I do not own Harry Potter, Fairy Tail or Yu Yu Hakushou
"This is not a normal house." Yusuke said, staring at a line of video games.
The room was full of them, like an arcade, only it was probably the biggest arcade Harry had ever seen.
"Maybe she just likes video games…" Kuwabara suggested.
"Probably, but I doubt that's why we're here." Harry said dully.
Genkai came swinging in on a strange basket like platform hanging from the ceiling.
"I hope you all brought your quarters. These games will be your second screening."
"Please master." A boy with a black hat and monk's robes stepped forwards, "May I ask what playing video games has to do with great power?"
"Absolutely nothing, really. But these are not ordinary games that you will be playing." She said, "The janken game tests your spirit awareness. The punching game shows your spirit's strength. And the karaoke shows your spirit's ability to adapt and grow stronger." Genkai explained.
Harry smiled slightly,
"What a fun way to test our abilities. Almost sounds as fun as playing tag with Yoruichi."
"Tag?" Yusuke raised an eyebrow.
"Speed training." Harry elaborated.
"If you cannot pass two out of three then go home quickly and do not play the other games, they're just for me." Genkai dismissed.
"Alright, hand me that boxing glove." One of the taller and more muscular men said, putting on the game's standard glove, "Me and this game are old buddies." He grinned, putting the glove on and working himself up to the punch.
With a grunt, he swung his arm at the rubber ball, which hit the machine. Eighteen points flashed on the screen causing a few people to snicker.
"That doesn't make any sense, I always get the high score on this game in my parent's pool house." He said looking disbelieving as the words 'Fail' flashed over the screen.
"Well this isn't your parents' pool house." Genkai sneered, "It doesn't make any difference to that machine how physically strong you are unless your reiki goes along with it."
Kuwabara took the glove next and let out a battle cry as he punched the rubber ball. He got one hundred and twenty-nine points.
"One hundred and twenty-nine! What do you think about that, Urameshi?" he said boastfully.
Yusuke smirked,
"Don't get too excited, I think there's something wrong with the machine. Here, I'll check it out for you." He took one of the gloved, then punched forwards, the ball hit and the machine flashed with a score of one ninety-two.
"No, I guess it works fine." He said smugly.
Harry rolled his eyes and took the glove in hand. He'd have to tune down his power if he wanted to remain undercover. He took the glove and a couple of people snickered.
"Is that a girl?"
"What's pretty boy gonna do?"
Harry's lips twitched, and he punched forwards, scoring exactly two hundred and ten points. It was a bit more than he'd hoped for…
"No way!" some of them shouted.
Harry took the glove off and tossed it over his shoulder, then moved on to the Karaoke machine. He managed to get three hundred points. He tried not putting too much of his energy into it but apparently it was a lot more difficult than simply exhuming his magic into a force. He got the high score and several people had gathered to listen to him. Harry was a bit surprised by how entranced they seemed.
He got off stage only to be greeted by Kuwabara,
"Wow, Harry. I didn't know you could sing like that." He said.
Harry just shrugged,
"I haven't exactly sung in front of a large group of people or anything before." He admitted, and it was true. He actually hadn't known he would be any good. Well, you learn something new every day.
He didn't bother with the janken machine. He'd already passed two out of three, and those that had done it hadn't really bothered sticking around to play their third game either.
Once they had all passed at least two games, Genkai led them outside into a dark looking forest surrounded by menacing reiki which seemed to be held back by some sort of barrier.
"Now that the week have been eliminated, the tests will be far more severe." Genkai said, turning to stare them all down.
"Hey, my insides feel all funny." Someone said.
"Master, the forest seems to have its own life force." The monk kid from before commented warily.
"Yes." Genkai said calmly, "To say the least. It's known as the dark forest, and it's as old as the human race."
Harry looked up at the trees curiously. The forest did seem old, with thick trees that must have been growing for centuries if not longer.
"The dark forest has become a sanctuary for some of the oldest and most primitive demons. On the other side of the forest is a giant tree. Make it there and you pass the test. You have two hours."
Some of the people in their group backed away.
"I'm not getting near that forest, I give up!" a man in a martial arts gi, was the first to run away.
