36. Preliminary Stage 2

Yusuke stood and greeted his companions as they filtered into the VIP booth. Conversations filled the air as some other competitors came into the room and Aria hid behind Yukina and Mirajah. Mirajah was bouncing on the balls of her feet, itching to escape to find her caravan member and the moment everyone was in the room, the illusionist dashed out. Aria was left alone with Yukina as the group of unknowns wandered in and began to talk with boisterous laughter. It was not until she saw the fire demon that she came out from behind her friend and rushed over. Yukina walked with her, her brows knitted in worry as she examined her twin's wound.

"Brother, are you alright?"

Hiei shrugged. "It's nothing serious."

Yukina frowned and reached out to him. Her soft, pale hands glowed with a dim, light baby blue hue. Hiei cringed at the ice cold sensation, but sighed as the wound was healed.

"You didn't have to." He said to his sister.

Yukina only smiled. "Of course I didn't. I wanted to."

Aria smiled and hugged Yukina in thanks. A soft giggle escaped the ice apparition as she hugged the sound princess back. Aria pulled away and smiled up at Hiei, but the fire demon glanced away with a slight flush of red on his cheeks. Yukina's smile only grew as she watched her brother and she excused herself. Alone with the onna, Hiei glanced around the room. The Detective and the others were still occupied with Jin and his crew, which was a relief to the hanyou. He looked back at the onna with his red and teal eyes and a soft smile graced his lips as he reached out and pulled her over.

Thank you.

The whispered voice in her head made Aria smile and she followed Hiei's lead. She had also glanced around the room before she reached out to him. Their bodies pressed against one another, a feeling that Hiei found that he enjoyed a bit too much, but the arousal was short lived as he felt the onna's worry. She was uneasy, a state that he had expected from her, and he could tell by the way she held the fabric of his shirt that she was anxious. Hiei chuckled as he patted the girl's head.

You'll be fine.

Aria shivered. Although she was accustomed to his voice, the way he said that made her shudder with excitement. She was nervous, but to feel him so close eased her worry. She sighed into his shirt, thankful that he was alright, and she pulled away before anyone else could see them. Soon, the others ventured farther into the room and Aria smiled as Yusuke bounded over to her with a grin, and a few of the competitors that had won their blocks. He pulled her from beside Hiei and turned her towards the group of friends with a huge grin on his face.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my new daughter, Aria."

A small blush added fresh color to Aria's cheeks as she gave a small wave to the group. The first demon she had laid eyes on was the horned demon with the red hair. It was poofy, almost like an afro, yet his eyes were the brightest blue she had ever seen. He was only slightly tanned, a little lighter than Yusuke or Hiei for sure, and he wore a pair of loose, white pants with a blue belt. The center of the belt was crimson and he wore a loose, light grey tee. He had his hands up and behind his head as he hovered in the air with a fanged grin, his small white horn poking out from the middle of his forehead as his elvish ears twitched.

"A daughter?!" the red head responded with a wide grin, "Why I never knew ya' had a wee lit'l one Urameshi! My ears are a-tinglin' and you know what that means! Woo-ee! What's ya' name, lit'l Urameshi?"

Aria jumped back a bit as the red head spoke. His ears were twitching wildly as he spoke in his strange accent and as he popped forward, Aria opened her mouth in fright and she jerked herself from Yusuke's grasp to dive behind Hiei. The fire and ice hanyou had returned to conversing with his sister when the clan princess ducked around to hide behind him. The red head blinked, tilting his head to the side confused as Hiei glanced over to him with a glare. He reached a hand out to Aria, softly petting her head as she peeked out at the air demon.

"Aw, did I do somethin' t' make ya' scared? Never knew I was scarier than Chu!" he said to the princess as he floated over. Hiei turned towards him and gave the accented demon a heated glare. "And Hiei! It's been a while, 'eh?"

"Fool, don't just jump into someone's face." The hanyou reprimanded.

"Ah, I didn't mean t' scare ya'." The red haired demon said again. "I jus' get all happy and my ears jus' start ta' wiggle! I'm Jin!"

Aria nodded at him to acknowledge that she understood, but Yusuke rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, 'Ria. I forgot to tell you how excited they can get. You okay?"

