Chapter 9: The Tournament

The tournament had finally arrived a day later. Most of the servants were outside helping set up the platform that would be the area the contestants were to fight. There was an air of excitement that spread across the castle, every maid thrilled at the opportunity to observe the strong males of the fortress and every man not competing greedy for the chance to see a fight. The hustle and bustle could not be any more unmistakable as the enthusiastic feel that seized the entire staff.

Sae stood at the top floor, looking down threw a small window at the stage that was slowly starting to form. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her face calm and to any bystander that should come across her she appeared at peace.

But inside, Sae's was panicking.

It would only be another hour until the tournament began. And although Youhei and Touya had gone through every possible strategy to help her overcome her opponents, Sae was still feeling nervous. Everything was riding on this plan. If Sae did not win then there might not be another chance for her and her brother to escape this place. Youhei might have already resigned himself to this fate but Sae would not back down without a fight.

Literally.

"Are you ready?" asked a voice solemnly.

Sighing, Sae turned away from the window. "I'm ready," she said, squaring her shoulders. She would not allow her nervousness to show, no matter how much her stomached twisted into knots.

Youhei grimaced. "I will be honest, I am not. But seeing as I've already told you not to do this and you refused to listen every time, I will just hold my peace."

"Good," Sae nodded, grateful not to hear another long speech about the dangers and risks. She didn't think her nerves could take it. Already she felt like she might lose her breakfast and it took everything she had to hold it down.

Side by side, they walked in silence, making their way down the corridor towards the stairs. Sae could sense the tension radiating off her twin brother, worry making his brow scrunch together and his lips thin with agitation. But she could not let it daunt her from her plan. She was doing this partly for him as well. He would thank her in the end.

Hopefully.

"How is it that you were able to get permission to compete, anyway?" Youhei suddenly asked, breaking the strained silence. "Isn't the noble lady you serve going to wonder where you are?"

"Lady Fukui knows of my plans to compete and is actually in support of me. As long as I champion her," Sae said, thinking back on the day she had informed the lady of her decision. At first, Lady Fukui had seemed taken aback at the announcement. She said that she had been unaware that Satoru had any previous experience wielding a sword. Let alone capable of competing in a tournament full of strong well trained soldiers. But as Sae stiffly explained that she had years of swordsmanship experience and that she was most certainly skilled enough to win the tournament, Lady Fukui had given her blessing to enter the competition as long as Satoru did it in her honor.

Seeing no other way around it, Sae had agreed. It was a small sacrifice to Sae if she won the tournament in Lady Fukui's name. She would still receive the money, if not the credit.

"Nobility," Youhei scoffed, dismissing the topic. Perhaps he had hoped to dissuade his sister by using her obligations to the lady, but clearly he had underestimated the amount of narcissism the privileged guests possessed.

Sae shrugged. Thus was aristocracy.

By the time the two siblings made it outside into the back courtyard, Sae had worked herself into a sweat. Her finger fidgeting was at an all-time high and to keep from appearing too nervous she gripped the hilt of her sword tightly.

"They will be starting soon," Touya said in greeting, striding up to them as they entered the clearing.

Youhei nodded grimly, looking over the glade. His eyes seemed to calculate the almost finished stage, the servants and soldiers gathering around the area, and the chattering of excitement slowly escalating in volume.

Sae, too, looked around. But her attention was caught on the hulking men practicing off to the side of the clearing. She knew she had already been warned of her competition. But for some reason, she had not taken size into real consideration. Now, however, staring upon the burly massive soldiers, Sae had to admit she should have thought twice before jumping in head first.

"There will be no turning back after we sign in," Youhei warned, having turned towards his sister.

Sae took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I know."

Touya, who stood on the other side of her, put a hand on her shoulder. "Last chance, little sister." He spoke quietly, with an undercurrent of concern in his tone.

"No," Sae stepped forward, her head held high. "I want to fight."

"Fine," Youhei said brusquely, pushing past her and leading the way to the sign-in booth.

A large man with an ugly scar running down the side of his face sat at the stand, his menacing scowl especially potent as they walked closer.