"Yeah, Genkai. I really wanted to be your student, but I kind of wanna live!" another ran off, then another.
Genkai laughed with amusement,
"Yes, run away. I don't blame you. Even a person with the slightest spirit awareness knows this forest will tear you into pieces if you let it." She smirked.
"There is some truth to what this woman says. Only those who have gone through the training should cross through these woods." A man with scars all over his face said, "It's no place for a boy, for instance."
"Speak for yourself." Yusuke huffed, "I'm not about to get scared off by a little walk through grandma's forest."
"Watch your mouth you dumb little brat!" Genkai said sharply.
Harry sighed, even Genkai didn't seem to be getting through to him. But Yusuke made a move to march up to the scar faced man. Before he could, Harry grabbed him by the ear.
"Yusuke, calm yourself." He said slowly, "I don't want to have to reprimand you."
"Yeah, kid. Listen to your girlfriend."
Yusuke froze and the aura around Harry went dark,
"I'm sorry. Did you wish to be reprimanded as well?" he asked.
There was a shudder that seem to travel through the crowd. Even the scar faced man who had been trying to get a rise out of Yusuke before was shifting uncomfortably. But Harry reined himself in quickly and turned away.
"Why do you have to suddenly go all scary like that, Harry?" Yusuke twitched, trying to get out of Harry's grasp.
Harry let his ear go, allowing him to stumble away.
"I don't know what you mean." He said.
Genkai was looking at Harry with interest, but didn't say anything.
"Best of luck." She said at last, "I hope you don't die…. ready, set…go!"
They all took off running through the forest, though Harry had to slow himself down exponentially to remain at the same speed as everyone else. Playing tag with Yoruichi was a lot more fun, he thought.
Genkai went running in front of them, at a nearly inhuman speed,
"Best of luck, I'll be waiting for you by the tree. If you're smart, you'll use your spirit awareness to find the quickest way." She added, then ran way ahead of them, speeding up.
Harry rolled his eyes, then turned through the forest, he'd probably end up having to wait for these guys if he wanted to pretend he was weaker than he was.
He effortlessly dodged around pits of snakes, traps and snares.
After Harry realized there were only twenty minutes' left, he decided it was about time he quit fooling around and made his way to the hill, running up.
Genkai's eyes watched him as he came jogging up.
"I had a feeling you were going to be first." She said looking him over, "It's clear to me, you've more power than the others. But whether you're better at fighting or have the brains to go along with that strength is the question."
Harry nodded,
"I have a feeling you don't give compliments out often. I'll just take that as one."
Genkai snorted,
"Brat." She said.
Harry just sat down and gazed off at the forest,
"Looks like Kuwabara is coming." Harry said, sensing the red head's energy. He was getting closer, as were two others, but it was clear he would make it first.
"You can already sense them?" she asked him curiously.
Harry nodded,
"It's something I learned a while back." He said, deciding not to lie about it, he focused his energy allowing the spirit ribbons to appear. He grabbed onto Kuwabara's ribbon.
"I've never seen a technique like that before." Genkai admitted, "Who taught it to you?"
"A woman named Yoruichi Shihoen. I travel around a lot, so I've been learning anything people are willing to teach." Harry admitted, "It's interesting…I suppose you are already aware. But did you know that you have a demon in there?"
"Of course, that's Boldok. A bat demon."
"I wasn't talking about him." Harry said, "You've told us before that there were demons in there. I was talking about the one among the contestants." He grabbed onto a purple spirit ribbon, "Unlike humans, a demon's spirit ribbon is purple. A Shinigami's is red…and so on."
Genkai nodded, and then concentrated her reiki. Harry watched as she summoned up a bunch of spirit ribbons around her as well, she grabbed one that was green.
"If humans have a white ribbon, a Shinigami is red, and a demon is purple…then what does this green one mean?"
Harry hummed, she really was strong it seemed.
"I'm human, if that's what you're asking." Harry said, "There is this small group of people who have green ribbons. That means that they have a special type of energy that isn't reiki."
"Interesting…did your people develop this technique?" she asked him curiously.
"No." Harry shook his head, "It's just something that's not commonly used here. But I think it's a pretty old technique." He added, "I've always found it useful."
Genkai nodded,
"I'll keep it in mind to use for later."