She smiled at the Tourin King and nodded.

"Ay, the sheila seems scared of ya', Jin! That's a first!" one of the other members snorted. Aria glanced at him and took in his appearance. His accent was different from the red head's and the tall, darkly tanned, giant was grinning. His blue mohawk tall, the giant walked over and held out a large hand to the small sound demon. She shrunk back from the demon and Hiei stepped between him and Aria. He curled his lips back in a sneer and the large drunken fighter pulled his hand back.

"I ain't tryin' to hurt her," he said with a confused frown.

"Hn." Hiei grunted with a glare. "Detective, she might have come a long way from before, but she doesn't know them. Perhaps you should actually warn them about jumping on her?"

Yusuke grimaced at the sharp tone of Hiei's voice. "Yeah, uh—"

"Ah, come out with it then," the giant said, "the small sheila can tell us if we're being out of line. Don't talk for 'er."

Aria scowled, but she held onto Hiei's shirt. Yukina rushed over and glanced between the group. "Brother?"

"You're an idiot. If you think—"

"Actually, guys," Yusuke cut Hiei off, "that's my bad. I should have said something before bringing her over."

"You think?" Hiei snapped.

Yusuke sighed, "Alright, bro, I get it. I'm sorry. I just got excited."

Hiei grunted with a retort on his tongue, but the small grip on his arm made him pause. Aria looked up at him a bit worried, but she smiled. Her lips formed the same words he despised her saying to him, but he nodded and recomposed himself.

"You sure?" he muttered to the clan princess.

She nodded her head and stepped around to stand beside him. Her hands shook, still gripping his shirt, but Hiei dipped his head and dropped the snarl. He watched her curiously as she took a deep breath and turned back to Yusuke and his friends. She pulled out her notebook and started to hastily scribble. With a small, shy smile, she flipped the notebook and flashed the scrawled writing up at the giant. He stood a full two feet taller than Yusuke, but she held the small book up to him. The giant reached out and plucked the book from her small hands and brought it up to his face. Jin, still floating in the air, hovered over to read over his companion's shoulder. The other two demons waited and watched curiously as their tall brutish friend read the journal. Then, the behemoth threw his head back and laughed.

"Why didn't you just say so, drongo?" he said, directing his insult toward the fire hanyou. Hiei replied with scoff, but the giant glanced down at his confused comrades. "The sheila can't speak."

Jin did a back flip in the air, "That's importanter information than the harshest winds I ever flew in, Urameshi! Why didn't'cha' say so?"

"I'm still learning," Yusuke admitted, "I mean it was official today. Cut me some slack."

Aria's silent giggle relaxed Hiei and he watched her.

"So, ya' use this to talk, eh? Well, since I know your name, I guess it's only fair to give ya' mine. I'm Chu, known as the drunken fighter! Nice to meet ya'!"

Chu held out his empty hand and Aria glanced down at her own hands. She bit her lower lip in determination and reached her right hand out tentatively. Chu took her hand in his and shook with vigor, shaking the silent sound demon from hand to toe.

"Ain't ever thought that this ol' Bloke would wind up wit' a rug rat." Chu said, a wide grin on his face.

"Yeah!" The youngest replied, grinning up at her. His bright face was dimmed by the brightness of his yellow sleeved pink shirt. Aria cringed at the color, but her smile stayed as she reached a shy hand out. The young demon took it and shook it with a short, gentle tug. "I'm Rinku. Don't let this big guy fool you, he's a big softie for girls."

"'Ey now, Rinku, don't go tellin' her that!" Chu protested.

Rinku laughed, "I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true!"

The youngling released her hand and began to bicker with his taller friend, who still held her journal. She frowned as she realized that her book was still with him when the last demon stepped up to her. He was about Hiei's height and sported a blue outfit that reminded her, vaguely, of the one that bastard Daisuke wore. She gulped as she tried to reign in that particular thought. The shinobi wore a long-sleeved fishnet undershirt and over it, a dark blue shirt with lighter blue pants. He had slicked-back blue hair, with four green strands jutting downwards on the left side of his face, and his eyes were the same steel blue hue of his hair. Rather than hold out a hand like the others, this demon bowed his head to her.

