Chapter 35: Welcome to the House of Smoke and Mirrors!

Date: September 26th, 2002

Mimiko's P.O.V.

The day of the fight against our second team, I had to admit I was nervous. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and I all sat around the table. Yusuke was eating well, like Yusuke normally would, but as I picked up a croissant I realized Kuwabara had barely touched anything. Frowning, I tossed Yusuke the one I was about to eat and poked Kuwabara's shoulder. He had a mini freak-out before he looked at me.

"Mimiko! Don't do that when I'm thinkin' okay?" He said once he had calmed down, he then noticed the frown on my face and went silent so I could ask the question he could see was etched into my mind at the moment.

"What's wrong Kuwabara? Aren't you hungry? You can't fight on an empty stomach." Kuwabara blinked and I felt Yusuke peering over my shoulder.

"If you don't like croissants or something I have no problem eating yours." He pitched in, to which Kuwabara reacted quickly.

"It's not that Urameshi!" he snapped. He took notice of me, still expecting an answer and looked around.

"Have you seen Kurama around anywhere? This is something I think he could help me with."

"He went out this morning, same with Hiei." I responded. Loki and Shea had also gone out this morning, but we were supposed to meet up just before the fights and go together. Kuwabara seemed upset still, and I blinked.

"Kuwabara, you can tell us what's wrong. If Yusuke laughs at you, I'll slap him for you."

"You can't touch me."

"I'll get Keiko to slap you."

"…" Yusuke was silent behind me now and I could focus my full attention on Kuwabara. The carrot-top looked hesitant, but finally decided to speak.

"I had this weird dream last night-"

"Is this something Mimiko would want to hear?"

"Yusuke, can it!" Kuwabara waited for Yusuke's snickering to silence before going on.

"I had a dream, and it was about the next team we're fighting…" I found it peculiar that his dream was about our next opponents, and how he knew that I wasn't sure, but I flashed him an interested look as he continued. Yusuke had stopped eating behind me, so I could tell he had probably stopped to listen.

"They were taking care of someone close to them, he was sick, but some…weird guy came in and gave them all the choice to fight for him, and he'd save the sick guy… so they agreed but, they don't want to be here." Looking back at Yusuke, I could see the doubt in his eyes, but I looked back up at Kuwabara.

"Who was in the dream?"

"Three guys and a girl." Kuwabara responded. "I feel like they sent that dream to me, like it's something they want me to know." I stood, pushing the rest of my breakfast towards Kuwabara. I felt the other two watching me as I headed towards the door.

"Kuwabara, just be careful. Don't dwell on dreams like that, we still need to meet our opponents, maybe find out if they need help then." I heard Kuwabara grunt quickly in a reply, and shut the door.

"It's about time you got here." Shea commented as I walked towards them. Loki was sitting up on the branches of one of the trees, probably in an attempt by the two to avoid fighting, knowing I'd be upset if they did. Well, I could always hope that was it. Upon seeing me, she jumped down and landed in the grass, still avoiding Shea.

"You two didn't get into an argument did you?" I questioned, glancing at the two suspiciously.

"No more than usual." Loki replied. "Stupid Vixen." Shea flicked a warning glare at her, but the other demon turned to avoid it.

"Whatever, sorry I asked! Let's just go." I muttered under my breath. The two didn't hesitate at all, but instead followed after me. In a short amount of time we didn't cover much ground, but the fight still wasn't going to fight for a little while.

"Aw come on now Spritey, you never want to try anythin' I want to give you do you?" The voice was familiar, and Shea covered her nose as the smell that must have run past her nose.

"It's the lush." She reported. We still went to investigate, finding Sprite, Chu, and Rinku, the three of four remaining members from the last team we faced. They were out of the tournament, so I was surprised they were still on the island. Sprite had turned away from the liquid, her green eyes watery, probably from the smell of whatever liquor Chu was offering her.

"It's fine Chu, I really don't want it."

"She's just saying that because she's light." Rinku put in, making Sprite turn to cast what was possibly the most least threatening glare I had ever seen at the kid-demon.

"I am not! But Ogre Killer is something my stomach tells me to stay away from…"

"Along with all the other brands Chu's offered you…"

"Be quiet Rinku…" I stepped through the bushes and the rustling caught their attention. Sprite, upon seeing that it was us, went right over to Shea.

