Kazane exited the shower, wrapping her hair up in a towel before tying another around her body.

For a moment she just stared at her reflection in the mirror, biting her lower lip.

The pale skin and more delicate features should have been foreign to her, but they weren't. Maybe it was the effect of living in a body for years without seeing your own reflection, or maybe it was just spending so long in that body in a second life. Either way, Kazane always expected some sense of alienation when she stared at her own face in the mirror, but it never came. It was vastly different from the features of her previous life, but it was still her, just a different shade.

She reached a hand up, running her fingers over the higher cheekbones, the pointed chin.

Most of her forearms were free from any blemish, but the ugly scarring was intense from her clavicles down. In this life her body had always had thinner skin, dumb-looking veins showing through on her thighs. She knew it shouldn't bother her; she was passably cute, if not more so. Still, it did.

Strange how the one thing she felt ashamed of about her new form was something caused entirely after her rebirth.

The fact that Hiei had inadvertently seen her scars, even if she had told him about the torture previously, was fucking embarrassing.

She had bigger things to worry about than her vanity at the moment, though.

She worked some moisturizer into her skin and dried her hair, breathing deeply through her nose before donning her outfit and weapons. By now the boys were probably irritated that she was taking so long.

Stepping out into the living room area she noticed that Yusuke was the only one stuffing his face, Kuwabara sitting next to him with an irritated expression on his. Genkai simply stared out the window.

"Don't mind me, continue on with the somber mood," She joked, going to pour herself a cup of coffee. The scent of jasmine trailed behind her, mingling strangely with the smell of the croissants.

"Kuwabara was just complaining about some dream he had."

"Was she hot?"

At Kazane's response Kuwabara sputtered, Yusuke choking on the bread as he laughed.

"Both of you are disgusting! And no, it wasn't about some girl."

The redhead sat down next to Kuwabara, taking in his clearly distressed state. She let out a small sigh, finding it better to just come out with it than beat around the bush. Yusuke clearly wasn't in the mood to console someone.

"It's about Team Ichigaki, isn't it?"

At her words Kuwabara looked up in surprise.

In all honesty this upcoming fight was the source of so much of Kazane's anxiety. It was a massive oversight that her appearance prevented Genkai from fighting or intervening, even if she willingly joined the team in the hopes of making things better. She really could be a massive idiot sometimes.

"Did you have a dream too, Kazane?"

She sipped her coffee, a twisted grimace forming on her lips. "Something like that." Turning to where Yusuke was finally done annihilating his breakfast she frowned at him. "You haven't completed the Spirit Wave yet, have you?"

Genkai's head finally turned to face the three seated on the couch, and she strolled over, sitting down on the one across from Kazane that remained unoccupied.

"Listen the training isn't exactly easy, you know," Yusuke responded, crossing his arms. "You've trained with the old bat so you know how much it sucks. I've almost got the hang of it."

Kazane rolled her eyes. "Okay, so yeah that means you haven't actually learned it."

"Hey!"

"Why are you asking about the Spirit Wave?" Genkai's calm if gruff voice cut in on their spat, and Kazane nervously fiddled with a lock of hair, but it was Kuwabara who answered for her.

"They're not fighting 'cause they want to, they're fighting because they're forced to."

There really wasn't any other positive outcome for the match if Genkai couldn't use her Spirit Wave. The men on Ichigaki's team would die; there wasn't any other way for the weird nano tech in their body to be removed without death. It was in their bloodstream and their spine.

She knew from memories a lifetime ago that even if Kuwabara managed to get a word through to them all it would accomplish was a plea for death.

Genkai's eyes remained on Kazane, and she hoped the expression on her face conveyed what she was feeling about the whole ordeal.

"Listen, we can walk and talk," Yusuke interrupted, standing. "Our match is starting soon and as much as I'd love to be fashionably late I doubt Hiei and Kurama would be stoked about it."

Begrudgingly Kazane stood up and exited out the room with the other three, her fist clenched hard.

