Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I own nothing that belongs to the creators of Yu Yu Hakusho OR Sailor Moon.

Elvenrose22: Hi! Thank you so much for leaving your review! You wrote such kind words and I really appreciate the support! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I would love to hear from you again!

Guest: Glad you enjoyed the first chapter! Thank you so much for your kind words and support! As for the twining the two worlds together...I honestly haven't quite decided yet haha. This really is a work in progress. I am updating as I write the chapters. Hope to hear from you again soon!

Guest: Oh believe me, I know in a real-world context that such a touch before even getting to know one and other properly would be beyond creepy! I wanted an undertone of Yoko (which this will all make sense and come into play later) to show through Kurama's polite and typically gentlemanly persona. I guess at the end of it all...I'm a sucker like most for the darker, more possessive side of Yoko Kurama (which I get might come off as extremely unhealthy on my part). Thanks so much for your open concern and the polite and supportive way that you brought that across. I really do appreciate it and I do hope to hear more from you in the future!

ONWARD!

"I won't be here for the next few months," Shuichi states as we walk together from the main school building of Meiou High. I school my reaction, just as I had done the entirety of our biology class. It had been torture, utter hell, and I had wasted way too much energy and attention on ensuring that I didn't give anything away.

Inwardly, however, I still couldn't get over the fact that the boy standing next to me wasn't entirely human.

Without any further interruptions, from weirdly enhanced humans or the Netherworld, I had been given more time to reflect on the events that had transpired while at home over the weekend. There was no way that Shuichi…Kurama, and his companion could be fully human. A human could not seemingly pull a rose out of thin air, nor would they have the capability of making a rose, of all things, a weapon. Shuichi couldn't have chased after me like he had after the events with Toguro, and found me, if he was human.

I was starting to believe Yusuke might not be entirely human either after that encounter with Toguro.

'But I couldn't sense anything off about Yusuke, or Shuichi,' I remember reflecting earlier during class as I stared down at my unfinished work. I had a sixth sense of sorts about demons and Netherworld beings. Their auras settled a chill into my very bones when near them. Neither Yusuke, nor Shuichi, had garnered that sort of reaction. 'Shuichi's buddy Hiei, though…' I frown as I remember the demon with gravity defying hair. It hadn't been coldness I had felt radiating from Hiei, something I was familiar to feeling when around demons.

I had nearly started sweating at the heat that overwhelmed me instead.

"Oh?" I question the red-head, bringing myself back to the present. "What's up?"

"Nothing, really. I am involved in a club outside of school, and we're going on a nature retreat of sorts into the mountains," Shuichi lies smoothly, and I can't help raising an eyebrow.

That was the best he could come up with?

"I never realized you were into such things," I comment easily. To the untrained eye, they would have missed it, but I could see the moment Shuichi stiffens up at my observation.

"Yes, well, I'm full of surprises."

Clearly.

A tense moment of silence passes. "So, would you mind keeping my work gathered for me? I'll need to catch up when I return," my gut clenches a little in worry, remembering the description that Toguro had given of the Dark Tournament.

'If you return,' I chew on my lower lip, nodding. 'I still have to find a way to that Tournament for Kazuma's sake.' "My brother has told us he is leaving as well to go and train at Genkai's Temple. Shizuru wasn't too excited about him missing school," I inform Shuichi, watching as something flashes over his face, an unreadable look that's quickly replaced. To someone who wasn't looking for it, it could have been brushed off as a change of lighting.

I knew better.

"Sometimes we must follow paths that some might not understand," Shuichi states as if giving sage advice. I lift an eyebrow at that, and decide to try and push my luck a little.

"Shizuru and I both think Kazuma is lying. He's an easy tell, to be honest," I speak up casually. It's so discreet that even I barely notice it, but Shuichi's shoulder's stiffen once more. "Our brother is up to something, and knowing my big sister, we'll find out exactly what he is hiding from us."