Harry just inclined his head to the side, then moved his attention back to the far side of the hill. Kuwabara had made his way out of the forest and he was running up. He looked around then saw Harry.
"Somehow, I knew you'd be the first one out." He said.
Harry just shrugged,
"I really hope Yusuke hurries up. He's been standing still for the past few minutes…looks like he's being attacked by a demon."
"Wha?" Kuwabara wondered, looking back off towards the forest.
"He'll be fine…probably." Harry said, looking up at the sky.
"What do you mean probably!?" Kuwabara shouted.
"Well, he probably won't die." Harry said.
"You know, just 'because you say probably again doesn't make it better. Actually, I feel less reassured than I did before." He added with a frown, he made a move to run back down.
"Don't." Harry aid, causing him to stop, "He'll make it through. Just have a little faith. Besides, Yusuke would kick your ass and the demon's if you suddenly came to his aid. Oh, look, it seems he beat it already." Harry added, "See, he'll probably be here within the next five minutes."
"Again with your 'probablys'." Kuwabara grumbled.
A man in a red ninja outfit and the man from before with the scars on his face came running up. When they got there, the man in the red ninja outfit let out a growl,
"I thought for sure we'd be the first ones."
"We let ourselves have too much fun in there." The scar faced man said crossing his arms and smirking slightly.
Harry just rolled his eyes at their antics, while Kuwabara was shifting uncomfortably.
"Wait for me!" a cry came from over the hills. It was Yusuke and he was running towards then, a scratch on his face and a few cuts and bruises on his skin.
"Man…" he groaned, "I guess the straightest route isn't the fastest after all."
Genkai looked surprised,
"Surely you didn't go straight through the dark forest, you would have faced a lethal man-bat."
"You mean Boldok?" Yusuke grumbled, "Yeah, I faced him, he's gonna be a bit hung up for a while."
Harry face palmed at the awful pun. His eyes turned to Kuwabara and Harry.
"Let me guess. Harry was first?"
"Yeah, got it in one." Kuwabara confirmed.
"Figures." Yusuke said, lying down in the grass.
Six others soon joined them as Genkai watched her stop watch. Once the time limit was up, she closed it up.
"Times up. Only you nine have passed."
…
0000000000000000000000000
….
This time, Genkai led them down the hill to a stone path. They followed the path down towards a large building with huge dark purple doors. Red wooden beams seemed to make up the skeleton of the structure, and the stone base held it firmly in place.
Genkai walked up the four concrete steps and turned around to face the remaining eight of them.
"From here on you can forget about sympathy." She declared, "This will be a tournament between the eight of you until one is standing. You'll fight until your opponent is dead or incapacitated. I don't care which." She opened up one of the large doors, revealing a dark room, void of any light.
Then she opened the other door and the room seemed to become illuminated with the sunlight from outside.
"Come in now, walk." Genkai ordered gruffly.
They all entered and the heavy doors creaked close behind them, once again voiding the room of light.
"H-hey, what's with the lights?" Kuwabara demanded.
"Yeah, lady, you expect us to fight in the dark?" Yusuke asked.
Then, a small glow grew into light as a lantern lit up with a flame, revealing all those within a seven-foot radius.
Genkai took in a breath of cigarette smoke, then blew it into Yusuke's and Kuwabara's faces.
"Yes, you little crap. That's exactly what I expect. You must use your spirit awareness to see." She explained, "Use weapons if you want them, hit where you like. Anything goes. The winner is the one who can walk back alive."
Yusuke smirked,
"Sounds like a typical Saturday morning street fight, huh Kuwabara?"
"I'm not sure, Urameshi. I've got a bad feeling about this, like…like some of the scary stuff in the forest has followed us here somehow, you know? Like a beast has followed me here but he's too afraid to attack."
Harry nodded,
"Very perceptive."
Yusuke frowned,
"Well that proves it then. After all those tests, Rando must still be after Genkai's technique…"
"Who's Rando?" Kuwabara asked confused, "Is he the beast?"
"Something like that." Yusuke confirmed.
"Know how I said I was teaching Yusuke a bit?" Harry asked him, at Kuwabara's not, Harry continued, "Rando's a demon that Yusuke wants to beat up. He thinks he's among the students. And he's right."
