Heart's Starlight
Chapter 25: The Boat Ride
"Oh Kami!" I stated as we walked into Koenma's office. He smiled at us but got no smile back from me, like usual.
"Hello detectives, and Kaida!" Koenma said, setting some papers aside. "I arranged a portal for you, to take you to the dock!" I looked at him confused. "None of you told her?!"
"No, sir. We've been busy with training!" Kurama stated, causing me to look even more confused.
"Very well." Koenma looked straight at me. I grew nervous under his stare. "Kirei, you will be going on a boat. There are a total of twenty-two boats; you all are riding on boat number 18. Make sure you are on that boat number or it'll all end badly. Anyways, on this boat is a large fight that erupts, starting with the strongest fighter: and that'd be you, Kirei since Kaida's an extra; extra's ride on a separate boat, without fighting." Kaida nodded. "Kirei, the last team standing is the one who gets to go through with the tournament!"
"Wait a minute, buster!" I said, waving my hands. "You mean, my team, us, we have to kill every demon on the boat in order to be in the tournament?!" Koenma nodded. "Count me out then! I'll be the extra!"
"No, Kirei! Kaida's name is already in as an extra and you're a primary. I already sent in the files, so there's no backing out now." I groaned. "Don't worry, Kirei! Most of the demons on those boats are low-class and are easily scared of a high-class demon." I nodded. "So don't worry! And the boys are constantly with you. The fight should only last a couple hours and then the two day ride is all to yourselves!" I nodded, giving him a smile. "Good! Now, the boat leaves in fifteen minutes! Are you all packed and ready?" We all nodded. "Good! See you at the tournament!" A portal appeared and we all walked through it; I was more reluctant than anyone.
I sighed and stared at the grand boat. I pictured it to be a little steam boat, but it was fairly large, and that meant there'd be more than five teams on there. I guessed around eight, but I'm not sure. I sighed and felt someone slip their arm around my shoulders. I looked up to see a goofy grin on Kuwabara's face. "What do you want?" I asked, staring at him blankly.
"Just making sure you're doing alright, Kirei!" he stated. "I'll protect you from harm."
"Please, the only thing you can protect her from is yourself!" Kaida said, slamming the back of her hand in Kuwabara's stomach, causing him to hunch forward, gasping. Kaida smirked at me and slipped her arm around my shoulders, guiding me forward. "Kirei, listen, if you can with stand a blow of concrete that almost made you paralyzed in the back, you can with stand this stupid boat of demons! You're not that weak."
"Yeah, I'll prove that next time we fight!" Kaida laughed, but nodded.
"Right, Kirei! Try not to have too much fun!" I nodded and she walked off, toward the end of the docks. I sighed and glanced over at Hiei, who was staring intently at the boat. I frowned and walked on with the team, glancing around. The demons all stared at me, causing my wings to twitch a bit, and I ignored their whispers and glances as most of them sneered or licked their lips.
"Teach them a lesson when the fight begins," Yusuke whispered and I nodded. I was getting slightly angry at them. I wasn't a piece of meat from crying out loud. Or maybe they wanted to kill me because I'm an Elemental Maiden. Either one, I was still mad.
"Listen up, demons of all kinds and spiritual humans! This is Mac McDurman speaking and I'm here to clarify the rules. All is fair on this boat: weapons of all kinds and attacks of all kinds. The last team standing wins and is the contestant for the tournament. However, if one of your teammates kills another teammate, you are disqualified and will not be able to compete. There should be a five person team standing at the end of the fight. You all may begin when the loud buzzer rings!" a man's voice said and I nodded, remembering the rules.
The boat started running and we pulled off the dock. I heard some ticking and I frowned. I really wasn't ready to fight loads of these demons. I could probably kill them all with one swipe of fire, but that would probably blow up the ship. I braced myself as the ticking got faster and soon, a buzzer rang and the demons all ran after me: at the same time.
I cursed to myself and felt them all grabbing arms and tearing me down. I heard the boys yell and I gritted my teeth, the wind picking up. I screamed and my power blew up around me, causing most of the demons to fly off the ship. I looked around and saw only a few were left so the boys began joining in. I slammed my elbow into one demon and kicked another in the chest.
I grabbed the first demon's head and slammed it into my knee, causing it to scream in pain. I slammed it back, causing it to flip over the side of the rail. If you didn't notice, I was trying not to kill any of them because I still wasn't comfortable doing that. I looked over to see a demon charging Yusuke, while his back was turned, and I conjured a fire ball, throwing it hard at the cheap demon. It screamed as the fire swarmed over him and fell over the railing. Yusuke smiled at me and I smiled back only to lurch forward as demon jumped on my back.