"I apologize if my friends scared you. I know Chu can be terrifying when you first meet him."

Aria wanted to say that it was okay, but without her notebook, she could only look between Yusuke and Hiei. Hiei took the hint and grunted, but Yusuke was the one to speak up.

"It was my fault, Touya. You don't have to bow for the guys. I should have said something."

Aria took in the demon's name and smiled. She opened her mouth, wishing she could speak as she mouthed the words to him. Hiei watched her and released a sigh as he glanced to the ice demon.

"She said 'Nice to meet you.'" The hanyou grunted.

Touya lifted his head and gave her a smile. "It's a pleasure. I'm sorry to hear about your inability to speak. Is it temporary?"

Aria shook her head sadly.

Yusuke rubbed the back of his head, "No. Uh… it's a long story, but—"

The former Spirit Detective's voice trailed off as Hiei stepped closer to Aria and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders. She melted into his side, her hair obscuring her face from view as she averted her gaze from Touya and Yusuke. Her handicap was becoming increasingly harder for her to deal with, especially when she was supposed to be a demon who should be able to control her energy using her own voice. She was a sound demon, after all. The topic was sensitive for her, Hiei knew, but the way Aria tried to hide it made him step forward and pull her to him. He hated the reminder that she had suffered at Takeshi's hands when he had let his guard down, but when she would cry, her silence disturbed Hiei the most. She would forever suffer the pain she felt in silence. She could never laugh out loud or hold a conversation. She would always have to rely on paper and ink in order to talk to anyone and he knew that it made her self-conscious every time she had to write to someone. She barely wrote to him. He had taken to using telepathy to communicate with her because he was sick of seeing the onna become so fragile when she wrote due to her anxiety. She was like glass with every word she scripted in that notebook.

Yusuke watched Aria lean into Hiei and suddenly, he did not see a grown woman, but rather a small child looking for someone to hold her afloat. He watched her face contort from a smile into a painful frown that made his chest ache with concern. He would have reached out to her, but Hiei brought his hand up to the back of her head and he half embraced her. Here, in their little corner, Yusuke could finally see the proof of what he had suspected since earlier and he felt the sickening twist of his gut as he watched a painful grimace pass over Hiei's face. Yusuke wanted to smack himself in the face for not telling his friends. He had become so caught up in the excitement of being able to call Aria his daughter, — caught up in his excitement to be a dad and have somewhat of his own family again— that he had not realized how this would have affected her. Of course she would get along with Hokushin and the demons at the Tourin castle, she had Hiei to anchor her if she were frightened, but here in Gandara, she probably felt less safe and very isolated.

Yusuke reached a hand out and gently touched Aria's shoulder, his explanation forgotten. "I'm sorry. I should have thought about it before I brought them over. Are you okay?"

Aria did not look up at him, but she nodded. Her face was still buried in Hiei's chest and the hanyou bowed his head in reply. "She'll be fine, Detective."

"I apologize," Touya said, "I did not mean to pry or to make you upset."

"She's fine." Hiei repeated, softly.

Yusuke turned toward his friend with a small, sad smile. "It's complicated."

"Lord Yusuke, still parading her around?" Serenade giggled. She ambled toward their group, eyeing the bickering demons with a laugh. "Your companions are very vocal."

Touya eyed the newcomer and then glanced at Aria. With a slight frown, the ice demon turned back towards Yusuke. "Is she the mother?"

Yusuke nearly spluttered out at the initial insinuation, his mind going straight to the gutter, but he kept himself in check as he reconsidered Touya's question. "Well, uh, Touya… This is Serenade. She is the tribe leader of the Sound demons. Erm… but yeah, she's 'Ria's mother."

He paused for a second before whistling. Chu, Rinku, and Jin quelled their arguments and returned their attention to Yusuke.

"Alright guys, here's the deal." Yusuke said, "I'm going to need your help. Yomi, Mukuro and I have been searching for and taking in sound demons from across the Makai. They've been scattered for decades because of a war. This," he gestured toward Serenade, "is their leader, Serenade. Apparently, there is an execution happening and they're the targets. We're trying to find the culprit, and he may have entered the tournament."