"Or he could just as easily be telling you both the truth," Shuichi replies evenly, and I almost can't stop the cynical smirk from spreading over my lips.

He was one to be talking about telling the truth.

Then again, however, I was no better.

"Maybe. Seems rather coincidental that you a both leaving around the same time for the same amount of time," I reply, keeping my voice casual. Shuichi gives a non-committal hum as we arrive at the intersection that Shuichi and I normally part ways. I look up into his big green eyes, sparkling like emeralds as the sun set behind him, his red hair even brighter than normal. I couldn't help it as my breath catches in my throat slightly looking over the flawlessness of his pale skin and sharp cheekbones.

Dammit he really was handsome.

"Well, good luck communing with nature, I suppose," I smirk a little, Shuichi smirking as well in response as he nods.

"Thanks. And thank you in advance for helping me keep up with school while I'm gone."

"As if you actually need my help," I scoff, knowing for a fact that Shuichi was brilliant enough to do so himself. All he does is give a placating smile, before raising his hand in a single wave and turning away, heading down the street. I swallow thickly, the words I really wanted to say clawing up my throat as the anxiety sudden erupts in my chest.

"Be careful?" I call out to him before he gets too far, unable to stop myself. He stills mid-stride, turning his head only slightly so he could look at me over his shoulder. His full lips are parted, a questioning, and even slightly alarmed, look on his face. "Don't let any of the wild animals get you," I add quickly, his face instantly relaxing into a warm smile at that.

"Will do, Kaera. Take care of yourself while I'm gone," he farewells, and this time continues on to disappear into the crowd of people walking along the sidewalk.

Leaving me wondering how I was going to get to where he, and my brother, were actually going.

"Yo, punk," I knock on my brother's door with my elbow, having a steaming hot mug of cocoa in each hand. Kazuma looks up from his bed where he's stuffing clothing into a duffel bag, his eyes lighting up when he sees what I brought. "Figured you could use a break," I sigh, walking over and handing one of the mugs to him, before taking a seat on the edge of his bed.

"Thanks, sis!" Kazuma grins widely, sitting down and raising the mug to his lips. I smirk, waiting for it, and watching with amusement as he jolts back from the rim, burning his upper lip.

Happens every single time.

"Patience is a virtue," I sing at my brother, watching his face screw up slightly in annoyance as he lightly glares down at the mug in his hand. His burnt top lip curls slightly in frustration, giving the hot chocolate a look of betrayal

"I know, I know," He grumbles, before blowing lightly over the hot liquid.

"So…months, huh? Can't even give us an actual timeline of how long you'll be gone?" I ask lightly, cupping my cold hands around the warm mug for comfort. I give Kazuma a sidelong glance, his expression darkening slightly.

"I have no idea how long Genkai's training is going to take," Kazuma replies, shrugging his shoulders. "I'll be done when I'm done. I honestly can't say any more than that because I don't know more for certain."

Liar. A voice hisses in my head.

I hesitate, chewing at my lower lip, before finally speaking up as I look at him fully. "You would tell Shizuru and I, right? If something was up?" Kazuma refuses to meet my gaze, my stomach dropping. "You would tell me, then? Your cool, older sister? Right?"

"There isn't anything more for me to tell. It's training, that's it. I'll be fine," Kazuma states firmly, but even if I didn't actually know what was going on, I knew that tone well enough by now. It was the same tone that he used when he was lying through his teeth. "Can't let Urameshi think he can keep winning against me in an actual fight."

"You're lying to me," I rightly accuse him, Kazuma's blue eyes widening a little as he looks at me with shock. "You don't think I can't tell when you're lying? You're bullshitting a bullshitter, bro," the words I had chosen were light, but the frustration at his lying was still very evident. "This isn't about training to go up against that Urameshi kid. It's not about defending your territory around Sarayashiki. Tell me what's going on."