"General Nagasaki," Youhei said in greeting, giving a stiff but respectful solute.

Touya did the same.

"Youhei," The general said in a deep gravel voice, nodding his head slightly. "I am not surprised to see you here. I should have known those rumors about you not competing were false."

"They weren't," Youhei admitted, looking back at Sae with morose. "It will be my very unqualified younger brother who will enter the competition."

At the slight, Sae made a face.

General Nagasaki's brow rose high on his face. "I see," he looked Sae up and down, assessing. A beat later he seemed to come to a conclusion. "You should let your older brother compete, boy. This is no tournament for the foolishly brave."

Sae's scowl was automatic. "It is hardly foolish if I know the outcome," she retorted with bravado. "Me, winning."

The general scoffed slightly. "I can admire your courage boy," he said, handing them the sheet of paper with the competitor's names. "But we shall see about that arrogance of yours."

"You are not competing Touya?" Sae asked as they walked away from General Nagasaki and his irritatingly acute perception. She had known that there would be nay-sayers because of her size. And there would be a lot of those that would ridicule her for even trying. But it wasn't within her to back down. Not when everything was on the line.

"No," Touya replied, rubbing the back of his neck ruefully. "You and your brother might have the talent to wield a sword skillfully, but I was not. I seemed to have been born without that particular skill."

"Oh," was all she said.

Touya got a light air of mischief. "Do not worry Satoru. The gods may have deprived me of any true swordsmanship but they bestowed me with plenty of talent in the bedroom." He winked.

Sae's lip curled up in disgust. "You flatter yourself."

Touya shrugged, grinning.

Shaking her head, Sae concentrated on moving her feet forward. Although outwardly she was doing a decent job at hiding her apprehension, her heart was starting to beat a faster rhythm. Her palms felt sweaty and her limbs seem to grow heavier and heavier the closer she got to the platform.

"Satoru! Over here!" two familiar voices called out. "Satoru!"

Sae looked to her right and saw Daichi and Asumi standing side by side, waving at her with large smiles of encouragement on their faces. She felt a small smidge of tension leave her shoulders. Sae smiled and waved back.

"It seems you have supporters," Youhei commented blackly, glowering at them.

Sae gave him a small shove. "At least someone believes in me."

Youhei humphed and crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to comment.

"SILENCE!" boomed a voice.

The flow of chatter and constant movement came to a halt. Like everyone else, Sae looked up at the platform. There stood the infamous General Wong, still looking as greasy, stout, and odious as ever. Sae remembered the last time she had seen him. It had been when she and Youhei had first arrived in the castle and he had attempted to have them hanged for "assisting" a prisoner escape. But for some unknown reason, Lord Sesshomaru had spared their lives. Since then, however, Sae had taken a great disliking to this particular general.

"THE TOURNAMENT BEGINS NOW!" General Wong continued in a voice that echoed throughout the crowd. "OUR FIRST CONTESTANTS WILL BE HITOSHI AND SATORU!"

"That's you," Touya stated needlessly, looking over at Sae.

Sae inhaled another large breath of air, "Yeah." She shrugged out of the coat that she had been wearing and handed it to Touya.

"Good luck," he said solemnly, patting her on the shoulder firmly.

She nodded before looking up at her twin.

Youhei's face was tense, his body language speaking volumes. He wanted to prevent his sister from going but he knew that it was too late.

"Will you not wish me good luck?" Sae asked softly.

Youhei shook his head. "This had nothing to do with luck, Sae. Remember everything we taught you. Strength will be their ally but speed will be yours. Use it. Mercilessly."

"I know," there was a hint of hurt in her tone, but Youhei ignored it. Sae knew he was trying to stop himself from yanking her back to safety but it did not keep Sae's feeling from being slightly wounded. A simple word of encouragement would have been nice.

Sae secured her belt around her narrow waist before walking up the stairs to the stage. Her legs felt heavy, like stone bricks weighing her down, but she forced them to move forward. She could feel her heart begin that rapid tempo it did and her nerves become extremely heightened with anxiety. Still Sae found herself at the corner of the long wooden podium, facing an older man twice her size.

"Is he competing?" someone gasped, incredulous.