Jin crossed his legs in the air and put his hands on his knees. "What makes ya' think that?"

Serenade turned to look up at the Tourin king with wide eyes. "You might have found them? Here?"

Yusuke glanced to Aria and Hiei from the corner of his eye, "Yeah, maybe. We're not sure yet, but there was an Earth demon eyeing 'Ria. I've already let Koto know to watch him, but she's also going to intervene if things get out of hand in any of 'Ria's fights."

Serenade wrung her fingers with worry. "Aria, are you sure you want to compete?"

Aria turned towards her mother and nodded. Serenade blinked at the closeness of the hanyou and her daughter, but what really struck her was the fierce determination in Aria's eyes. Despite the melancholic stance she held, Aria seemed ready to fight anyone that came her way and Serenade felt her unease strengthen.

"If you're sure. Remember, you can drop out at any time."

"She's right," Yusuke added. "If you don't feel comfortable, let me or Koto know. We'll get you out of the fight fast."

"That's all well and dandy, but why's a bloke out to kill a whole race of demons? Surely, he knew it wouldn't go unnoticed." Chu asked.

"Not sure," Yusuke said, "But he's got our attention now."

A series of raps came to the door. Yusuke excused himself to answer and he grinned when Hokushin stepped into the room, pushing a cart with Seitei and Touou behind him. The sweet aroma of food wafted to them all and Hokushin chuckled.

"Lunch time, Lords and Ladies. We have a few hours before the next round starts."

Yusuke clapped Hokushin on the shoulder, his eyes sparkling with stars, "This is awesome! Let's dig in!"

Aria gulped as she stepped into the arena.

Although she had shared a wonderful lunch with everyone, the last few hours had rushed by in a blur. Now, she walked into the arena designated for her and glanced around the ring. Immediately, she could feel the stares on her. She felt the eyes of every demon on her and she felt the tidal wave of fear slam into her. Aria took a deep breath as she stepped forward, one foot in front of the other, until she was off to the side of the ring. Whispered words filtered between the hundreds of demons and she shuddered. Hiei had said she could fight, and Aria believed his judgement, but as she examined the crowd of demons in her block, Aria felt anything but capable.

"Welcome back, everyone! The second round of preliminaries will begin in just a moment!"

Aria cringed at the booming voice of Koto. Despite being her watcher, Koto was still an announcer and Aria despised the way the fox demon could amplify her already piercing voice. Her nerves were going mad, each glance in her direction made Aria's heart accelerate in anxiousness. All she had to do was be the last one in the block to move forward. She just had to survive long enough to be the last one standing. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and swallowed the bubbling unease, as she scanned the demons in her block. Some of them had weapons that could tear through her in seconds. Hiei had trained her in disarming an opponent, but having more than one opponent was not something she had trained for, let alone four hundred.

"Alright folks! It looks like we're ready!" Koto announced. Aria glanced up to find the fox demon hovering above her block on some device. Koto caught her eye and the fox demon winked. "The second round of preliminary fights is about to start. Are you all ready for some bloodshed?!"

Aria could hear the faint sound of cheering. Her ring was some little ways outside of the main ring and she bit her lower lip as she watched the other demons as they started to get themselves ready. Aria leaned against the wall, her nails digging into her arms as she prepared herself. Her heart hammered against her sternum as she watched a group of the demons all turn towards her. Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening.

"Good! Then let's get this show on the road!" Koto's voice was faint to Aria as she tried to find an outlet. The demons were going to jump on her in a group! "Begin!"

Aria watched the demons lunge at her.

She quelled her panic and leapt up, dodging a few attacks. Aria turned her focus onto her speed and flitted away to let the others collide into one another. She could see their attacks coming, some of them translating with their body that they were going to attack her from certain angles, and she dodged them easily. She side stepped an attack and threw out a kick, catching the demon in the side and sending him tumbling to the ground. A few of the demons growled and dove at her, each one shouting about taking down a Urameshi and it clicked.

They were attacking her because she was now Yusuke's daughter.