"Well…I can't tell who it is." Kuwabara said, "It could be coming from one of them, but it's like the feeling is just hanging there…"
Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose,
"I could get it with my spirit ribbon technique." He said, "But doing that right now would blow our cover. Not to mention, Genkai doesn't care. She knows Rando's here, but if he wins, she plans on teaching him anyways."
"What?" Yusuke whispered harshly.
Harry shrugged,
"All she really cares about now is passing on her technique. It doesn't really matter to her who it goes to. That's just how she is, I guess. So even if you did find him, you wouldn't be able to get him disqualified. I'd say the best thing you can do is beat him in this tournament she's putting on. At least that would be the easiest way." He added.
"At least that sounds simple enough." Yusuke smirked.
"Before we start." Genkai interrupted them, "You will all introduce yourselves and speak up!"
A man dressed in a kendo outfit was the first to voluntarily step forwards, he wore a black eyepatch over his right eye.
"Name's Musashi. I'm a fourth-degree black belt under kendo of shibato school. I hunt down evil beings and destroy them."
The next introduction was the monk kid who had spoken out a few times before.
"I am Sho Ren. A psychic in training. I have traveled the world in search of a perfect instructor."
Next was the scar faced man from before.
"People call me Kabano. I am a master in every style of martial arts and I live to test my own limits."
The next contestant was an older looking, rather plump man in purple robes and a hat with a curling moustache. He looked a lot like one of those stereotypical Chinese chefs…Harry had been spending his time in manga worlds way too long if he was coming up with those comparisons…only in manga.
"Jin Po the wanderer. Nice to meet you all."
Then there was the red clad ninja guy,
"I'm Kazamaru of the ninjas."
"I knew it." Harry said quietly, earning himself a strange look from Yusuke who was the only one to overhear him.
"I often work as a body guard of government officials." He added in, "I've been trained in the ninjutsu art of stealth."
Then there was a bespectacled man, tall with a good build, but looking rather plain.
"My name is Kurota. Contract killer."
Finally, it was Kuwabara who spoke up,
"Kazume Kuwabara, the worst punk at Sarayashiki Junior High."
Harry's lips twitched, realizing how unimpressive that title sounded in comparison to 'contract killer' and 'ninja.'
"Yusuke Urameshi. The much much worser punk of Sarayashiki Junior high."
Harry rolled his eyes, he should have figured Yusuke would try to one up Kuwabara.
"Harry Potter." He introduced, "I don't have any titles…except for 'the boy-who-lived' if that counts."
Yusuke and Kuwabara shot him a strange look, but their attention was drawn away when a group of arrows fell from the sky and landed, point first into the ground in front of them.
Genkai drew her cigarette out of her mouth,
"Now everyone, pick up the arrow you think is pretty. That will decide the order."
It seemed that Harry was going to go first, along with the contract killer. Joy.
"No stalling, you two. Step up to the plate!" Genkai ordered.
Harry shrugged, and made a move towards the darkness, only for the hitman to ask Genkai,
"Let's make this clear." He twirled two knives around his hands, "In my line of work I've been taught not to quit until they're dead."
"If you're asking about killing, I've already answered." Genkai said, "Feel free to use any force necessary to defeat your opponent and insure your victory."
"Yes, you've said that twice. But would you hold it against me if I turn out to be a cold-blooded killer."
Harry just watched on lazily as Genkai replied,
"Young man, I am a psychic, not a saint. I'll train whoever is strongest, regardless of any moral shortcomings."
"I'm very relieved to hear that." The hitman said, looking at Harry smugly, "So I can fight to my fullest without holding back."
Harry just rolled his eyes and turned towards the dark. The hitman followed closely behind Harry.
"Risking my life is the nature of my professor." The hitman said.
"What a coincidence." Harry said, "Mine too."
The hitman raised an eyebrow at this,
"I'm not like those other idiots. I won't underestimate you just because you're a kid." He readied his knives.
A small, and rather chilling smile spread across Harry's face,
"I'll let you in on a secret." He shunpoed up to his ear and whispered, "I'm older than I look."
The hitman's eyes widened and he slashed, but Harry moved out of the way and hit him in the chest, pushing him back. He let out a gasp,
"Y-you're a demon?"
