled straight for Toguro and he battled it off, the anticipation ate away at me from inside, come on Yusuke, you can do it! Other demons cheered for Yusuke's victory; their only hope now was Yusuke to win and to free us from Sakyo's damn wall. I actually forgot about him raising that enclosure and trapping everyone inside until the end. Ah bugger me.
Come on…
Toguro shouted and grunted as he fought on against Yusuke's last spirit gun, everything he had was in it, everything rode on whether he would succeed in defeating Toguro or not. Talk about feeling the pressure.
More shouts and groans came from Toguro as his arms were slowly wrapping around the spirit gun, blood spurted from his grotesque body. Everyone was frozen as they watched on waiting to see what their fate will be, myself included; even though I was within Koenma's barrier, I can still feel the pulls at my soul. I could feel the slowly rising coldness build within me as it felt like I was being pulled from all directions, the headache I had from these sensations was one of the worst I've ever had, and all the while I focused on Toguro's struggle.
"Just lose already…" I mumbled to myself before I shook my head in an attempt to alleviate the pain I had.
He let out a loud yell and bear hugged the spirit gun to the point where it burst apart. The remaining audience inhaled in surprise and Yusuke collapsed to his knees. For a brief moment even I believed his last everything shot had failed… but then the sensations I had let up immediately.
"He did it…" I couldn't help but sound astonished.
Hiei narrowed his gaze at me, "what are you talking about? Look around you, we're doomed; Yusuke wasn't able to kill the bastard!"
Happily I smiled at Hiei, "No, he won!"
"Faith what are you talking about? Toguro is still standing," Kurama tried to comprehend what I was thinking.
"Look!" I pointed over to where Toguro stood, unmoving, "His skin is cracking! He's finished! Yusuke did it! Toguro's skin is going to break apart!"
I was so happy I could dance.
Still they looked at me like I should be admitted to an institute.
"Your friend is correct," Toguro directed to everyone on Team Urameshi.
No sooner had she said those words did his skin splinter apart.
"This was the only way it could end, thank you Yusuke Urameshi for answering my call. And thank you Faith, for confirming it for me, even if your answer was cryptic," Toguro smiled kindly at me just before his eyes rolled back and he fell lifelessly to the ground.
The entire arena, what was left of it, was in stunned silence.
"Alright Yusuke!" I loudly cheer, doing so startled some of the nearby team members and audience members.
"Jeez Faith, I don't think my kicker can take another surprise like that," Koenma glared at me as he held a hand to his heart.
"Sorry," I sent him a sheepish smile.
"Let's get to Yusuke," Kurama began to make his way over to his friend.
Quietly I looked down to my lap and back up, "Ya, I think I'll stay here."
With Kuwabara still 'dead' and resting his head on my lap, I wasn't able to move anywhere.
"Stay here," Hiei directed at me before he ran off.
Exasperatedly I threw my hands into the air, again where am I going to go?
Everyone ended up leaving me behind with Kuwabara, and when they reached Yusuke they exchanged words, words I couldn't hear but luckily I knew what they were saying. I could see the tears streaming down Yusuke's saddened face; I think that might be my cue to start nudging Kuwabara awake. Persistently that's what I did, I nudge and nudged at Kuwabara and when he woke he immediately closed them and mumbled something about having to wake up like Sleeping Beauty.
Sleeping Beauty… really Kazuma?
"Fine, I'll just go get Hiei,"
Kuwabara sat up, "Oh wow, look I was startled out of my sleep."
"Wait until I tell Yukina you wanted me to kiss you awake," I gave him a teasing smile.
"I don't know what you're talking about… Sleeping Beauty, never heard of it."
Uh-huh… sure.
"Maybe it's time you go and reassure Yusuke that you're alive and well?" I kindly reminded.
"Oh ya, that crybaby is going to cry tears of joy once he sees me alive, heh heh."
Or beat you close to death … again.
"I'd maybe just start with getting over there Kuwabara."
"Heh, right, be back in a minute Faith!" Kuwabara waved at me before he ran over to where the others were grouped together.
Sure enough Kuwabara did his little dance and teased Yusuke for thinking he was dead, before Yusuke proceeded to pummel his best friend, he peered over to where I sat and narrowed his eyes at me; like he was asking me if I had any part in this, innocently I pointed at myself like I was saying 'who me?' and shook my head no. Play innocent and stupid, it should work. He knew better and shook his finger at me, much like he was scolding a small child, then went and started to hit Kuwabara repeatedly, and elbow him, and I think I saw a clothes line move in there as well, good thing he's doing that to Kuwabara and not me. I quietly laughed to myself.
All celebratory actions stopped when the ground and structures began to quake, oh shit.