A sense of anger swept through her. That's why Mukuro had to deal with so many demons at once, and Hiei, too. It was because demons like these wanted to take down the most powerful demons in the Makai and since she carried Yusuke's name, they thought she was one of them. Aria would have growled if she could, but she turned and laid a punch into an oncoming demon's face. She twirled around and kicked another away and soon, all she could think about was making it through the match. None of these demons deserved to make it into the Tournament with such lowly means of deception.

You have no right to decide for yourself.

The voice taunted her and Aria lost her footing. She took a hit straight to the face, the punch connecting with her left cheek and she suddenly flew back. Her shoulder dug into the ground as she slid, her eyes wide.

Did you already forget about me?

Her back hit the wall of the ring. She stayed down for a moment, fear encasing her heart as she looked around the ring. Koenma had promised her that he could not reach her anymore, but that did not mean that her memory could let him go. Not even Hiei knew that she still heard him every day. That his presence lingered inside of her, almost a part of her that she could not get rid of. She feared that he would call her weak, or that he would say that she was regressing instead of progressing in her endeavors. She gripped at her head, covering her ears. She could not handle Takeshi's voice on a normal day, let alone in the middle of a fight.

"She ain't that strong!" the demon who struck her down taunted. "We can get her! I bet she's just a spoiled brat!"

Aria struggled to her feet. Her chest heaved with her panicked breathing, but still she stood. She readied herself for another bout, but the voice lingered. She needed it to go away. She needed to focus.

"What the hell?"

The words slipped out of Hiei before he could stop them. The extra screen in the VIP booth was focused on Aria's block and as Hiei watched the sudden change in the onna's demeanor, he could hardly believe it. She had been struck down so easily by an attack she saw coming and voluntarily stayed down, despite being perfectly conscious and aware.

"Aria!" Serenade called out as she watched the princess fly back, "Oh no!"

Yukina reached out for the tribal leader and hugged her. "She'll be okay." The ice hanyou said, glancing over to her brother.

Hiei stood up from his seat and watched. The onna seemed frightened and he wanted to disperse whatever road block her mind had conjured up this time, but he was not able to reach out to her. Any form of telecommunication could get both of them disqualified, and it would ruin her chances of making it into the tournament. A sense of helplessness rose up in him and he watched her narrowly dodge another attack. Instead of fighting back, though, he watched the onna flit away to avoid another hit.

"Ouch! Aria seemed to take a solid right hook to the face, but now she's running around on the defensive!"

Multiple demons were attacking her. Hiei knew that she could easily speed past them, but the onna's eyes were wide, as if she were seeing something completely different. His hands clenched as he thought of the only outcome and he cursed.

"Brother?" Yukina's soft voice whispered behind him.

Hiei could not tell them that she was suffering through a memory, could he? It would not help Serenade, who kept looking back to him as she watched Aria's erratic patterns. It wouldn't help him, either. The onna had been doing so well, her memories had been fading in their effect on her day-to-day function, so what was causing this?

"She let them hit her?" Mukuro suggested. She could sense the tension in her heir and stepped up beside him with Yomi.

"Why would she do that?" Yomi inquired.

She didn't. Hiei thought to himself.

"And back here in block eight, the new Tourin heir is still running around on the defensive, but she seems to be too quick for the others in her block! They've only hit her once!"

Hiei watched the screen with trepidation. The onna was letting herself lose? To what? A memory? If only he could reach out to her. He could clear her mind from the memory, but Koto would get the notice. The arenas were set up to detect such forms of cheating and manipulation. He watched her turn and kick, and she caught a demon in the stomach, but she was not on guard. Another demon came up and lobbed a ball of fire at her and the clan princess went sliding across the ground again. He dug his nails into his palms as he clenched his fists tighter. He could do nothing but watch and he despised it.

"Calm down, both of you." Mukuro snapped. She pointedly looked from Serenade to Hiei. "She has fought me before with little attention. She took a hard beating and still got back up. She will be fine."

Hiei glanced at Mukuro, unsure of the look on his face, but he nodded. He had to trust in the onna. He had to trust that she could do it on her own. This is what she wanted to confront and he had to let her do it.

No matter how much he hated it.