"No." Harry shook his head, "I'm human." He put his hands in his pockets casually, "But I'm sure you've no need to hear my life story, so I'll make this quick."
He shunpoed forwards, then kicked him across the head before he even knew what was happening. The hitman lay on the ground, unconscious judging from his breath, and likely suffering from a concussion.
Harry walked back out of the darkness casually, hands in pockets.
"Winner, Harry Potter." Genkai announced as Harry walked up to Yusuke and Kuwabara.
"So what happened?" Yusuke asked, "I didn't see anything."
Harry shrugged,
"Nothing much to say."
A couple of the fighters looked Harry over, obviously put out by the fact that he didn't have so much as a scratch after facing down a trained killer. They had definitely grown warier.
"He doesn't even look hurt…"
"He was the first one out of the forest too. He might look like a pretty boy, but he seems to have some fight in him."
Harry ignored them in favour of closing his eyes and listening to the hum of energy that filled the air.
The next match was Jin Po, the Chinese chef guy, versus Sho Ren, or as Harry liked to call him, Monk Boy.
Harry watched their fight in the darkness, there was something off about Sho Ren…Harry tried to focus on the feeling a bit more. Could he be the demon? He came out of the fight limping.
"He almost had me." He murmured.
"Winner, Sho Ren." Genkai announced, "Onto the third match. Kuwabara versus Musashi."
Kuwabara stepped forwards, along with the weird samurai wannabe with the wooden sword at his side and black eye patch.
They walked off into the dark.
"Try not to get killed, Kuwabara." Yusuke called out lazily.
Kuwabara turned momentarily,
"Don't worry, I have to beat you before I die." He said, then continued his walk.
Harry watched the two of them, or rather, he sensed the two of them as they stood tensely.
"They're a bit mismatched." Harry murmured.
"Kuwabara's always had lots of determination." Yusuke said, though it seemed he couldn't see a thing, "Let's just hope that's enough for him to win."
"Yusuke, close your eyes." Harry ordered.
"Huh? Why?" he asked rudely.
"Just do it." Harry ordered.
"Fine." Yusuke grumbled.
Harry created a small spark of energy in his hand,
"Feel anything?" Harry asked, some of the other contestants were watching the two of them.
"Uh…sort of…like a warm feeling hovering…" he paused, then pointed to Harry's hand, "There."
"Alright." Harry nodded, "Now again, where is it?"
He moved his hand a bit further away and Yusuke pointed again.
"You can't actually be trying to teach him how to sense reiki now, are you?" one of the contestants asked.
"Hey, he may be strong, but he's relied a long time on his sight." Harry said not at all concerned, "I just want to give him a fair shot. Where's the energy coming from?"
"Um…" Yusuke furrowed his brow, "There." He pointed.
"Good." Harry said, then the energy in his palm dulled, "Can you still sense it?"
"Yeah, but it doesn't seem as strong." Yusuke said.
"Good, I'm going to dull it again." Harry said, and now he was holding only a tinny ball, like a firefly in his hand.
"That's some impressive control…" Someone murmured.
"Uh…there." Yusuke pointed to Harry's hand once more.
Now the spark in Harry's hand was gone completely.
"Now, without opening your eyes, where are the fighters?"
Yusuke's brow furrowed, and with two hands he pointed,
"One of them is on the ground…I can sense them!" he exclaimed, opening his eyes.
Harry just looked away. That was rather quick, he had to admit, he noticed Genkai looking at him once again with intrigue, but now she seemed pretty fascinated with Yusuke as well.
Her attention turned back to the fight.
"Remember that feeling." Harry said calmly, "Remember it, then use it in your fight. Watch these people battle with that spirit sense of yours, get used to the feeling while you can…and then fight…well, if you want to live that is."
Yusuke nodded, closing his eyes once again and sensing both Kuwabara and Musashi. Just then there was a huge burst of reiki and Kuwabara was holding a sword of yellow energy in his hand, illuminating the battlefield.
"What is that!?" the samurai wannabe exclaimed.
"Uh, I don't know!" Kuwabara shouted.
It made sense, Harry supposed he had such a high spirit awareness and such control over his reiki, he must have instinctually channeled it when he felt he was in danger. Impressive.