I swung my elbow up, connecting to his face, and jumped up, facing my palm to him and a vine, sharp as a needle, came out and shot into his forehead. I gasped at myself but shook it off and kicked him aside. I looked around to see that my team was still standing and every other demon fallen. I sighed and walked up to Yusuke, grinning. He hugged me and I laughed.
"See, it wasn't that bad!" I shrugged and he shoved me back, causing me to laugh.
"Yeah, you all are right!" I stated, grinning. "Now it's a two day trip to the tournament?" The boys nodded and I sighed, walking to the rail and leaning on it, staring out into the horizon. The breeze was fair, which made my hair fly a bit. I looked at my hair and frowned, noticing it was getting a little longer. That meant I had to get it cut soon.
"This is nice, huh?" I looked over to see Kurama. He was smiling at me. I smiled back before staring back out into the horizon.
"Team Hara Juko wins boat 13 and Team Urameshi wins boat 18!" I heard, but ignored it and studied the creamy colors of the sky.
"Kirei," Kurama started, causing me to look at him. "I know you know that I like you ..." I blushed, but nodded. "I need to know if you like me like that also."
"Kurama, I--"brBr
"Guys, look!" I turned around to see Kuwabara holding a piece of paper. "It's the names of the finalists of the boats: all 22 of them!" I frowned and ignored Kurama's question, walking up to Kuwabara. I looked at the paper and indeed, there were 22 names, including Team Urameshi. I smiled and took it from Kuwabara, studying it. I wanted to remember all the names of the teams so if we were going against some of them, I would sort of know them.
"The only one that opposes a threat is Team Hogura!" Yusuke stated. "I read over their profile and they've been in three international tournaments and haven't lost one." I frowned. "But the profile said they fight to the death, which the Dark Tournament allows." I paled.
"That's helping, Yusuke!" I said, glaring at him. He smiled nervously and looked away from me. I frowned and stared down at Team Hogura's name, almost zoning into as thoughts ran into my head about the torture they could put me through. I was beginning to grow anxious and nervous, without even knowing if I was going to be able to fight them or not.
I sighed and handed the list to Kuwabara again, "I'm going under." They all nodded and I walked into the carriage, frowning. I looked up and gasped to see Hiei about to walk out. I felt my heart flutter with familiar feelings. The feelings he used to give me. "Hiei!" I gasped.
"Hn, move onna!" He shoved pass me and I frowned, staring after him as he walked out. That felt like a stab at the heart for some reason. He always called me onna but never as cold as he just did. I sighed and shrugged it off, walking toward the rooms. There was just one but we had bunk beds, which I thought sucked. I scrambled into one and lay on my stomach, staring at the wall. My thoughts ran to Hiei and his passion he had for me a while ago.
"Well, I guess I got boring," I mumbled before curling into fetal position and managing to fall asleep as the boat moved on.
Kaida stayed on the boat of "extras" who seemed to all liked to exclude her from the conversations. She didn't mind. She was going to defeat them all in the long run. She knew for a fact Kuwabara wouldn't last after preliminaries. He wasn't that smart and certainly, not that strong. Kaida smirked: she wanted so badly to fight instantly to show all those puny demons what she was made of.
"So, what type of demon are you?" some demon asked, twirling her blond hair. Kaida narrowed her eyes at her. She knew her type. She was a seductress demon. Her specialty was probably that she can entrance any male demon and then kill him instantly.
"Gee, I don't know! Maybe I'm a faerie nymph demon! My parents never told me though." Kaida said sarcastically.
"Wow, what a waste of life. And aren't you supposed to be small and follow people around? That's what fairies do!" Kaida glared at her and she glared back.
"Do I look small to you?" The demon rolled her eyes, snapping some gum in her mouth. Kaida narrowed her eyes and placed her hand on her neck, slamming her into a nearby wall. The she demon screamed and clawed at Kaida's arm. "Why don't you and your skanky self stay away from me, ok? Before I rip your neck in two!" The she demon's eyes widened as Kaida let her go. She scrambled up and ran off. Kaida glanced around and saw many of the other staring at her, shocked.
Kaida ignored their looks and walked to the railing, staring out into the horizon, blankly. She was ready to fight in the tournament. She was hoping Kuwabara wouldn't be able to fight in the tournament soon. She didn't want him to die, just get injured extremely