SCHOOLS OUT! YESYESYESYES! Oh, glorious summer vacation! Sorry about the wait. There was a writers block.

Thank You!

Mizula - Guilty as charged: I take too long to update. School and writers block along with an Internet that won't display at times doesn't help any. The updating process is going to speed up now since I've been having big creative moments in here and school is out. Cliffhangers. I torture you all with 'em don't I? Sorry. I have a love-hate relationship with them. I can't live with 'em, and I can't live without 'em. I'll check that out!

KeLpIeenoch- You think he took it well. The, how shall I put this, dominos are going to fall very soon. She's being kind of fickle right now. Drowned with morphine…cringe.

Iliada- Thanks. That's ok. I've been busy too, so there wasn't that much updating time for me either. Pretty in Black

Chapter 26

Rin woke. She was in her tent with Yayoi and Mitoko asleep next to her and the sun was sun streaming in through the flaps. Yawning, she got up and crawled out, careful not to wake her sleeping cousins or jar her arm. All in all, it was a beautiful day: everything looked extra bright and colorful. Still dressed in the white robe, she stretched her hands up towards the sky and thanked whoever was watching over her that she had lived through the night.

She frowned. Why had she allowed herself to go on that ship? Now she had a death sentence on her head. After she had gotten to shore, all of the X-Laws had been summoned and had been determined to kill her. Only with dumb luck and the head start had she been able to outrun them and get back to Hao's encampment. When she had arrived, the fires were low and she had crept silently into the tent she shared with her cousins. Exhausted, she carefully laid down and fell immediately asleep in the security the infamy of the camp brought. Neither the X-Laws nor anyone else would ever come here.

"Our little lost sheep has returned to the flock." Came Hao's voice.

"Strangely enough, I'm glad to hear your voice, Hao." They silently stared at each other before Hao broke the silence.

"I'm glad you're back. Yayoi and Mitoko didn't take kindly to almost being killed."

"I'm sorry."

"So how did you enjoy being an X-Law for those five minutes?"

Rin laughed. "It was miserable! How can they live on that ship? And the whiteness! They must love that color!" She stopped laughing. "Of course, I also feel a bit sorry for them. They're confined to the ship until they fight. At least here, one can go anywhere they want."

Hao hmmed. "Now for your lecture." His voice regained its authoritative tone. "What were you doing there?"

Rin was surprised he even had to ask, what with his mind-reading abilities and all. "Do you even have to ask? You practically burned my arm off!"

"So you went to the X-Laws for help and joined them in those painful moments in thinking maybe you could gather allies together and defeat me?"

"I was, and still am, angry with you at what you did to me. It's unforgivable. I agreed to join them in exchange for medical attention. Which, I might add, I seriously needed. Then I remembered what you said and came back. That must account for something."

"True, true, but you betrayed me. With that, you should have died, right along with the rest of the Matsumuras. Tell me, did you feel as if you were suffocating? That the walls were closing in around you? That was the sign that you were dying; I never said anything about the death being a quick one. You'll basically suffocate to death."

Rin bit her lip. She knew what it was like to be suffocated thanks to that snake-kyonshii when they went to rescue Ren. It had not been pleasant and Rin did not wish to repeat the experience. "I need to get dressed." She muttered and went into her tent.

In the Patch Stadium, only a handful of the seats were filled for the fight between X-III and Hoshigumi. Most of the shaman didn't even bother to show up because everybody knew who was going to win anyway. Those who did come just wanted to see if there was even a remote possibility of defeating Hao, or were just morbid and wanted to see a good, bloody fight. The previous match with teams T-Production and Hanagumi ended too soon and they were itching for a good fight.

From where she was seated, Rin could look across the stadium and pick out Funbari Onsen and Team the Ren. Horohoro's blue hair stood out against the tan of the stone and she could even see that he had changed his headband from his normal blue and black to a plain white cloth one. Orikir, sitting on her shoulder, saw where she was looking and puffed out his feathers. Radim called the start of the fight. Rin didn't bother to watch.

"Do you think I should talk to him afterwards?" she asked, meaning Horohoro.

"If you want to. Hao won't hold it against you, though you may want to be careful on how you present yourself. Who knows how they feel about you after your last fight?"

"True, but I want to know how they are doing." She notice Manta freak out and start running, yelling about something.

"X-III Meene is dead." Radim announced. Rin felt her heart go out a little to the woman who had bandaged her arm, but the feeling was fleeting. She would have killed her anyway had she stayed. That is, if the blood-oath hadn't killed her first.

The fight ended with the deaths of X-III, and everyone went back to their normal routine, clearly disturbed by what they witnessed. Some shaman even dropped out of the tournament, knowing that they would be unable to win the crown. The stadium emptied, and Tamashiigumi went and met Funbari Onsen and Team the Ren at the usual haunt of Patch Café.

Everyone was quiet before anyone spoke. Ren got up from his seat and merely brushed past them, not bothering to acknowledge them.

"Hey, Tamashiigumi!" Yoh greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, Funbari Onsen!" Yayoi greeted just as cheerfully, as was in her usual manner. Rin bit her lip. Aside from Yoh, nobody else was willing to meet her eyes or begin a conversation. They're disgusted with me. She thought sadly. Right now, she would be happy with just one of Chocolove's puns or Ryu's love speeches. Neither came, but Team Tamashiigumi sat down anyway.

"How have you been Yoh?" Rin asked, knowing that Yoh would at least be the one to engage in some form of small talk.

"Pretty good, considering all that has been happening."

"The same." They watched as blocks of stone to repair the arena were carted past them. Rin fingered with the layers of cloth that had been wrapped around her arms to give the appearance of arm warmers while hiding her burn. It wouldn't do to have them worry about it, though they might wonder why she was wearing arm warmers in this kind of heat. She and Horohoro sat across from one another, silent.

Ok, I made a HUGE boo-boo: I had Patch Village inside the cave in earlier chapters, but now I have it on the island what with the Ark X and the ocean and other things! I am SO sorry! Just go with it and pretend that I know what I am doing! I'll fix that all later in the rewrite. As long as you all know what is going on, where Patch is shouldn't matter. It won't change anything plot-wise. (I hope) Crap. So the Tournament is now officially on the island. Just don't ask how they got there. Just pretend that it was the same as in the manga, just unmentioned.

I'm going to try and get some HoroRin into the next few chapters. For those who know me, I'm not very good at romance, so some suggestions can and will be helpful.