"Stadium detonation in ten minutes," a voice comes over the sound system.
Can't we catch a break?
You already knew this was going to happen.
Oh shut up, I didn't think Sakyo had pushed his damn button so soon.
It was utter chaos as people in the stadium ran for their lives; well they ran as far as they could get with the barricades still in place. Clumsily I stood up, the ground shook and made any kind of movement awkward and hard to do, it took every leg muscle I had to keep myself up, the muscles grew tight with the effort as the area continued to shake. Debris and chunks of the stadium fell down around everyone, at first it was just the small stuff that fell, but then bigger pieces started to break off. I watched as a large chunk of the ceiling fell down onto one of the higher balconies on the other side of the stadium, I don't think there were any more audience members up there luckily. More debris and rock fell, at this rate this place isn't going to hold out for ten minutes before it falls apart.
"Hey Faith! You okay?" Yusuke shouted over to me, with the help of Kurama he hobbled over this way.
"Ya!" I shot him a thumb up, "Head to the others and I'll meet you there!" I didn't want them to waist their energy on getting over here, just to check up on me.
At the suggestion Yusuke looked ready to argue, but a huge block of the ceiling came crashing down and landed in between us, the force in which it struck the ground created a gust of wind; I was nearly pushed back over. Hastily I had to grab a hold of the barrier wall so I wouldn't fall over, that was some big gush of air.
Quickly I looked for Yusuke and found them far back on the other side, "You guys get to the girls, I'll meet you there."
Normally I wouldn't be separating myself from them, because hey you know, the stadium is literally falling down around us, but my gut was telling me to go the other way. With how things were, pardon the pun, rapidly falling apart, I got a move on and headed through the big double doors that the teams entered and exited through. The hallways weren't much better than out in the arena, with every large tremor I had to steady myself by leaning against the wall, but as time passed I tried not to touch the walls; they began to crack and with each crack the metal siding protruded, I didn't want to catch myself on the sharp edge of the metal. I've been hurt enough today, and for the next while. Though I swear this place is out to get me, what felt like the biggest tremor came and easily knocked me off my feet, the downside? As I fell I threw my arm out to try and grab onto something only to have a piece of metal slice me down from my shoulder to elbow. I swear, if I make it out of here I'm going to start an 'injured' jar, because at this rate I'll be rich. The good side about this, at least the cut isn't all that deep and I wasn't bleeding a lot.
Now with my hand grasping at my injured arm, I made my way through the maze like hallways, luckily I knew where I was going and wasn't too far from it. The set of stairs I was looking for appeared as I rounded the corner, up I went and threw a large archway, demons of every kind ran past me. A nudge there, a shove here, it was like I was maneuvering through the opening day at an amusement park; people were pushing and shoving to get to the place they wanted to be. Once I made it through the large archway the mass of people thinned out a tad bit, enough so that I didn't feel like I was going to be trampled to death. With one last push forward I emerged from the crowd and was met with open space, now that I can see I looked for my friends. As I searched for them I spotted the one thing that confounded me earlier, the mother demon and her children, they stood huddled together looking terrified and my gut was telling me something is going to happen to them. I knew I should be finding my friends and not wasting time with anything else, ugh but the gut feeling I had was like an annoying alarm that couldn't be turned off.
Grrr.
Doing what I knew might turn around and bite me in the ass, I headed toward the frightened family, the closer I became the more I could hear the children's cries and the mother's whimpers. So close I was to reaching them, then I heard the very thing I didn't want to hear; a thunderous crack, reflexively I looked up and found a humongous sized chunk of the stadium ceiling was about to fall, and of course the small family was right underneath it.
Move your ass!
Not even a second later and I was running as fast as I could towards them, my left leg angrily protested.
"Watch out!" I called out; I could hear the chunk of ceiling breaking loose.
Without even thinking about it, I dove protectively tackled the family out of the way. All together we tumbled and rolled down the rows of seats, over and over I bounced and bashed off of the hard seats, the children cried out whenever they hit one. Finally we came to a stop, the two children came to rest on the row above me, and their mother landed on top of me, she immediately jumped off when she recovered her senses. A groan escaped from me as I sat up and then moved so that I was wobbly standing on my feet, the mother was checking on her children and I just waited for her to turn on me with a vicious demeanor, because of how a human like me touched a demon like her. Surprisingly to me though, she didn't, she had tears of gratitude in her eyes and she hugged me; I was at a loss for words.
"Thank you so much for saving us!" the mother repeatedly thanked me.
"Um… no problem…" I glanced over to her children and they smiled happily at me.
Why are they here? Surely if she were that concerned for her children a moment ago after tumbling down a few rows, then why bring them here in the first place?