What good was her being here if it only caused more complication? Sure, she acted as an older sister figure and potential comfort to Yusuke and Kuwabara, but everything would have worked out relatively fine without her involvement. She probably should've just stayed at the temple.

No, even if that was the more wise decision she was never one to just sit on the sidelines and watch. Especially now that she had bonds formed with the boys, there was no way she could have just sat there and done nothing.

"You knew this would happen."

Kazane turned to look at Genkai, the pair having trailed back further from the two boys. She really hated that stupid wrapping on her face; it prevented her from seeing any reaction on her guardian's part.

"I had an inkling," She replied, keeping her tone vague. "Do you know of any rules for alternates fighting in the tournament?"

"No."

A tense silence ensued after Genkai's reply, and Kazane tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, taking a deep breath in before exhaling loudly out her nose.


Dr. Ichigaki had the ugliest face Kazane had ever seen, but even as she came up with scathing insults in her head they were silenced by the panic in her veins.

She knew Kurama and Hiei wouldn't be here, and yet their absence only escalated her anxiety. On more than one occasion she expected one of them to say something, yet the only response to come out of the air was one of silence.

"Time is up," Koto called, her seafoam eyes looking over the contestants. "Both teams step forward."

As Kazane marched forward alongside Yusuke she took a deep breath, her lungs expanding uncomfortably.

"Team captains, please decide the terms for battle."

Dr. Ichigaki let out the most skin-crawling laugh she had ever heard.

"Isn't this mysterious, both of our teams are missing two members?"

Immediately Kazane turned to Koto. "Two of our fighters aren't here due to out of the ring complications, can our backup take place in this fight?"

Koto's tail twitched, and it took a moment for her to respond. She stared into Kazane's eyes before addressing the proposal with the committee, her amplified voice raising across the stands.

"The committee will deliberate," Came the feminine, robotic reply, and Kazane tried with every fiber of her being to stand still and not fidget nervously.

This was their only hope, there was no way of a positive outcome without Genkai originally involved, and especially with Yusuke not mastering the Spirit Wave.

To her side the spirit detective cast an appraising glance at her, his brows knit with worry.

"What are you doing?"

"Trust me," Kazane whispered, gripping the hem of his shirt. "Please."

The concerned expression didn't leave Yusuke's face, but he settled back where he stood in silence.

She had wanted things to turn out differently, maybe have a more positive effect on the events surrounding the boys. Instead she was making things more difficult; fights she knew could work out in the end now in jeopardy because of her appearance and insistence on joining the tournament.

There was nothing more she could do now. The only thought running through her head was the goal she had come to terms with before departing for the island:

Protect her boys, protect her boys, protect her boys-

A light tone cascaded from the speakers, and Kazane turned her gaze up towards where she knew the glass wall of the committee members sat behind, wishing she could see past the tint.

"Request for the masked fighter's involvement has been denied."

Within seconds she could feel her legs give out underneath her, and it took everything in her power to not drop to the hard surface below. It had been a long shot, but she had been banking on it. Now what were they supposed to do?

A few feet away Koto hissed in disbelief and annoyance, glancing over at the redhead with sympathetic eyes. There were surely incidents in the past where alternates were able to join in even without a competitor's death. Nobody knew more about that than Koto, she was a walking rulebook for the tournament.

Still, she wasn't a deciding member and so her disdain was barely voiced aside from a soft, disbelieving 'what?' barely reaching the microphone.

Kazane met Genkai's gaze, cerulean on teak, and she saw the pity behind her orbs.

The old psychic knew what stakes she had been playing on. Kazane tucked the thought in the back of her mind; if she survived this fight then she knew a long talk with Genkai would come from it. She had been so blatantly hinting at it, even before they arrived on the island.

Wordlessly Genkai retreated from the circle, watching from the outskirts.

Dr. Ichigaki let out a giggle that made Kazane feel even more hopeless.

"A fair match, both teams down two members, we should fight with the people we have."

