Hiei heard the fox call for him out in the woods. He went and found him, even though it was so close to time where they needed to start the next match of the tournament.
"Hiei? You alright?" the fox asked from his roost in a nearby tree.
Hiei was tempted to ignore him, but knew he would drag the conversation out if he did. "What are you talking about?"
"Your arm? You know that it'll get tough soon?"
The fox was too worried for his own good. He had taken the brunt of the body guard duties with the girl.
The body guard system with the girl had stuck with all the fighters except Hiei. The prince's ogre also stood secret vigil outside her door at night just in case. During most of the days, it was no wonder the fox was the one dragging the girl along with him most places he went, like to watch the other matches. Hiei was surprised she was not out her with him now. Perhaps Koenma had her now as the next match was starting very soon.
"I didn't have a choice. It's too late..." Hiei responded.
"We must be sure," a masculine voice echoed across the woods from them. "We must overcome them." Two tailed demons emerged from the trees, looking both pitiful and ready to fight. Both were members from Team Ichigaki.
So this was why the fox wanted him out here, should he be cornered alone. Well, a two on two fight outside the tournament should be interesting. No rules to worry about. No ten count.
At least it would have been before the girl came sprinting into the clearing, slowing to halt next to the fox. Her the bottom half of her pant legs were mud splattered and frayed at the ends, indicating she must have run here directly instead of trying to find a trail. She saw the Team Ichigaki fighters, and squared herself up for a fight, showing off the wind serpent without a second thought. She showed the creature off too much. If the fox was relieved to have a break from her, then he had another thing coming.
"What are you doing out here?" the fox asked her, eyes still on the two in front of them. His bigger concern seemed to be what was she doing alone in the woods.
Without taking her eyes off the two in front of them, she responded. "You two were missing before the match. I was... worried. So after the others went off to the arena, I came looking... sensed you two out here."
"Does anyone else know that's what you did?" the fox asked, clearly annoyed with her. She shook her head. "You can't just wonder off like that out here. It's dangerous."
"I didn't wonder off. I knew where I was going," she sassed back. With a gentler voice, she continued to speak. "Besides, it was nice to finally be alone for a change."
"He's right human girl," one of the Team Ichigaki demons called out to her. "You wouldn't want to be caught away from your team would you?" he asked with a hint of a threat.
The girl bit her lower lip and lifted her foot up to take a step back. To her credit, she put her foot back down on the ground where she had it originally. The wind serpent around her neck gave a low hiss at the demon across the clearing. The sound succeeded to make the two demons glance nervously at each other.
The fox looked down at the girl, then Hiei, then the weaker of the two demons across from him. He gave them an almost imperceptible nod. In a flash, each of them had their respective weapons drawn and cut the weaker demon down, much to the surprise of his counterpart. Too easy. The girl could have done it herself if she really wanted to.
The girl looked a bit pale at the sight of the corpse she helped create, but stayed in control of her reaction. Her wind serpent went back up around her neck. She had been taught to put that completely away when no fighting to save her energy, but she rarely listened when she was told something vital like that during training.
"They think they can slow us down with these miserable things?" the fox asked disbelievingly.
"They're clumsy," Hiei observed. "They're going to die," he added passively.
Unexpectedly, the demon across from them looked more excited than nervous. "No thanks, we don't want to.. A change in the team." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a rectangular remote, pressing one of the buttons. He smirked at the loud, crashing sound coming from the forest behind him. A massive, one eyed creature came to rest next to him. "The armored monster of destruction. A masterpiece of the professor. It is invincible. Kill them!"
The monster charged the three of them, elongating its arms, trying to catch them. Before jumping away, the fox shoved the girl out of the way of the creature's claws.
Using his left hand, Hiei swung his sword against the arm that had missed grabbing him by a mile. His sword just clinked uselessly against it.
"The sword is nothing against that!" the demon shouted gleefully. His snake like tongue dance grotesquely outside of his mouth. "Ha ha,its armor is made from a special substance! A child's sword will do nothing to it, it has nothing to fear!"
