Through the whole night, as the sun has come up to shine in the sky, Eri opens her eyes letting out a small yawn, and rubs her eyes. She sat up fully to see that she was still in the same room from last night and she saw Hiei's bed was made up. But on her bed, there were a pair of clothes for her to wear that she highly suspected Hiei or Kurama had given her the clothes to wear. As she changed out of the large shirt she wore from last night and changes into the clothes that were given to her. She wore white long sleeves dress a frilled collar and a plain red string tied around the collar. Under this, she wears gray long socks up to her ankles and a large set of tan boots she wore before.

After Eri was well-dressed to start the day, she left out of the bedroom to walk down the hallway alone as she made her way into the living room. Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama were wide awake discussing some things that didn't interest her as she shyly enters the conversation.

"Good morning, Eri. How did you sleep?" Kurama asked.

"I slept well." She replied.

Kurama smiled, "I see. Do you like the dress? I asked one of the hotel workers if they have any child-size clothing and I came across this. You look beautiful." He complimented making Eri's cheeks rise as she cupped her hands together staring down at her feet.

"Thank you." She replied.

"Hey, we have food for you served fresh and warm," Kuwabara said as he handed her the plate of cooked food as she took it and sat between Hiei and Kurama. She grabbed the utensil and began to eat and noticed that she had a juice box that her favorite was apple juice. She took a sip and kept eating her meal while blocking out everything that the boys were saying until she noticed Yusuke still sleeping.

"Why is he still sleeping? Shouldn't he be awake?" Eri asked tilting her head up at Kurama.

"Yes, well, I don't suppose waking him up is the easiest. The tournament will be starting in 30 minutes, so we better make sure we're ready." Kurama told her as he genuinely smiled and said, "Hiei told me that you didn't want to sit in the bleachers to watch the fight because of the demons. Not to worry. We'll have you stick by our side."

Eri merely smiled in relief that she wouldn't be sitting in the row of seats with demons that were ready to jump on her to claim her as their meal. She was definitely NOT going to be on their menu. As she finished eating her meal to set the plate on the tray she glanced over at Yusuke still wondering why he won't wake up. He was alive. Maybe he was put under a spell to sleep forever like the story she read called, "Sleeping Beauty" she guessed. As minutes were spared, they were already leaving out of the hotel as Eri was holding Kurama's hand to follow close and not get separated from the group as they made their way to where the Dark Tournament will be hosted. The girl's mouth was halfway dropped as she saw the huge stadium in front of her that was incredibly huge!

"Whoa, it's really big. What is that?" Eri inquired glancing up at Kurama who faintly smiled at her.

"It's a stadium. Inside of the stadium, there is a ring where demons fight against other opponents on different teams to see which fighter will last." Kurama explained to the little girl as her eyes were so big and innocent. "In some stadiums, there are games like baseball, football, and basketball that are sport related."

"Ah, okay."

'How does she not know what a stadium is?' Hiei thought.

"So, who's fighting first?" Eri asked.

"I believe we are first in line on the fighting chart that they'll have set up," Kurama replied.

They were a lot of demons in the stadium crowding around to watch the show to see the first team will be facing on for the first round. Eri was with the group of fighters that will be facing off against Team Rokuyukai after having an encounter with them last night. Zeru showed off his flames as he formed it around the team as Eri clutch on Hiei's robe as he rested a hand on the girl's head to assure her that she does not need to be afraid. He glared at Zeru knowing he'll have to be careful around him, nevertheless, he doesn't know what his next scheme could be. We start with a wonderful loss to a mere child, thanks to that fool Kuwabara. How he continuously manages to embarrass himself never ceases to amaze the crowd. Kurama's battle took longer than Eri had anticipated. The demon actually landed a few hits on Kurama, clearly, he was using cheap tactics. Eri scrunched up her nose at the thought, 'How tasteless, resorting to cheating to win.'

Then, a demon by the name of Zeru, who they assumed was the team leader stepped into the arena. He had already given us a taste of his power, spreading an enormous flame across the entire arena and a few hundred members of the audience before the battles even began. Hiei already claimed him as his opponent. Hiei easily stepped onto the stage and exchanged a few words with him. "You have your flaws, Zeru. Your flames are weak and sloppily used. I've seen infant demons with better control of their abilities."

"Like you're so perfect. I don't like to take advice from someone who likes to use a fake eye." Hiei glared at him, he was going to pay. "Oh and Hiei, what is that delicious human's name again? Eri? Once this battle is over, and I've disintegrated you, to make her a slave, don't you think?"

Hiei felt anger bubbling to the surface. He shouldn't dare to have uttered her name and then speak of her in such away. His hand started to itch, begging him to draw his sword so he can cut off his head. Perhaps slaying in front of a child wouldn't do so much. "Oh, what's the matter Hiei?" Zeru stared at him, then his eyes opened wide as if he just realized something. "You care for the child, as do I! Don't you Hiei?!" He didn't know how to answer. Hiei unsheathed his sword and prepared to attack when ready. "Well then, this should be interesting," Zeru snickered. "And YOU MAY BEGIN," shouted the announcer.