Aria flung herself to the side as she dodged another punch of fire. The pain was bearable, she had suffered much worse while a slave, but the pain in her chest was the worse she had felt in a long time. Her clothes were torn and singed, the ends of her long hair blackened from near misses, but she still got up. She had knocked down a dozen so far, but there were more still coming at her. She flipped and slid out of the way, defending herself when she could, but as she hit the ground again, the taunting jeer whispered at her ear.

You deserve it. He teased her with that hauntingly familiar, malicious tone. You deserve… Every. Single. Hit.

She forced herself to her feet. She wanted to argue that he was dead, she wanted to yell that he had no control over her, but she could not form the words. Takeshi still had control over her, even in death. His face, his voice, his body, all of it weighed on her every day. She was still spooked when left alone too long. She could usually see his magenta eyes in the darkness, but Hiei could tell that she hated to be alone and would make sure that she was with him. Tears formed in her eyes as she dodged another attack. She was better than this. Everyone kept saying that she was doing so much better. That she was progressing. Then, why was Takeshi still there?!

Bam!

Her mouth opened in a silent cough as she took the punch to the stomach, and she flew back. Her vision blurred. She did not want this. She did not want to lose because she could not focus. Hiei taught her better. Hiei deserved better than a student who couldn't even focus when it mattered the most. She had to do it, for Hiei, but also to prove Takeshi wrong.

You disobeyed me!

Bam! She was kicked.

You defied me!

Whack! She had forced herself to her feet only to receive an uppercut.

You abandoned me!

Thunk!

Aria's back hit the ring wall again. She let herself slide down it and heaved heavily. Her chest hurt and it was so hard for her to breathe that she clutched at her throat. She could not fight him. Takeshi was right. She had defied him, disobeyed him. That's why he punished her the way he did. That's why he did those awful things to her.

That's why Keiko died.

Anger pumped through her veins, and she forced herself onto her feet again. She was still standing, still breathing, so she would force herself to fight. She was not about to let Hiei down. He had vouched for her to participate. He believed that she would be able to do it. Even as the tears cascaded down her cheeks, Aria knew that she had to push herself. Takeshi would only leave her alone if she won and returned to Hiei. He always left her alone when Hiei was there. Hot, painful tears fell down her cheeks as she looked up and gritted her teeth. She pushed herself forward and lunged.

"Oh my! Despite such abuse in her block, Aria Urameshi has gotten to her feet once more! And—oh…Oh dear."

Hiei watched the screen as Koto zoomed in and his blood turned to ice in his veins. The onna was crying.

"Stop this! Someone needs to stop this! She's in pain!" Serenade whispered, wringing her hands together.

The doors to the VIP booth opened and Mirajah stepped in with Kage at her side. Yukina stood and rushed to her friend, but instead of greeting them, she buried her face into Mirajah's arm.

"I don't know if I can watch this." She whispered.

"Watch what, Yukina?" a voice asked before Mirajah could.

Kurama wandered into the room. Although he had just fought, his injuries were minimal since his plants incapacitated more than half of the demons in his block before he even had to fight. He watched the ice maiden as she turned and pointed to where Hiei stood. A slight nod and Kurama ventured to stand beside his comrade and his eyes fell on the screen before him.

"I don't know if those are tears of pain or anger, but Aria is fighting back again!" Koto announced.

"Lady Aria is crying?" he asked, eyes finding his friend.

"Hn."

Mukuro shrugged at the absentminded grunt from her heir and she moved to stand beside the vulpine. "Ignore him. He doesn't want to hear of anything outside of the fight." She whispered.

"How has she been doing?" Kurama replied, voice low.

"Poorly," Mukuro admitted, "but that's my standard. She fought me like this; half distracted."

Serenade looked away from the screen. "I can't watch this."

Cantata hugged her dearest friend and Legato kept watching the screen. It was underhanded for them to all jump at her, but she was still fighting; an admirable trait. Yukina returned with Mira and their friend to watch and as the other blocks ended, some of their friends began to come back after their fights. Jin wandered in with Yusuke and Shura, who was finally willing to come upstairs instead of watching from the lower rungs of the audience. Chu scratched the back of his head with a cringe as Aria took another few blows and Touya sat silently.