"I can't, Kaera," Kazuma growls, his large shoulders tensing as he stands, taking himself and his cup of cocoa to his window. He stares out it, his back to me, but I can see the faint reflection of his face. I feel my heart squeeze painfully in my chest, recognizing that look.

It was the same look he had on his face when our parents died.

The stoic, determined look. Hard a stone. It was the face that didn't let anyone see what I knew to be on the inside.

Fear, and doubt.

Kazuma and I were closer to one and other as siblings than either of us were to Shizuru. The major age gap could be partly to blame, but growing up I was Kazuma's protector on the school yard. That was until Kazuma grew bigger than me, and then he became my protector. There wasn't anything we've never been able to talk about with one and other.

Until I became Sailor Moon, that is.

"Fine," I murmur softly, standing with my own hot chocolate and watching him carefully in his reflection. I can feel the stirrings of terror for him worming it's way through my body, and my eyes even began to burn with tell-tale tears. What if this was the last night I ever saw my little brother alive? A moment of uncomfortable silence passes between us, before I find the strength to speak once again, though my voice shakes. "I love you, you know? I don't know what I'd ever do without you."

There, the tiniest crack in his facade appears, his own eyes softening in the reflection. He swallows thickly, before placing his cup on the desk next to the window as he turns towards me. I place my own on his nightstand closest to me, before rushing him as he opens his large arms up for me.

I hug him with everything I could muster in that moment.

"You won't ever have to find out, Kaera," Kazuma murmurs into my hair, holding me tightly in return. I give a shaky sigh, fighting back the persistent tears still, one slipping through as I clench my eyes shut and burying my face against his chest.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

The first month I was an anxious mess.

The second month was utter torture.

Kazuma would get word to us when he could from Genkai's Temple, but other than that we really had no idea what was happening, or where exactly this Temple even was. It was somewhere in the mountains, but that was all Shizuru and I could get out of our little brother when we asked.

Funny, again, how Shuichi's story lined up with Kazuma's.

Not.

I knew Shuichi was with him. Had to be. It made sense with what happened that night with that monster Toguro. No doubt he and Shuichi were training together, or rather Shuichi was probably training him. It was strange, but the idea of my brother being watched over by Shuichi brought me some comfort on nights were my mind couldn't stop thinking about what Kazuma was doing, or how he was doing.

"Kaera!" A familiar voice calls out to me, bringing me out of my own head for a moment. Looking over my shoulder I see Keiko rushing to catch up to me, weaving through the sparse amount of people walking the sidewalk with us.

"Keiko, hey," I greet back as she reaches me, and I know I look surprised. To be honest, Keiko and I never really talked all that much. Though she was friends with Yusuke, and by extension Kazuma, we never really had a reason to connect. We had no classes together, she ran with the popular group of her grade and I was, by all intents and purposes, a loner. We had no common ground to really stand on.

So why the hell was she flagging me down?

"Listen, I've been getting worried," Keiko frowns at me, not even bothering with pleasantries and cutting right to the point. Her brown eyes look fiercely determined, brows furrowed with frustration. "What do you know about what the boys are up to? Yusuke told me that Kazuma was going to be leaving for this 'training' too," I try to look a little shocked at this information, though I had figured by the nature of Toguro's demand, Yusuke would be disappearing as well. Nobody had said anything to either Shizuru or I yet about Yusuke, however. Not even Kazuma before he left.

"About as much as you, honestly," I reply, sighing heavily. "Kazuma calls us every now and then, but getting any kind of details about where exactly he is, or what he is up to, is like trying to pull teeth. He gives us an idea of how his training is going, but all we really know is to expect him to be gone for months."

"That's more than I know," Keiko frowns, tucking some of her short hair behind her ear. "Yusuke hasn't even bothered to call his own Mother, let alone me," I frown genuinely at that, feeling sorry that Keiko was left in the dark right now as to how dangerous things were going to be getting for Yusuke and my brother. I least I had some knowledge, enough to continue trying to research and find where this Dark Tournament is taking place.