Kazane felt like she was having a heart attack, her chest tight and her throat closing up inside her. This was so stupid, this was so fucking stupid. No doubt Jin was watching from somewhere in the stands, or even in whatever waiting area stood in hallways behind the entrance door. They would fight them next.

"And what about you?" Yusuke responded, his face set in a truly menacing expression against the demon. "Don't the ugly, pointy-eared trolls like to fight too?"

"Only when we have to, boy. I prefer the managing position. Never any reason to do the work when you can watch somebody else do it for you."

Normally the words would have elicited rage in Kazane, but at the moment she was in shock. It was like an out of body experience, her body standing there in all its stoic glory while her brain furiously tried to come up with a different plan of attack. Nothing came to mind, though. There was only one thing she could do to help her teammates beside her now. She wished Kurama was here; he was good at planning, even if he put himself in the middle of the fray to analyze an opponent.

She hated it, didn't want to do it with every fiber of her being. She would take one for the team, because if it came to question of Yusuke or Kuwabara being overcome with debilitating regret and trauma she would not allow it.

It was the least she could do for her mistakes now.

Her internal monologue had drowned out any of Ichigaki's words, as well as Yusuke's enraged responses, and as he finished his tirade Kazane swallowed nervously, her fingernails biting crescents into her palms hard enough to draw blood.

"Combine the thee matches into a six-person battle royale," Kazane proposed, hoping that her face was much more composed than she felt.

"K-Kazane! What are you doing?" Kuwabara exclaimed, a pale sweat forming on his skin.

"Seriously," Yusuke added. "What good would that do?"

Once again Kazane breathed in deep, letting the air expand her lungs uncomfortably before she exhaled through her nose. She could feel Genkai's eyes on her from where she stood on the grass, and she wanted so much to disappear into the concrete beneath her feet.

Too many things coming to a head, too many thoughts rattling through her brain. Too much.

Ichigaki turned away, fiddling with his calculator. Kazane knew what would appear on his screen; a 0.05% chance of a win for her team, possibly less or more depending on her involvement. Nobody had seen her techniques so far.

"You drive a hard bargain," Ichigaki called, his face cast in a delightful grin. "I will accept."

As the demoness watched the malformed scientist stalk towards the edge of the ring she felt a coldness settle over her heart. She had seen a lot of fucked up things, she knew how to compartmentalize. She would wait until the end of the events to crack, hopefully until after their fight with team Masho. Even if she had to fight there was no way she could effectively do it while being in such turmoil.

Tuck that away for later; there was plenty of time to wallow in shit afterwards. Now there was no way forward except to do the worst.

Kazane duly ignored the deadened stares of the men before her, as well as the glances from her team members. Separate, isolate. Not now.

And if the stakes were still as high as they originally had been (Yusuke's body in question for Ichigaki's disgusting experiments) then she had even more reason to put aside whatever feelings of misery and grief were beguiling her. There were important things on the line.

The crowd chanted harmoniously in attack against her team, and she wanted to smile at Yusuke's next defensive words. She couldn't, though.

"Damn. Well, at least the fans are getting creative."

He was the same as Kuwabara; fourteen or fifteen? She should know this! Damn her. Damn her abysmal memory. Regardless, they were still more or less children.

"Hey Kazane," Kuwabara said, interrupting her panicked thoughts. "That was a good call; we can all watch each others' back when we fight."

As much as she wanted to take comfort in Kuwabara's words an overwhelming sadness lingered in her chest. It wasn't a good call, her being here wasn't a good call. She was just following whims of her own thoughts as well as fictional paths from Genkai. Fuck.

Keiko, Botan, and Shizuru were in the stands, and if memory served her right then Shizuru was as aware of the opponents' conflicting actions as Kuwabara, night terror message be damned.

It seemed Kazane was disappointing everyone today.

"Last team with a standing member wins!" Koto called, a hesitant excitement to her voice as she glanced at the half-demon. "Ready? Begin!"

It started instantaneously, Team Ichigaki coming forward as soon as Koto's arm was withdrew. Kazane would have admired the rush had they been in possession of their own bodies. She had used the same technique with Hiei a time earlier; strike first, even out the playing field.