"What's up?" Yusuke asked as he stepped up to Yomi. He was dirtied from his own fight, his left arm bandaged up. Before the old goat could reply, another update echoed in the VIP booth.

"Wow! I haven't seen such resilience since the Dark Tournament four years ago!" Koto gushed, "No matter how many times she gets knocked down, Aria keeps getting back up! It's almost as if she doesn't feel any of the pain!"

Her arm was bleeding.

The small fact brought her some comfort. She could still feel some pain, thankfully, but the laughter she heard loud in her ear was almost unbearable. Aria Urameshi jumped to the side before kicking out at her attacker, the force of the blow sent the demon flying back into the rest. Her breathing was heavy and ragged. Her chest hurt like hell and all she could see were colors. Tears blinded her, but she forced herself to sense rather than see. She jumped up to avoid a hit and brought her arms up to block another as she spun around and kicked a third demon away. She gritted her teeth through the pain of her injured arm, through the searing fire in her throat, as she flitted away again. Half of the demons that were struck down were still down, and who knew how many more demons were left. She had lost sight of Koto, and of the other demons, until a hard blow landed on the back of her head. Aria's lips parted as she flew forward, a silent gasp escaping her. With hardly any time to turn away from the impact, Aria jerked herself to the side and hit the ground back first. The crater beneath her was not huge, but the force that created it dazed her.

You love it, don't you?

Gritting her teeth in anger, Aria flipped from her position and got to her feet once more. She rubbed at her eyes, dispelling the many tears she felt, and leapt forward again. Takeshi had taught her to be obedient. He had forced her to be silent. He had damaged her until she was the perfect little toy he wanted her to be, and even in death, she was falling into his schemes. She was still silent. Part of her was still obedient.

You loved it when I hit you, didn't you?

She hopped away from another bombardment. To the voice she heard, she shook her head. She wanted to hate it, to hate him, but all she could feel was sadness. She regretted letting Hiei take her. She hated herself for being weak and useless. For being a disobedient plaything when her purpose was to service him; when she still had a purpose. When she was still unable to think for herself. When she was not allowed to feel. Now, for the first time in a while, she wished that she could not feel. She desperately, silently, prayed that she could stop the tumultuous gate of emotions from opening, but the truth was sitting before her and wanted to wash her away with it. Even if she were blind, she would be able to see the truth that viciously bit at her. The pain these demons were inflicting on her felt just like the beatings she took from Takeshi when she had misbehaved. They were the same injuries that she would acquire when a client told Takeshi that she had not fulfilled her purpose. When she was bound and gagged, helpless to the groups of men that paid for her body; every single punch, kick, or taunt reminded her of Takeshi and a part of her felt broken.

She ducked from another attack and sent the demon flying with an uppercut. The hot sensation of her tears falling down her cheeks only made her push herself harder. As she was thrown back, Aria grabbed at another demon and used the momentum of the impact to swing herself around and knock down the circle of demons around her. Her chest thrummed like a hummingbird and as she defeated another demon, she fell to her knees. Her legs were tiring. Her heart was aching and her chest was still tight, but as she looked around the ring, she realized that she was still alive. She was still awake. Still conscious. Still aware! She had survived the onslaught of demons and as Koto's voice boomed above her, Aria got to her feet.

"After a long, intense battle, it looks like the winner in block eight is Aria Urameshi!"

Disbelief flooded through her. As she glanced around the ring, she found herself unable to believe that she had actually defeated the demons in her block. The doors opened and medics flooded in. A few came to her, but Aria pushed herself back and away, shaking her head vigorously. She was afraid of being touched.

Mine… the voice slithered in her ear like a hissing snake, the only one who can touch you is me.

She felt herself begin to panic. Without a fight to focus on, without Hiei beside her to help her, Aria found herself terrified and darted around the medics. She had to get out before Takeshi ruined what she had struggled so hard to achieve. Her victory would be spoiled if she let him talk to her once more. She had to get out of there and quiet the wicked voice in her head, otherwise she would be reduced to the same child-like toy that she had been so many months ago. She needed to escape his voice.

She needed Hiei.