Who was he calling a child? Hiei turned his focus to the demon. "I must rid myself of this idiot!" But the lost focused was a mistake as one of the monster's claws pinned him against a tree. "Ah!" he shouted out in a mix of surprise and pain.
"Hiei!" the fox shouted while currently trying to dodge the other arm pursuing him.
"Ha ha ha! Useless! You're no more than a miserable pile of meat!" the demon taunted.
"Another taunt worth dying for. "He's going to pay for that!" Hiei warned as he began to summon up his new newly acquired dragon in his left hand.
"Don't do that!" the fox shouted as he charged towards Hiei, making the arm pursuing him strike the arm holding Hiei, freeing him in the process.
The girl, who had been useless sense the monster arrived, gave a small scream followed immediately followed by the demon give a surprised shout.
Instead of looking over at the demon after landing on the ground, Hiei turned and looked at where the fox stood, rose whip out and ready as the two claw came at him. "Kurama!" Hiei shouted. The claws landed on the ground with a deafening crash.
"Good job! Crush that bastard!" the demon shouted. "Owe!... You fucking brat!... Give that back!"
When the dust cleared around the crater created in the ground, the fox stood easily between the two claws, rose whip inside the creature through an opening in its wrist. The fox now had control of the creature. He jumped up easily and landed on the now docile creature's shoulder. With a smirk, Hiei flitted up to stand on the other shoulder. Both of them looked down at the scene before them.
The girl was sitting on the demon's stomach, pinning him down beneath her. She was holding the remote high in the air. Her right hand was hovering over the demon's throat where her wind serpent rested its jaw around the demon's throat. There were bite marks on his face and shoulders. This team must have left the weak ones out to ambush them.
"Get off me brat! Even if you have that remote, you don't know how to control the doctor's monster. On those on our team know how!" the demon shouted at her. The girl threw the remote across the woods in response. "Damned human!" The demon's eyes flitted up to Hiei and the fox on the monster finally. "How?! Impossible..."
The fox spoke cool and calculatingly. "I only had to discipline him. It really isn't that difficult. I have much to teach him about pain. It doesn't take much to die."
The demon started squirming underneath the girl, laughing vulgarly up at her. She jumped uncomfortably, startled. Maybe she should have sat higher up on top of him. Her wind serpent growled and snapped its head up and bit his jaw, making he swear at the girl some more. "Damn it! Call that damned thing off!" The girl nodded and the wind serpent put its fangs back on the demon's neck.
"Nanashi," the fox called down to her softly. "You can get off of him now. He's no longer a threat." The girl complied, stepping gingerly to her feet and stepping away from the demon. The demon looked between the three of them, unsure of which one of them to be more scared of now. "And what is you decision?" the fox asked the demon. "Obedience or death?"
After a good deal of physical persuasion, the tailed demon sang like a canary, revealing what the mad doctor had done and where they were hiding the taken over fighters' master. The girl seemed to be growing increasingly uncomfortable at the scene to the point where she shoved her way passed Hiei, and knocked the tailed demon out, ending his ability to say anymore and rendering Hiei's action ineffective now. After a cross look from Hiei, the girl tensed up, stumbling away from him quickly. Must be interesting to be interested in someone you find terrifying. She scurried away after the fox who was making his way towards the cave the tailed demon told them about.
Once they reached the cave, they found the taken over fighters' master. The fox set to healing him right away with the girl propping the weakened master uselessly up against her, speaking soothingly to him during the process. Why hold him? It would not help the fox's work.
Once the master was fully healed, they used the monster the fox took control of and made it back to the tournament's arena. Once in the arena, without being told, the girl jumped off the monster, landing in the front row of the the seats directly behind their team. She stayed there, watching the rest of the match, the freeing of the three taken over fighters in the arena, and the detective's attack on the mad doctor.
The next important thing to happen was an announcement that the next match, their next match of the tournament would take place immediately. With the detective, oaf, and fighter tired out, this could prove to be a chance to have a few good fights in this tournament finally. At a glance up, Hiei saw a nurse walking over to them. The sight and sense of her showed she a not a bad mix of strength, power, and beauty.