"Princess! I'm glad to see that you've been getting better after your fight with Edel!" Shea looked away shyly.

"Thanks, but Sprite, don't worry about calling me Princess here. I'm a normal demon now…actually, always was." Sprite smiled and gave her a nod.

"Right…it will feel weird, but from now on I'll just call you Shea." Shea seemed pleased with that aspect and nodded to let her know it was good. I took notice of Rinku and Chu looking over at Loki and I and nudged the orange-haired demon forwards, following after her.

"Hey, we didn't really meet too formally during the battles…I'm Mimiko, and this is Loki." Chu seemed very pleased to meet us, and his overly firm handshake (and by that I mean it really hurt) told me that. Loki seemed more hesitant and Chu glanced curiously at her.

"Oh yeah, who's she? I didn' see her in any of the fights." Loki took this chance to speak for herself.

"I serve my master Hiei." Rinku looked at her curiously.

"Does that mean you're his-"

"No." When I noticed Shea stop talking to Sprite to smirk at Loki, I glared at her. She gave me a passing glance, snickered, and began speaking to Sprite once again. Rolling my eyes, I gasped after suddenly being grabbed by Chu.

"Ey, you wouldn' happen to like Ogre killer would you?" Blinking, I didn't exactly know how to respond to that. Sprite was quick to jump him.

"Chu stop it, I know you want to drink it yourself, so just drink it!" Chu stared at her before letting out a hearty laugh.

"If that's what you want Spritey!" Rinku startled me a bit, as I hadn't heard or seen him come to my side.

"See? We aren't always so threatening, only if you're up against us. But we really liked how your team fought. Some better than others…" by that, I knew he was referring to Kuwabara, who had lost against him.

"Yusuke's a fine bloke as well he is!" Chu pitched in, downing something that wasn't the Ogre killer he had been offering earlier. I remembered Kurama explaining getting drunk was where Chu got his power from, and I supposed he didn't want to use up his strongest drink just yet.

"Mimiko, have..those wounds healed?" she sounded hesitant to ask me as she walked over, taking one of my wrists with a gentle touch and turning it, making sure the ash wounds were almost gone. She seemed guilty for having fought me, but I gave her a nod.

"Healing nicely. Shea and I have plenty of energy now that we've rested for a few days." I assured the thunder demon, and I found a hint of relief on her face as she let my wrist go.

"We should get going." Loki mentioned, motioning towards the path. After the band of three assured us we'd see them again, we left them behind, continuing on our way to the stadium. There was a barking coming from the skies, and we looked above us to find Yuki hovering just behind, landing next to Shea.

"Hey look, Yuki's feeling better!" I commented. Shea nodded and ran her hand gently down his spine. We didn't continue too much farther before Loki and Shea stopped suddenly, along with Yuki. The fire on his ankles ignited, and I could see that his hackles were raised and his fur was bristling.

"Guys, what's going on?" I asked, feeling very out of the loop. Shea and Loki backed up, and a low growl stuck in Shea's throat.

"We've got company." Loki answered. "And it isn't as friendly as the last company we had." Suddenly, a voice crashed through the air, causing me to nervously glance at each of my friends.

"Welcome…we've been waiting for you girls all morning!" this was followed by a laugh as the smells and the sights of the woodland area we had been walking in vanished suddenly, replaced by a cold stone floor and dull gray walls, and I took note of the fact that there was no windows to be found.

"Behold the house of smoke and mirrors. We, your captors, we belong to Team Itchigaki, the team you're fighting today." After a fir of laughter, the voice added. "Too bad we were sent to distract you!" After I sensed a chilling aura, I looked up and couldn't stifle my gasp.

"Up there!" I called. Loki and Shea looked up to where I was pointing. Standing on a steel beam was a girl who looked about my age, but with much more peculiar features. Her hair was a snow white color, though her bangs concealed her eyes completely. Her tanned skin stuck out against the dull stone, and I didn't have time to shout at her as she moved away. Obviously, she was one of our opponents, but, she certainly wasn't the mad woman that was talking to us. She was fast though, I had to admit, because she was out of our sights within moments as bigger doors opened up in front of us.

"Now, enter, and marvel at the… 'games' we have in store for you!" and already, I didn't like where this was going.