"Awright!"

Yusuke cheered with the rest of their companions as Koto announced the winner of block eight. As the screen focused in on Aria, and her wide, disbelieving eyes, Hiei could only think of what the onna was thinking about. As the medics ran in, though, he noticed that her disbelief was short lived and she jumped away from the crew and darted from the ring. Yusuke, Serenade, and the others were happily cheering, but Hiei turned and darted from the room as fast as his legs would carry him. He needed to find her. With two demons threatening her very existence, Hiei refused to let her get injured just because he was not down there. He passed through many demons, the crowds in the lower floors thick with conversation, but he could sniff her out without the use of his Jagan. With a bloodied arm from the fight, it was not difficult for him to catch wind of her scent and he turned to dart down a few more corridors. If he had not watched where he was going, he would have missed her hiding spot.

The small, darkened area was abandoned. A small alcove of metal and darkness, but in the shadows, he could see her quivering form. The onna was crouched in the small outlet with her knees against her forehead. Her left arm was still bloodied, but it would not take much to heal, to Hiei's relief. He watched her for a moment, he could see her shoulders shaking with her silent sobs, and got down onto his knees to crawl into the small space. He reached out to her, his fingers brushing against her shin, and the onna jumped. Wide, fearful, silver eyes darted up to focus on him through the onslaught of tears, and Hiei watched as the princess' gaze averted itself from him. Her eyes were becoming puffy, he noticed, from her tears, and he scowled at the reaction. She was attempting to hide from him. Determination mixed with something else and Hiei pushed himself into the remaining space beside the onna, wedging himself in there, and pulled the onna to him. He was turned towards her, so her face was pressed against his arm, but Hiei still held her tightly. Her face was heated from the fight and her tears, but as she finally relented and pressed her tear stained face against his bicep, Hiei found his own chest on fire. Her tears made him move before he could think about it, but as he realized what he had done, Hiei decided that he would not let her go. She needed someone, he knew better than anyone that when she trembled like this, that she needed someone there.

"You did great." He whispered.

He did not know what else to say, but the words tumbled from his lips without much resistance. He frowned as she shook her head and pulled her from his chest. Hiei brought a hand to her chin and sternly focused her gaze back to him.

"You won," he continued as he searched tearful eyes. "Does it hurt?"

Aria wanted to shake her head. She did not want Hiei to learn of Takeshi's existence, but although her arm did not hurt, she found herself nodding. She pointed to her chest, the cursed thrumming of her heart only making the pain worse, and it felt like someone had seized ahold of her vital organ and started to squeeze it as hard as they could. Hiei's eyes widened as she nodded to him and pointed at her chest instead of her arm, but he understood. The pain she felt the most was inside. She was hurting. The dull throb of her injured arm did not compare to the suffering she did in that ring and for a moment, Hiei believed that he had been wrong. Perhaps she was not ready to fight.

But, she won.

Her strength was unquestionable now, he knew, and just pulling her from the tournament would mean that he would have to concede to their companions that he did not believe she was ready, which was inaccurate as well. He knew that she could fight, but could she continue if another episode occurred like it had just then? His arms tightened around her as he pulled her back to him. He swore that he would protect her and he would.

"And with the last fight completed, we can now see who will be up tomorrow to fight!" Koto's faint voice reached them, "We're taking a short break to get everyone some medical attention and to set up the first few brackets for tomorrow! Don't go anywhere!"

SilverLinedApathy; Mmmmaaayyybeeee? Haha. I hope you found this chapter to your liking!

Totidem Verbis; I would not say that the tournament makes you a bad person at all! Some of my favorite scenes from the show are from tournaments (I mean we had two full arcs of it, c'mon!) Aria strikes me as an adorable little thing and I love her with all of my heart, but its strange because I never planned on this being her and Hiei's relationship. Nor her and Yusuke becoming family through his adoption of her. None of it was planned and thus lead me to astonishment every time the chapter progressed off course. I have a very, very vague idea on whats to come, but it seems that they are creating their own story now. *Sniffles* MY BABIES ARE GROWING UP! *Ahem* Back to the comment- I did not want to kill you with feels! Aria did it!