The man before her with dusty magenta hair raised a hand, spirit energy forming around his digits as he reached out to strike.

The force of his attack caused a crater where the three had been moments before.

"Damn!?" Yusuke yelled in surprise, having leapt out of the way after Kazane edged a shoulder into his pec.

The man with two lines (Scars? Whatever they were?) punched into nothing, and the force of the invisible attack pushed Yusuke and Kuwabara back, pained sound eliciting from the two.

This was stupid. This was monumentally fucked.

In an instant Kazane moved, crouching into a coiled stance and whipping her fans out towards the man who had just invisibly punched her two companions.

The slices of wind hurtled forward at breakneck speed, too fast for the eye to follow, and without a second thought made contact with the poor soul in the body, one of his arms flying backwards towards the lip of the ring while the other made contact with the soft expanse of his windpipe. He tried to brace against it for a second before the force of it caused his head to careen wildly, his body falling limp as clean lines edged into his adam's apple.

Don't think about it, keep going.

Kazane just needed this to be over. It was some awful nightmare, and she needed to get it over with as quickly as possible.

"Angel blades!"

Effervescent chakram circled around the ginger's head, and Kazane once again urged her teammates into action, yelling furiously at them to move. After the explosive and instinctual first attack they were on the defensive, dodging strange glowing rings coming at them. They seemed in shock, not only from the force of their opponents' attacks but at Kazane's cut throat attitude towards the match.

"It's just run or be gutted!" Koto's voice called over the sound system, and Kazane watched as Kuwabara became the main source of focus, the chakram targeting him specifically.

Protect her boys, protect her boys, protect her boys-

The wind was rustling around her figure, as if to amplify the general turmoil she felt in her chest. What a shitty, if fitting time for it to come to fruition; the wind no doubt causing a disturbance for the men they were facing, unnecessarily kicking up dust and debris into their face as well as her teammates.

She stood in front of Kuwabara, using all available energy to deflect the projectiles aiming for him.

She had no idea whether it would work, having barely used wind to deflect even Genkai's attacks during training, preferring to just dodge out of the way of projectiles. Still, she put everything into the maneuver, the force of the wind and chakram's impact scooting her back some inches. Clutching the ginger thug before her by the arm she dragged him away to another part of the ring.

In front of her, Yusuke was facing his own battle.

He held an arm readied before him, his spirit gun primed and ready, but she could sense no power forming in his phalanges.

His spirit gun was well and truly out of commission for this match, and even if it was up to snuff she knew that there would be immeasurable hesitancy in Yusuke's mind at fighting back.

Kazane called upon the lessons Kurama had taught her, eliciting a smokescreen with barely more than the grass and dirt around them, and shrouded the opponent attacking them inside a tumultuous cloud of raging brown and grey. It wasn't pretty or elegant by any means, but it did its job, and Kazane entered the fray, a knife in her hand.

The lack of resistance to the blade caused her to pause for a moment as she tried to gather her bearings. She had entered her own shroud, aimed her dagger immediately for his heart as she followed her opponent's spiritual energy, and had been struck with surprise when it was granted so easily into her opponent's chest. His soft flesh was giving, and she was struck with the realization that maybe he allowed it to be so; to see no other way out of this fight than to sacrifice life and limb. Possibly their opponents were internally struggling with the fight; finding Kazane's assassination a kind of mercy.

It did little to alleviate the panic in the background of her mind.

The only man left standing was the slighter, smaller ginger man before them.

"Kazane!" Yusuke called, his brown eyes concerned but also distressed. "I'll be the bait, you go for him when you see a chance!"

Watching Yusuke flitter around the arena was amusing, and no doubt completely against his headstrong, attack-first ways, but without the spirit gun he was no more than a sitting duck, yet able to comprehend the tactical situation with barely a moment's notice.

For as school-smart as Yusuke wasn't his instinctual tactical prowess outnumbered it tenfold.