Keiko had absolutely nothing to go on.

"I have a plan," My eyebrows shot up at that. "I know someone who will know what's going on and where the guys are heading," My lips part in genuine surprise this time.

"Really?" I ask hopefully, Keiko nodding her head firmly.

"Botan." I frown at that, tilting my head.

How come I had never thought of her?

"Okay, well, why don't you get in contact with Botan and invite her over to our place?" I suggest. "We can interrogate her there for answers."

"If she'll give us any," Keiko sighs, her grip on her school briefcase tightening. I snort.

"Believe me, if anyone is going to get anything out of Botan, it will be Shizuru. She can be scary when she is determined to get what she wants," I reply easily. "If she really wants to push for answers from either Kazuma or I, she gets them. She's the scary sister," Keiko looks amused at that, a small smile quirking at the corner of her lips.

"What sister are you then?"

"The cool one," I wink at her playfully.

I mean, I was Sailor fucking Moon. How much cooler could I get?

You know, I could have been wrong.

Shizuru might be the scary, and the cool sister.

I mean, she had barely allowed Botan the time to take her shoes off before she had started cornering the poor girl. I hadn't even been able to properly welcome her to our home by the time she and Keiko had chased Botan through the house, and had her backed up on the floor against the side of my bed with nowhere to go, Botan's unique purple eyes glancing fearfully between Keiko and Shizuru as they intimidated her into breaking down.

The answer to where the boys were all came spilling forth before I could even say 'hello' to the pretty blue haired girl.

'Good thing neither of them heard Toguro's definition of the Tournament,' I think to myself, frowning as I look between Shizuru's pale face, and Keiko's unconscious one.

Botan's expression is still nervous and worried as she looks down towards Keiko, who was currently using her lap as a pillow. "This could have gone better," She sighs softly in regret.

"I can't believe they'd be so reckless," Shizuru states angrily, frowning as she looks between Botan and Keiko.

"But they had to," Botan insists, echoing my own thoughts. Toguro had made the stakes very clear.

Either fight in the Tournament for your lives, or die if you don't enter.

"Those in charge won't let them refuse. The only way for them to live is to fight."

Keiko suddenly snaps back into consciousness, sitting up and turning to grab onto Botan's arm firmly in her hand. Botan, shocked, looks between her arm and the teenager girl with disbelief.

"Now listen," Keiko begins firmly, a deep frown settled on her face, "you have to take me there."

"Yes, I'm going too," Shizuru quickly interjects, her hands on her hips as she stands.

"You guys won't be going without me, either," I add in, gazing at Botan with determination, even as the blue haired girl tries to stutter through an excuse for us not to go. Her face quickly falls in defeat, however, when she can't obviously come up with a solid reason for us not to go.

"Fine," She sighs resignedly, her head bowing with her eyes shut in exasperation.

I, meanwhile, felt like my heart was lighter than it had been for weeks.

I was going to find my little brother, and I was going to do everything in my power to keep him safe.

To keep him alive.

"So…you're the Grim Reaper?" I ask, unable to stop some of the humor from leaking into my voice as I look at the pretty blued haired girl beside me. Botan gives a disarming smile as she nods, before looking out over the ocean once more. I blink, turning to look out over the gently rolling waves that the large luxury ferry was creating as we cut through the glass-like water below.

Well, I mean…should I honestly be shocked?

After getting the low-down from both Keiko and Botan together below decks in the plush sitting rooms about what's actually been going on the for the better part the year, I shouldn't be. Yusuke dying I knew about, and his mysterious resurrection as well. I had known that Spirit World no doubt had a handle on things there, but it wasn't my place to pry or interfere, so I didn't. I had my missions, my battles, and things that I needed to accomplish to keep humanity safe from the Netherworld.

But if I had known about Kazuma's involvement, I would have stepped in a long time ago.