Kurama was holding Eri in his arms to let her watch the fight since she's so small, she could barely see what was happening. The girl watches Hiei see an angry expression on his face which she didn't understand after she watched as he jumped high into the sky, dodging each one of Zeru's fire blasts. His eyebrows furrowed, and he bared what could only be described as...fangs?

"It appears that Zeru has brought dishonor to your name, and Hiei didn't take too kindly to it," Kurama murmured. Eri stared at him, her brows raised in confusion. Kurama turned to her, smiling as he explained, "Hiei would never admit it, but he is rather protective of his friends. Especially the ones he cares." Kurama gave her an intense look as he spoke the last sentence, she couldn't help but blush. Eri wonders, turning away from Kurama's gaze.

'Hiei is hardly the caring type. Not by his tone or his expression that I've seen him do around me.' Eri returns her focus to the battle, just in time to see Zeru sear his hand through Hiei's chest.

Eri heart started to beat rapidly, "HIEI!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face. She quickly glances at Zeru, as he pulls back a fist and blasts a huge fireball, burning Hie's body. Eri felt hot tears trickle down her face, she grasped on to Kurama's shoulder for support. 'This can't be happening. No way. He can't be dead!' Eri heard the fire continue to crackle as it roasts what was left of him. She couldn't bear to look at him." Well when you're as talented as Zeru," the announcer claimed, "always expect one heck of a fight!" The poor child sniffling after watching the fire demon turn into ashes. But before Eri could even step on the stage she could hear a familiar voice, with sarcasm dripping with every syllable.

"Yes," the voice drawled, "In fact, he's so talented, I'm reluctant to make the kill." Eri's eyes quickly return to where Hiei's body once laid. Yet there he was, standing in front of her, his body still smoldering. His shirt was nearly burnt off, but what scared her the most was the dark look in his eyes. He didn't seem right, something was about to happen. Eri watched Zeru's expression change from one of complete confidence to one of utter fear. "Bu-but how did you manage to survive that?" he demanded.

Hiei merely smirked at him and allowed his Jagan eye to disintegrate his white headband. "I think we already covered that. You see, in the way, the Jagan's eye has a mind of its own, and it loathes disrespect." Eri watched in terror as you felt a sudden rush of power radiate from Hiei. Eri looked around, eyes widened with fear as she waited for what could only be Hiei's biggest attack. "DRAGON. OF. THE DARKNESS FLAME," Eri heard Hiei announce.

"No, this is unbelievable," Kurama whispered, too stunned to explain further.

"Dragon of the who?" Kuwabara asked, speaking your thoughts aloud.

"The technique. It hasn't been mastered by anyone because it's so impossible to control. If not used properly, Hiei could end up killing not only himself but the entire stadium," Kurama answered softly. Eri felt the sweat drip down the back of her neck, hoping Hiei had what it took to keep his new attack stabilized. Hiei had what looked like a dark ball glowing in his hand, moving so furiously and chaotically, Eri was afraid he'd accidentally let it loose amongst the crowd.

"I assume my right arm would do," was all Eri managed to hear him say before he released a dark, fiery dragon that had originated from the ball. Its piercing screech increasing as it landed right on Zeru, leaving nothing but his outline on the walls of the arena. The announcer blinked her eyes in disbelief before she managed to regain her focus.

"And HIEI TAKES THE POINT!" she cheered while Hiei stared at his burnt arm that had released the dragon, looking unimpressed. Eri watched as he walked over to her, wincing in pain when he quickly shoved his burnt arm as deep as he could into his pocket. ERi could tell he was trying to play it off, but she felt pity for him being injured to use a dangerous attack on Zeru.

"Hiei, are you okay? Your arm..." Eri inquired glancing down at the burnt arm. Hiei gazes up at the girl trying to hold back to pain feeling a lump in his throat go dry.

"I'm fine." He assured in a low tone.

Eri sadly gazes down at him saying, "I was worried about you after watching you use that attack on him." She said pausing between her sentence as she rested her head on Kurama's shoulder as Hiei stared into her eyes. "I was scared that you weren't coming back after that, but I was glad to see you keep fighting." Kurama rested a hand on the girl's head to keep her calm as she buried her face into his chest.

"She took quite a scare, thinking you weren't going to make it," Kurama told Hiei with a straight face showing a soft gaze in his green eyes.

The demon gave him a look and back at Eri who was still a little upset after he said, "You don't have to worry about me, child. I had a strategy planned from the start, and this was the opportunity for me to use my technique against that foe."

"Are you sure?" Eri lifts her head blinking down at him with her adorable huge red orbs that glistened. Hiei couldn't deny that the girl was staring down so innocently meeting his gaze.

"I'm certain of it." Hiei nodded.

A small smile appeared on the girl's lips, then she says, "Okay. Be careful next time." She heard a low grunt return before patting her head gently as he shoves his hand back into his pocket to watch Yusuke's match after he finally woke up to the reeking smell of alcohol that belongs to the Chu.

