Two weeks passed since the start of the tournament. Every team participating fought each other over those two weeks, whether against their own team mates for some teams or fought in the arena against other teams. Slowly the number of teams dwindled down from the 16 that had first arrived on Crescent Island to just only four teams left, including Teams Sparta, Uremeshi, and Tatsukis team called "The Crushers". The fights were becoming bloodier, and many teams did not hesitate to get rid of the competition so they could be declared the winner by the fault.
Over those same weeks, each team member of Amaya's team had some sort of encounter with a member of Team Uremeshi, except in Kamuro's case, Tatsuki the Switchblade.
It started with Jin and Touya.
Crescent Islands main inner coastline was not only a harbor full of piers for ships to anchor in, but it was also a long boardwalk. Its old wooden planks were uneven and some were even missing, sending anyone who couldnt have seen the missing plank went down into their watery graves. Many various shops also lined the boardwalk opposite the piers and were a popular tourist attraction for the curious and often weird things found in those shops.
Activity had died down considerably in the boardwalk, and at least a week after their first fight, Jin got bored and had talked Touya into joining him to explore the boardwalk without their other team mates' notice. Against his better judgment, Touya had agreed and had followed Jin out of their suite without the identity protection of their cloaks.
Jin breathed in deeply the salty air that came from the ocean as he and Touya walked past the shops that didn't quite catch their attentions and through the crowd also at the harbor for that same purpose. Jin was very relaxed and happy that he wasn't wearing that itchy black cloak Amaya had given them to wear. He liked the feel of the wind on his skin. He looked behind his shoulder and noticed that Touya didn't seem to be enjoying their walk as much as he was. Touya's glazed eyes seemed to eye everyone passing with suspicion and he took great care of where he stepped. Jin slowed down to allow his friend to catch up.
"What's the matter Touya?" Jin asked as he took care to keep in the same stride of the Ice Master. "You should be enjoying this beautiful day!"
Touya quickly glanced over his shoulder before turning his attention to Jin. "We really shouldn't be here, well at least not without our cloaks," he said quietly as a group as laughing female demons passed them.
Jin rolled his eyes and then clapped Touya good-naturedly on the shoulder. "C'mon Touya, have some fun! Nothin' bad is gonna happen to us." A joke shop caught Jin's eye. "Ooh! Let's go in there!" Jin cried, stopping in front of the shop and pointing at the windows. Without waiting for an answer from a skeptical Touya, Jin practically flew into the shop.
Touya shrugged and followed inside. Maybe Jin's right, Touya thought as he looked around the small shop. None of the merchandise seemed interesting to him or had any purpose.
Jin was having a blast looking through all the jokes on the shelves. His long, pointy ears wiggled excitedly as he surveyed a plastic eyeball that swiveled around on its own.
"No way! Jin?!" someone yelled at the end of the aisle.
Jin recognized the voice and perked up immediately. That voice belonged to Yusuke Uremeshi. Jin turned towards the end of the aisle and saw that his human friend and the other human in his team called Kuwabara were coming towards him.
Yusuke grinned and grabbed Jin's head, giving him a playful noogie. "What the heck are you doing here of all places?" Yusuke asked, but he was actually happy about running into the friend he had made during the Dark Tournament.
"It's good to see you again," Kuwabara added behind Yusuke.
Jin laughed and slipped out from Yusuke's grip. "I'm-" he started.
"Jin!" Touya called from the other end of the aisle. His eyes widened upon seeing who was with his friend. Shimotta, Touya cursed inwardly. Playing it cool, Touya strode over to the group and cracked a smile at the familiar humans. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Hey Touya," Yusuke answered. "We're here for the tournament. You two?"
"We're here for the tournament too!" Jin blurted out.
Touya glared daggers at him, and was thankful that neither of the humans saw.
"You're in the tournament? How come we've never seen you guys?" Kuwabara asked.
Jin opened his mouth to reply, but Touya stepped inconspicuously on his toe. Jin clamped his mouth shut and whimpered. "He means that we're here to watch the tournament," Touya amended.
Kuwabara bought it and nodded, but Yusuke gave Jin a weird look.
Touya saw the look and quickly said, "Well we got to go now. See you guys later."
Yusuke looked at Jin, whose eyes were tearing up a little since Touya still had his foot over his, a second more before turning to Touya. "Sure," he agreed and nodded. "Maybe we can hang out again."
Touya nodded and took his foot off Jin's before steering his companion clear out of the shop before neither of the human's could say another word.
Kuwabara turned to Yusuke with a puzzled expression on his face. "Is it me, or did Touya seem a little stressed back there?" he asked.