She made quick work of the boy before her, skirting at insane speeds and plunging her blade into his heart after he wholeheartedly went towards the spirit detective acting as her decoy. It seemed too easy; from the beginning she had painted herself as the biggest threat to their livelihood, going after their most vulnerable human points without a tinge of remorse in the wake of his compatriots' deaths. Both Kuwabara and Yusuke refrained from actually attacking with their full strength, likely from a moral obligation on both their parts.

Before the boy's heart burst beneath the blade he aimed one final glowing chakram, the energy-bladed end cutting into Kazane's arm before she hastily withdrew, letting out a pained yell.

Kazane jumped back towards the edge of the ring, staring at the blade in her right hand coated in crimson blood, and at Ichigaki glaring at her with nothing except absolute loathing in his eyes. She absentmindedly pressed a palm to the inside of her arm in an attempt to stem the bleeding.

It wasn't a win, not by a long shot.

It took a beat of silence before Koto's voice called over the megaphone, her crystalline soprano tone emphasizing the fight just right, even if the words caused sickly indigestion in Kazane's innards.

"The winner of the match: Team Urameshi!"

Kazane briefly registered the presence of Hiei and Kurama's spirit energy as they entered the surroundings, dumping the bodies of the other team with them, and she wanted more than anything for them to leave the area, for a certain fire demon to look away from the carnage that had ensued. She was so fucking guilty, and too many people close to her were here to witness it.

Kurama would know what happened with barely a moment to surmise the area, Hiei likely close behind him.

Kazane dropped to her knees, the harsh base of the ring causing a tremor to rake up her spine as she sat in silence, tears dripping down her face. There was blood all around them, pitying eyes of Kuwabara and Yusuke trailing over her figure as the latter scooped her up to an awkward stooped position.

"I...I think you should sit out this one," Yusuke said softly, moving Kazane to the lip of the ring and dropping her in the emerald grass.

"I...There was nothing else to do-" Kazane interrupted, clutching onto the spirit detective's warm wrist.

There wasn't; they were going to die. It was only Kazane realizing what had to be done, even if she hated herself for it, even if there was a better solution amongst all the possibilities, that solution wasn't possible. She couldn't let Yusuke or Kuwabara be plagued with thoughts of regret if the only reason a more positive outcome was prevented was because of her involvement.

"I know," Yusuke choked, his brown orbs holding more empathy than Kazane had ever seen. He didn't know, though. "I know, and I'm sorry. Kuwabara and I couldn't..."

No. No! This was all wrong; the two shouldn't feel guilty for the events that transpired; it was the result of her own existence. If she hadn't been here everything would be fine.

In her delirium the foliage around her was comfortable, and Kazane exhaled deeply, sitting back in the grass. It was emerald green, so bright.

Maybe she was going nuts.

There was no going back now; she was tainted, had seen the true fate of the men she faced albeit in a 2D vision. She was responsible for their deaths, more or less, and as Kurama and Hiei ascended towards their environment Kazane felt herself shiver. She didn't belong here; she caused more harm than good.

Within a second Hiei crouched before her, and he glanced at the bleeding gash on her arm, his eyes narrowing and turning cold.

"Who?" He hissed, his lips curling back on his teeth as she didn't respond. Hiei took in Kazane's tears before taking her head in his hands and forcing their eyes to meet. His hands were so warm.

"What happened?"

At Hiei's words Kazane sputtered, not only due to her frazzled nerves but also the oppressive atmosphere that the fire demon exhibited, and against her will Kazane opened her mind to Hiei, nearly drawing him too far in. She needed someone to understand, and what better way than letting someone in to your mind? He would understand, he had to.

Slowly the sight of Hiei's ruby eyes escaped her vision, and she opened the expanses of the fight to him. In slower motion she watched her methodical movements again, the poor humans on Ichigaki's team, but on this second viewing Kazane recoiled within herself, an unwilling participant in the observations, and before Kazane could help it a thought crept to the surface, using her physical arms to try to keep it in her brain.