"He can't be older than 15!" another voice with skepticism.

A round of dubious whispers began to overtake the throng of people.

Sae gulped.

"WHEN THE GONG IS RUNG, YOU MAY BEGIN!"

Shaking her head, Sae took a fortifying breath, pulled out her sword and took her stance.

The soldier, the first opponent that Sae was to take down, spit black goo at his feet before also getting into a fighting stance.

Sae's eyes narrowed in on his left leg. As he shifted his weight back and forth on each side, there was a noticeable favoring of his right half. Probably from a previous injury. That would mean that this particular soldier seemed to have a bad knee.

"This is going to be easy as pie," the man chortled darkly, his yellow teeth flashing.

Mentally, Sae grinned. I couldn't have said it better myself.

The gong clanged thunderously.

"I'm curious my lord," Lady Fukui remarked casually, laying a slim hand on the stone railing. "You have never cared much in the competitions your servants have hosted before. What is it about this one that made it worthy of your interest?"

His face cool, Sesshomaru continued to watch the match before him unfold. Both he and Lady Fukui stood at the balcony leading from his room. It had been his intention to watch the tournament alone and assess a scrap of a boy that he discovered smelled strangely of roses. But it'd been only an hour before he had the unfortunate luck of finding himself with an unwelcome guest.

When there was no response, Lady Fukui pouted. "Surely if you have seen one human fight you have seen them all." She moved closer, practically purring, "There are other more interesting things we could do to entertain ourselves rather than watching a silly tournament." She ran a well-manicured finger up his arm.

"Lady Fukui," Sesshomaru spoke coldly, shifting away from her. "If there are other things that you'd like to be doing then do not let my interest in a silly tournament obtain you. I am sure there are others who would welcome your company."

Lady Fukui stood in silence, nonplused. Although her relationship with Lord Sesshomaru could hardly be considered affectionate -they were both in it for the carnal pleasures after all- he had never spoken to her in a tone that implied she were another mere one of his servants. So it took her a minute to recover. "As you wish," she bowed stiffly, her annoyance clear. "I will leave you to your humans … I know how much you enjoy their company."

She swept out of the bed chamber before another word was spoken.

Sesshomaru let a sardonic brow rise as the door slammed shut. Had she been any other nobility there would have been consequences to her actions. But Lord Fukui was a powerful lord and Sesshomaru needed his cooperation for his future plans. So Lady Fukui would go unscathed. For now.

There was a deafening cheer that rose from the audience of people below.

Sesshomaru turned back to the tournament.

It seemed that the small boy from the village had just taken down another opponent. He was kneeling on the chest of another man, pointing his sword straight at his throat. Despite his cap, his heaving chest was notable as was the sweat dripping down his young face. Yet, it was the other male that went limp on the floor and raised his hand up in defeat.

The boy lifted off the solider instantly as the mass of spectators roared with approval. He raised his sword in the air, grinning from ear to ear, clearly enjoying the attention and support he was receiving.

Sesshomaru observed all this with his eyes narrowing as every moment passed. He'd sensed something off about the boy when he and his brother had first arrived. But seeing as he cared very little about the personal lives of his servants, Sesshomaru had let the oddity slip. It hadn't been until a week prior that he'd made an intriguing discovery. It'd been late afternoon and like any day when it was pleasant outside, he had allowed Rin to play out in the meadows as he supervised her. That was when a familiar scent of roses reached his senses. Instantly alert, he had disposed of Rin in the care of Jaken and went to seek out the servant that dare enter his chambers.

What he discovered had left him taken back.

There, in the middle of an open field, had been the two brothers, and another soldier training in the forest. It did not take long for Sesshomaru to pinpoint the exact human the smell was coming from.

The boy, Satoru.

His claws had begun to throb, ready to tear skin from the young boy's throat. Only, something had stopped him. For the first time since Rin, Sesshomaru hesitated to kill a human. He hadn't been sure what stopped him, but as he had inspected the boy further, he no longer had the urge to tear his throat out.

He left a moment later, without a word.

Now, as he stood looking down at this puny male, he wondered again why he hadn't gone through with the kill.