Yusuke nodded. "You're right, but he actually seemed more than that, Kuwabara. Jin didn't act like himself when Touya joined us either," he said slowly. Their wonderings were interrupted by beeping coming from Yusuke's pocket. Yusuke jumped in surprise and took out his communicator. "Yeah?" he said into it.
"Yusuke, Koenma wants you and Kuwabara back in the hotel suite," Kurama's voice emanated from the small device.
Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded. "Hey Kurama, we just bumped into Jin and Touya a minute ago," Yusuke told him.
Kurama's eyes widened in surprise. "Jin and Touya?" he asked.
Yusuke nodded. "But they didn't seem to act themselves, or at least Jin did," he said seriously.
Kurama thought for a moment, and then turned his attention back to Yusuke. "Well, I think we should wait until you two are back in the suite," he told them.
Yusuke nodded and closed the communicator with a snap.
"That was close," Touya hissed in Jin's ear as they stepped out of the elevator and walked to their suite. "They're going to figure out that we're the ones fighting on Team Sparta!" he fumed.
"Aww c'mon Touya! They're not gonna figure it out 'cause yev given them a good excuse already," Jin reassured him.
They had reached their suite. Touya took out their suite key and unlocked their door. Pushing it open, he strode into the room but then froze once he reached the living room.
"What's the matter . . . ?" Jin started to ask but saw who was sitting on their couch.
Amaya's back was turned to them, but she knew that their eyes were wide with fear. She held up one of their cloaks high enough for them to see. "And so why didn't you wear your cloaks?" she asked dangerously. Her eyes flashed from dark brown to red with black flecks.
Jin knew that it was really his fault for not wearing cloaks and tried to tell her. "Well-"
"Wrong answer!" Amaya roared as she shot up from the couch and rounded on them. "Who saw you?!" she demanded.
Touya and Jin recoiled, but didn't answer.
Amaya read their minds and shouted, "Yusuke and Kuwabara!! You bakas! How could you both be so careless?"
"It wasn't Touya's fault!" Jin cut in quickly. He could see the thin sheet of sweat forming on Touya's brow and knew he had to own up. "I was the one who convinced him to come with me exploring without wearing cloaks," he explained guiltily.
Amaya opened her mouth to shout at him, but was interrupted by a loud thud heard from the open door that led to her suite. She looked towards the door and back to Touya and Jin before swiftly walking to her suite with the two other demons in tow. Amaya's eyes widened in surprise when her dark brown eyes laid upon Kamuro lying flat on the floor. He was breathing rather heavily as if he had just come back from a battle. His eyes were closed and his face was contorted into a grimace. Blood seeped into the front of his black cloak from three long gashes, leaving a dark stain that was spreading.
Amaya turned to Touya and Jin. "Touya, get the first aid in the bathroom. Jin, go get a cold wet towel from the kitchen," she ordered.
They nodded and quickly set out to complete their tasks, faces masked with concern.
Amaya hurried over to Kamuro and kneeled down next to him. "Kamuro, how bad are your wounds?" she asked him quietly.
Kamuro groaned and cracked his eyes open slightly. "Hey," he croaked. He tried to move but then hissed in pain, grabbing his stomach in reflex.
Amaya pried his hand away and took a look at his wound. His other wounds were very minor compared to this one. "We need to stop the blood flow immediately or you could die," she said. Standing up, she used her telekinesis to gently move Kamuro onto the couch. At that moment, both Touya and Jin had returned to the living room. Amaya took the wet towel from Jin and placed it on Kamuro's perspiring brow while Touya set the first aid on the coffee table and proceeded to take out alcohol and gauze.
"No need for the alcohol Touya. I'm going to heal him using my aura," Amaya told him. She kneeled back down next to Kamuro and placed her left hand above his gashes. Concentrating, Amaya's body soon began to glow red.
Kamuro watched as Amaya's aura transferred to her outstretched hand and to his wound. He immediately felt his injury repairing itself, stopping the blood flow and mending the broken tissue while the pain gradually ceased until he felt almost good as new.
Amaya stopped glowing and took her hand back, breathing heavily through her nostrils and feeling a little faint. Repairing that injury took much of her aura as well as her spirit energy, leaving her weak as if she had been running for a long period of time. She looked at Kamuro and smiled wearily at him. "Good as new?" she asked him, but she knew that he did feel good as new. Putting a hand on the arm rest, she helped herself onto her feet as Kamuro sat up on the
couch. Amaya tested her legs before removing her hand from the arm rest and crossing them over her chest with a stern look in Kamuro's direction.
"Now, tell us what the hell happened to you," she demanded.