The Artifacts of Darkness. Genkai's Tournament and Rando. Maze Castle. Powerful black-market businessmen. Demons.

Toguro.

Botan stood beside me silently, continuing to graciously allow me the silence to absorb everything. She had volunteered to come above deck with me while I got some air, and though I knew she probably wanted to support me, I also knew she feared for me being left alone on this ship. I was beginning to see that Botan was a warm and kind individual, and again was happy to know that Kazuma, no matter the dangers, has at least surrounded himself with people he could clearly depend on.

I tried not to let it sting too harshly that he obviously felt like he couldn't depend on me.

'Then again, he doesn't know about my own powers. He doesn't know I'm Sailor Moon, and that's the way it needs to stay for both his and Shizuru's sakes,' I frown a bit more, my hands tightening their grip on the steel railing beside me. 'With him throwing himself into danger anyways, however, what's the point of keeping this a secret?' Maybe I could tell him, tell Shizuru, and selfishly lighten the burden on myself. Have people that I could talk to, and not have to worry about hiding what has now become a big part of who I am.

Shuichi…did he have to hide who he really was from his family as well?

"So, Shuichi…he's a demon?" I ask softly, and Botan looks towards me a little confused, before her mouth parts in realization when she figures out who I'm talking about.

"Oh, you mean Kurama?" She asks, and I try not to flinch at the name I couldn't associate with the red-head just yet. It just…didn't suit the guy, my classmate, maybe even my friend, I had come to get to know.

It did, however, suit the man that had saved me all those months ago. The one that had tracked me down to demand answers that I just couldn't give him.

"Yeah, him," I nod, lips forming a thin line. "We have Advanced Bio together, that's how I know him," I explain, wanting my interest to not seem too…searching.

"The uncomplicated answer is, yes," Botan answers as she smooths down her pretty kimono, the oranges, reds, yellows, and the purple obi all working surprisingly well together, and suiting her better than I think it would most. I paled in comparison to her, dressed in a comfortable, oversized, white knit sweater and black, relaxed-fit jeans. "Yoko Kurama was a Spirit Fox that lived in Demon World, but he was injured and had to take refuge as a human baby developing in his mother's womb."

"It almost makes him sound like a parasite," I mutter, frowning. I felt a little remorseful at my words, something inside of my tugging painfully at the thought of Shuichi being any less perfect than he seemingly was.

"I know it might seem that way," Botan begins diplomatically as she frowns at me, "but Kurama…Shuichi, has come to love and care for his human mother. He'd never hurt her. Ever. He even almost gave his own life to save her, and risked serious punishment from Spirit World as well."

"The mirror," I hum in remembrance, Botan having gone into detail about the Artifacts and what happened during their collection by Yusuke.

"Exactly," Botan nods, a small smile on her face once more, before she turns to look out over the horizon. "There it is," She whispers softly, almost as if she were speaking to herself. Her voice is filled with apprehension, and so I turn to see what she is gazing at.

There, in the distance, was an island. The island.

Hanging Heck Island.

'Here we go,' I frown deeply, my own anxiety increasing steadily the larger the island began to get.

I had gotten here, but what I could do to ensure Kazuma's safety…

That was the next hurdle to jump.

"These ugly things are the apparitions?" Keiko asks, disgust clear in her voice as her brown eyes were wide, taking everything in. Shizuru is standing next to Keiko, smoke pinned between her lips and watching as well with feigned disinterest.

I could tell she was tense, though.

"Yes, Keiko, and please watch what you say," Botan advises her nervously, voice tinged with impatience. I would be too if I was the blue haired Grim Reaper. Keiko doesn't seem bothered, and instead turns with determination towards Botan and points at her.

"Why? Because it's dangerous? Well don't you think it was dangerous not letting us know all this?" Keiko demands. "You're too easy on him. Yusuke can't keep lying to people he cares for," she goes on, and I barely hold back an amused smirk.