'Maybe these guys aren't bad after all. I can trust them.' Eri thought.


"And the winner of this battle and moving on to the next round is TEAM URAMESHI!" the announcer exclaimed.

The team heads back up to the hotel after the long match they fought for the first round. They knew there was more to come to be able to face Toguru's team eventually.

"I did enjoy this first match," Eri announce to the team. Yusuke and Kurama gave her grateful smiles, but Kuwabara only huffed at her. "Yukina is the only one I trust to fix me boo-boos!" he proclaimed loyally. Eri laughed, respecting Kuwabara's wishes.

"Hey, I didn't get a chance to meet you, although I was sleeping my ass off. Yusuke Urameshi." Yusuke told Eri as she shook his hand as Kurama set her down which was so short compared to the group. "How did you wind up here?" Yusuke asked.

"Eri told us that she woke up on the boat after having a blackout. She doesn't remember what happened to her exactly." Kurama explained.

"Oh, well, I guess weird things happen in this world, right?" Yusuke lightly chuckles scratching the back of his nape. "But, your welcome to hang with us since we're fighting through this together." Just as Yusuke raised the palm of his hand to ruffle her head, but Eri reacted so fast backing away to clutch onto Hiei's pant leg letting out a small whimper.

"Eh? What did you do?" Kuwabara asked.

"I don't know. I was just going to pet her head and...she backed away so suddenly," Yusuke said giving him an awkward look in the eyes full of confusion.

Hiei glanced down at Eri's small form asking himself in his own mind, 'Why is she trembling like that?'

"I don't think she likes that," Botan said.

"She didn't react when Hiei pet her head. Maybe it's because she thought you were doing something wrong."Kurama clarified.

"That's probably it," Shizuru said.

"We should all get some rest after the whole day of watching you guys fight," Keiko suggested.

"Yeah, but first let's get some food. I'm starving!" Yusuke said.

After they went downstairs to eat some grub, they head back to their rooms while Keiko and Shizuru had a room for themselves too. Eri didn't want to stay with the two girls, she preferred to stay in the same room from last night. She had already taken her bath and wore the same shirt Hiei had given her as she sat on the bed resting her hands on top of her lap. Hiei was showering as she scanned over to see a sword in the corner as she climbed off the bed to have a closer look at it. She stared at the sword to see how it was shiny and steal in her view as she reached for it.

"Don't touch it or you'll cut your finger. It's very sharp." Hiei said in a stern tone. He marched over to the girl with his hands on his hips glaring down at her as she scrunches up her face and hunched her shoulders up.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

The demon lets out a low huff and said, "It's fine. Just don't touch it because I don't want you to bleed out."

Eri nodded, as Hiei presumes to put his clothes in his bag and zip it up. Eri approaches over to his side to glimpse over at his right being burnt. I was still in bad shape like before and she wanted to soothe him for his pain, but she's afraid he wouldn't allow her. The demon noticed Eri standing next to him as he set his stuff aside to face the girl.

"Why are you standing there like a statue?" He asked.

"I-I wanted to make sure that you were okay," Eri replied.

"We've already discussed that topic earlier. I don't need your pity to come down on me." He retorts as she nodded.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled.

A deep sigh escapes Hiei's lips, there was no need to be angry with her if she was trying to do anything wrong. She clearly listened and didn't misbehave as any child would do. He glanced at her to see the scars on her arms and thought back when Yusuke tried to touch her head making her tremble. What was she scared of?

"Did you want to comfort me?" Hiei asked.

This time the tone of Hiei's voice was calmer and nice for Eri to make eye contact with him. She merely nodded hearing him say, "You can touch it. Just don't do anything rational."

"I-I won't. I promise." She said reaching her hand out to touch his arm to gently pet the burnt skin.

Hiei asked, "Why were you trembling when Yusuke was about to touch you? He didn't mean any harm. Not for a human, I would think of."

Eri lowers her head avoiding his gaze replying, "I don't wanna talk about it."

'There she goes again after asking about the scars. The same response as before.' Hiei thought.

He then said, "You'll have to tell me about or confront with me including the others about this. I'll keep this to myself for now, but we'll eventually discuss it. Got that?" Hiei saw Eri return a short nod as she lowered her head as he glanced at the clock to see it was pretty late. "We better rest."

"A-Are you fighting tomorrow?" Eri asked.

"I'll have to," Hiei replied.

"B-But you can't fight in that condition! You need to see a doctor." Eri said.

"I can take care of this myself." He claimed.

He didn't say anything else after that and Eri shuts her mouth as her cheeks puffed out a little huff. Hiei lets out a sigh using his left arm to pick up the girl and put her to bed that she slept in last night. He laid her down giving her a look for a quick second before retreating to his. It was painful to rest with a burnt arm and resting in that condition was no good as Eri could hear him grunt and letting out small hisses.

'Poor Hiei...' She thought after facing the other way to feel her eyes grow heavily shut into the pit of darkness.