Hiei had seen it all from her point of view, had felt her overwhelming emotions to protect Yusuke and Kuwabara.

The bloodshed on the ring was inevitable, but he knew better than anyone now what happened.

Was she a monster?

Hiei exited from her conscious, physically shaking his head to relieve him of the residual emotions that no doubt lingered.

His whole demeanor was rigid and stiff, and Kazane once again withdrew within herself, pressing against the side of the ring.


As Hiei returned to Kurama's side he cast a sidelong glance at the redhead a few feet away, her head wrapped in her hands.

The rest of their team convened as the stands roared indignantly at the win for their team, and the fire demon wanted nothing more than to gut every single one of them with his blade.

"What happened?" Kurama asked, his tone quiet but biting.

The detective and the oaf hesitated before responding, both looking towards the grass.

"Our opponents were fighting against their will," Genkai offered, the bandages covering her features making her words slightly muffled. "Kazane attempted to have me join the match in your place, and the committee denied." At Kurama's frown she extrapolated. "My Spirit Wave would have freed them from Ichigaki's control."

"I couldn't do anything!" Kuwabara cried. "I didn't want to hurt them; they never would have agreed to fight here."

Yusuke didn't add any words, simply glaring at the grass before them intensely.

"And so she decided to kill them so you wouldn't have to," Hiei spoke, the memories from Kazane still fresh. The overwhelming guilt that had threatened to awash him, the insane amount of regret. "There would have been nothing to be achieved by not fighting; they'd still be controlled and you would be dead."

"There could have been some other way..."

"No," Kurama cut in. "When we were ambushed by M-5 he told us everything. Removing the Verrucae from their backs would have been fatal, and I'm sure Kazane assumed that was the case."

The group fell silent, and Hiei looked over at where Kazane sat.

There was turmoil inside her, had been from the very moment they met, and he didn't need access to her thoughts or memories to know that. She had allowed him a glimpse into her past, something he could tell she kept locked tightly inside of her. The scars adorning her figure proved their truth.

Hiei noticed the gremlin known as Ichigaki make his way out of the opposing side's door, and he made a mental note of the demon's signature. He would kill him later.

The soft bell of the committee speakers bellowed over the stands, and Hiei turned to glare at the glass partition.

"May I have your attention please. The third round of the Dark Tournament will begin immediately."

From beside him the detective let out an angry cry. "Seriously? Give us a break!"

"Furthermore, the Tournament Committee has unanimously decided to begin the round in accordance to the match diagram, starting from the left. Team Urameshi and Team Masho, please report to the ring."

Hiei ground his teeth, his fists clenched at his sides. There would be no rest before the next fight, and Kazane was definitely in no position to compete.


Note:

I was really nervous to post this chapter, to be honest. I guess I expect some backlash.

This event will have lasting effects on not only Kazane, but plot as well. As it should. Shit's fucked up.

Inserting an OC can't always be a positive experience, and especially considering she took Genkai's place in the tournament I couldn't think of any other way this could happen. I've been planning this impossible fight since I started this fic, and I hope I did it justice. Team Ichigaki's defeat is a combination of Kazane's skills, her automatic, instinctual response to protecting Yusuke and Kuwabara to trauma, and Ichigaki's team's hesitance to fight (at least in my mind). I feel there's no way the committee would have let an alternate fight with such good odds the Urameshi team would succumb to defeat. They're out to get them, after all.

I got more reviews than usual on the last chapter, and this fic has now surpassed 100 subscribers. It's honestly insane, and I'm humbled by the support and reviews I get. Thank you so much.

As per usual, many thanks to all my lovely subscribers and lurkers, and an overwhelming amount of thanks to the ever faithful xenocanaan and rsaenz18. Literal angels.

Warm hugs to AmericanNidiot, Vienna22, and TasukiLover05. I appreciate y'all greatly.

Next chapter is the aftermath of this shitstorm, as well as a small HieixKazane moment and tension involving Toya. Nothing crazy, but I thought I'd tell you in advance. *wink*