"I don't mean to pry ma'am, but why are you and your children here?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Please, help me get my children out of here and I'll tell you," she pleaded with her eyes.
I nodded, "Follow me."
Clutching once again at my bleeding arm and mind over matter the pain in my leg, I helped the mother usher her children back up the rows and to the hallway platform, the feminine voice sounding out how much time we have; it wasn't a lot. When we arrived on the platform I looked for Yusuke and the others… damn they're not here, they must have left for the exit already.
"Damn," I turned to the family, "Come on, we have to hurry!"
"Come on children, no matter what you stay close to mommy, this nice lady is helping us get out of here," the mother told her children.
Nice lady… I never thought I'd hear those words come from a demon before.
"Earlier you asked why we came here," the mother began, "I had heard that there was a team coming to this year's tournament, one that showed promise. The Toguro Brothers killed my husband and eldest son, I've wanted nothing more than to have them both avenged. Unfortunately no one was able to watch my daughters, so I had to bring them with me, I wanted to see the Toguro Brothers fall so badly, but I never thought things would get this out of hand. I was barely able to ward off Toguro when he sucked the souls out of everyone."
Her husband and son were killed and she only wanted to see the Toguro's get what they deserved, I could only imagine what she felt to see those two standing there in the ring like nothing fazed them, and then the joy she must have felt when she saw them fall.
"I'm going to do my best to make sure you get out of this, you didn't come all this way just to find the peace you've been craving for and then to wind up having it end like this."
"Thank you."
From hallway to connecting hallway we ran, at one point the smaller girl couldn't keep up with us and flawlessly turned herself into a wolf and caught up with us in no time, her mother smiled fondly at her; I assume the wolf form reminded her of either her husband or late son. The other little girl was pulled into her mother's arms; she held her tight like she was the most precious thing in the world to her and it made me want to see them safe even more.
Finally there in front a few yards away was the blocked hallway, Yusuke and the others were there trying to find a way out. Thank god I was able to find them.
"Kurama, Yusuke!" I called out.
Kurama turned around and looked relieved, "Faith!"
Hurriedly we made it over to them, everyone eyed the company I had; they weren't expecting me to show up with three other people.
"Who's that Faith?" Kuwabara eyed them suspiciously.
"I really don't think we have time Kuwabara," Kurama shot him a look, and then went back to trying to find a way out of our predicament.
There was a loud noise followed with dust, once the dust settled our rescuers came into view; Jin, Toya, Chu and Rinku all stood there with smiles on their faces. They exchanged a few words with Yusuke and the proceeded to show us the way out and to safety, the mother and her children stuck close to me and I didn't let them out of my sight. All the while we ran that damn count down continued, getting lower and lower, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Thankfully we made it outside and far away from the crumbling stadium, when I turned back around I could see Shiziru, George and Koenma running towards us, at least nothing about that was changed.
I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed as the voice echoed 'zero' and soon after we all watched as the structure was engulfed in flames and crumbled to the ground, not a beam was left standing. A sob to my left caught my attention, I peeked to the side and found the mother happily embracing her children, and the one was still in wolf form.
"Your Father and brother can now rest in peace, and it's all thanks to Team Urameshi," she cried tears of joy, her wish has been granted; her fallen family members were finally avenged.
Seeing this touching moment made me feel like I was somehow intruding, slowly I backed away from the family and wandered over to a less populated area. I may have wanted to give people their space, but that didn't last very long; the mother who was followed by her daughters, approached me and gave me a very tight hug.
"Thank you so much for helping me and my daughters escape, we surely would have died had it not been for you. I am eternally grateful, Faith," she smiled as she said my name.
The three of them bowed and it felt kind of awkward to have them do that, to me no less.
"It's no big deal, honestly, I just hope if I were in your shoes someone would come to save me in my time of need."
"Thank you for saving us miss," the little girl thanked me.
"You're welcome sweetie," she sent me a full tooth smile.
Her sister in her wolf form came over and head-butted my hand, I'm just going to assume she's saying thank you as well.
Their mother ushered them, "Come along now babies, it's time for us to head home."
"Bye-bye," the little girl waved to me.
I waved back and watched as the wolf ran after her mother and sister.
I hope they get home safely.
"Well Faith, you're a hero for saving their lives. Is that why you went a different way?" Kurama asked as he approached me.
"I went another way because I had a gut feeling that was nagging me. It's a good thing for them that I followed that nagging."
Kurama and Kuwabara smiled at me.
"So Faith, are you ready to head home?" Yusuke asked.
Home.
I've been waiting for this day since I first learned I had a place to head home to.
"More than you know Yusuke, more than you know."