"Materialization." Genkai murmured.
"What the hell is that?" Yusuke asked, completely shocked.
"Normally, reiki cycles through the body and is very hard to control. But when his life was in danger he instinctively used his high spirit awareness to manipulate his reiki into a solid object. In this case, into a sword."
Harry nodded along absently. He wasn't too surprised.
Kuwabara swung his sword as hard as he could, pushing mister samurai back into the wall. The man was knocked out while Kuwabara held out his sword, rather dazed,
"Pretty cool…but how am I supposed to turn it off?"
Kuwabara came limping out of the dark, holding his side.
"Winner, Kuwabara." Genkai announced.
His sword had dissipated and now Kuwabara was holding a wooden stump in his hand. It seems he had been using the focusing power of the tip of that wooden sword Mister Samurai had to create his energy sword.
He approached Yusuke,
"You better not lose before our fight." He warned.
"Please," Yusuke said, "Like I'd miss a chance to beat you up."
"Let's not waste my time." Genkai said, "The fourth match is Kabano versus Dimwit."
Kuwabara laughed at this,
"I think that's you." He told Yusuke.
"And I thought my name was Yusuke." Yusuke said smugly.
Harry just rolled his eyes, it wasn't going to be that easy for him. Yusuke and the man with the scars all over his face, Kabano stepped forwards.
"May the strongest man win." Kabano murmured to Yusuke, then stepped off into the dark.
Yusuke closed his eyes but stood still.
"What are you waiting for, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked.
"Have you decided not to fight?" Kabano asked, turning back.
"Oh no, I was just praying for your mortal soul."
"Yusuke," Harry said, "The guy was being nice, and you decide to antagonize him. Get your ass in the ring, now."
Genkai was losing her temper with him. She grabbed the cigarette from her mouth and threw it,
"Moron!" she shouted and Yusuke quickly dodged to the side.
"Hey!" he exclaimed.
Harry just rolled his eyes.
"Any more delays and I'll take it as a forfeit." Genkai warned.
"Geez," Yusuke said, "Something tells me you're still upset about that 'grandma' comment." He took off his jacket, revealing a white tank top underneath, "You need to enjoy life more, old lady."
He turned around and walked off into the dark with Kabano. Harry let out a sigh,
"I'm sorry about that, Master Genkai." Harry apologized.
Genkai just grunted,
"That kid's infuriating."
Harry chuckled,
"That he may be." He agreed, "But there is something special about him, you have to admit."
"I don't have to admit anything." She said stubbornly.
The match began and Yusuke was immediately punched back. Harry let out a groan,
"Has he already forgotten what I showed him just moments ago?"
Genkai chuckled,
"I think you'll find that he can sense him, thanks to your little five-minute training session."
Harry perked up when he sensed Yusuke punch the guy right in the gut.
"It seems you have a high standard." Genkai said, "That's not a bad thing, but you ought to be more aware of others abilities, rather than simply comparing them to your own."
Harry nodded,
"Yes, I've been noticing that more and more lately." He admitted, "It's something I need to work on. But I don't want to baby people either. My gut tells me Yusuke can beat this guy."
"He probably can." Genkai agreed.
Yusuke punched the guy once again, two times, three times. The guy seemed to be wearing some sort of mask which was helping him focus his spirit awareness.
Kabano then began to pull in energy from the matter around him, enhancing his muscles.
"Hey, something weird is happening to Kabano!" Kuwabara said.
"He's enhancing his strength from the reiki around him." Harry explained to him, "It's a simple technique, but effective all the same."
"Wow, that's some weird stuff." Kuwabara murmured, looking back into the dark.
Yusuke was thrown back and a fist slammed into him. Once he'd stopped tumbling, he got back up shakily, Harry guessed that he'd broken a rib.
Yusuke needed to break that mask somehow. And then Harry smiled when he sensed Yusuke powering up his energy, an orb of reiki appeared in his palm and he slammed it down into the mask, breaking it in two and knocking him out.
Good, Harry thought to himself. He must have gotten the idea from the orb of energy Harry had created to help him sense where everything was.
Impressive.
Yusuke came limping back from his fight.
"Winner…the dimwit." Genkai announced.