"NOW, OUR LAST TWO COMPETITORS WILL TAKE THE STAGE!" yelled one of the generals. "THE LAST MAN STANDING IS OUR CHAMPION!"

A loud cheer spread right through the audience.

With his heightened sense of sight, Sesshomaru could see clearly the two opponents that stepped onto the platform one last time. One, was the young boy Satoru while the other was a much bigger man than the rest. This man, although in strength was nothing compared to the demon Sesshomaru, to the younger male about to combat him was grizzly in comparison.

Sesshomaru rubbed the bottom of his chin with a finger. This turn of events just got very interesting, indeed.

The gong clanged thunderously.

"Get up Satoru!" shouted Youhei, sounding panicked.

Her face plastered onto the wooden floor, Sae grimaced in pain. Her back felt as if had been broken at the center, a searing pain shooting up and down her body. On her fall she had landed on her right shoulder, the arm that she used to hold her sword, and because of the knife like discomfort she felt, she feared she might have dislocated it as well.

I was so close she thought despairingly, trying to lift her arm but a sharp sting preventing her from doing so.

The blow she had taken had felt like a house had fallen on her.

"Come on Satoru!" she heard Asumi's distressed voice cry out. "You can do it! Get up!"

"Get up Satoru!" Youhei yelled again, sounding closer this time.

Sae agonizingly turned her head to the side and saw her twin on the very edge of the stage, looking as if he was about to jump onto the platform any second.

"W-wait!" Sae chocked out, tasting the metallic tang of blood in her mouth. If her brother intervened in any way, it was a hang-able offense. She hadn't come this far just to lose her brother like that.

With a deep excruciating breath, Sae lifted herself with her forearm. "I'm okay!" she shouted, lifting a hand to keep Youhei from coming to her. "I can do this."

"Then get up!" Youhei retorted back, his hands fisted into tight balls.

Holding in an agonized cry of pain, Sae pushed herself up to her feet.

The crowd surrounding her gave another deafening cheer.

Sae swayed on her feet for a moment, not recovering her equilibrium very quickly. It took a few moments of panic and deep breathing for her to regain her focus.

"You should have just stayed down, boy," her opponent spat, his ginormous arms flexing with heavy muscle. His was bigger than any of the previous soldiers she had fought and a hundred times meaner. If Sae hadn't known any better, she would have thought he was not quite human. His body was brawny in a way that was almost surreal. Puffy veins covered his arms, legs, and neck as if large amounts of blood were pumping heavily through his body.

Sae smirked. "You got lucky," she said with confidence she didn't feel, gripping her sword steady fast. In spite of the fact that she felt like her body was shaking all over and her muscles were screaming in pain, Sae would not let this big ape intimidate her. If there was anything that Sae had proven to everyone in this castle today, was that size did not matter.

"We'll see about that!" the bear like man shouted, rage overtaking his features. He charged again, his arms raised high.

Mistake.

This strategy Sae knew all too well. Thanks to Youhei.

Sae squatted onto her knees, throwing her leg out behind her and hitting the other man behind the knees with all her strength.

He hit the floor with a large rumble.

Sae acted quickly and moved in for the kill, lifting herself to step on his chest.

But he recovered faster than expected and snatched her leg. With a beefy hand he yanked her down onto her back and rolled on top of her. "No one defeats me," he snarled, wrapping his hands around her throat and squeezing tight.

Struggling, Sae tried to scream as her arms flailed at his face.

"Stop him!" she heard Youhei roar in the distance. "He is cheating!"

White dots began to appear in front of her eyes, the shape of the man killing her starting to blur. Sae could feel her lungs tighten with the lack of oxygen and her heartbeat becoming a slow thumping in her ears. Her arms began to weaken, no longer able to claw at the male and soon fell to her side.

"It's the lord!" she thought she heard someone whisper in shock.

Another voice rose in astonishment. "It's Lord Sesshomaru!"

An escalating murmur started to form.

Then Sae knew nothing and all the world went black.

*Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. Any violence, perceived abuse, or negative behavior should not be taken literally. The plot is for entertainment purposes only. This author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material.