I could tell, now, why Yusuke likes Keiko so much.

"Come on, Shizuru, Kaera, let's find them," Keiko goes on, grabbing onto Shizuru's arm and turning towards the entrance for the arena. I sigh softly as Botan turns to me, her purple eyes a little wide. Shrugging my shoulders, I give her an easy grin.

"I suppose it takes a sharp tongue like that to handle Yusuke," Botan admits, before looking around the area. "Speaking of sharp tongues. Where is Koenma?" I watch in slight amusement as Botan drifts off, clearly now focused on finding this Koenma person. Once she disappears into the crowd of demons, I turn and move in the direction Keiko and Shizuru had left, easily finding them. They were both looking around, clearly at a loss now where to go or what to do. Giving a soft sigh, I approach them.

"Listen," I catch their attentions, both of them look at me curiously, "I get that Botan lied as well, but I think you guys both need to get over that and trust her. She knows what's she is doing, or at least, more than we know," I add, looking around as the apparitions that hung around watched us with interest. Botan said that it was against the rules here for them to attack any humans on site, but I knew personally that demons didn't play by anyone's rules but their own.

"How can you say that, Kaera? Aren't you mad at them too?" Keiko asks, bewilderment in her voice. I sigh heavily, frowning as I look to the younger girl, and trying to make sure I choose my words wisely.

"Furious, in fact," I admit, hands clenching into fists. "Hurt that Kazuma couldn't trust his own family with all of this. We won't get a chance to voice any of this though if we get ourselves killed before Botan can take us to the boys," I reason, Keiko's shoulders slumping. Shizuru places her hand on Keiko's shoulder, gently squeezing it.

"Though I hate to admit it, my kid sister is right. Let Botan lead us to them, and then we can kick their asses," Shizuru agrees.

'If they don't get their asses handed to them before we get the chance,' I can't help the pessimistic thought, my stomach clenching tightly in nerves.

"A-alright," Keiko nods, and I manage to give her a tight, small smile.

"Alright, let's go back and find her then."

And find Botan we did, along with a rather handsome fellow…with a pacifier stuck between his lips.

I try not to stare…I really do.

And I try not to laugh as Koenma introduces himself and asserts how 'cool' he is, which was infinitely more harder to stop than the staring.

I mean…a grown man…with a pacifier.

'I can't believe we're following a man sucking on a pacifier into, what feels like, the belly of the Underworld. Of all the things I ever though I'd be doing…' Shaking my head in amusement as we're guided through the halls of the stadium, I can hear the roar of the crowd even through the thick cement walls. Worry returns and overtakes me quickly.

Was my little brother out there fighting right now?

I get my answer, and sooner than I had anticipated.

It's a good thing we had somewhere to sit soon after we entered into the stadium, having separated from our guide only moments before, because my knees turned to jello the moment I saw the familiar reddish-orange, pompadour styled hair of my brother…

Centered in the ring.

I sat down beside my older sister, putting both Botan and I on the outskirts of the group and next to demons. I'm not sure whether I did this consciously or not in that moment, ensuring that I was a barrier between my sister and anything nasty that came our way.

I was too focused on my brother getting his ass handed to him by a kid.

"Oh dear, Rinku is fast and incredibly acrobatic," Botan comments, and I'm barely able to hear her over the roar of the crowd.

"My brother is just standing there," Shizuru adds, sounding confused.

"It's awful," Keiko comments, her voice filled with shock.

I couldn't form words even if I wanted to with how hard it felt like a hand was squeezing my heart.

Not to mention the smell of charred and burned bodies made me want to puke.

Glancing across the stadium for a moment, I take notice of a path burned through the seats opposite of us, charred bodies of demons laying in pieces where it looked like a fire-ball had gone through.

'I hope Rinku isn't the one that did that,' I think to myself desperately, the hair on my arms standing on end as I look back towards the ring once more. Unconsciously my hand comes up and grips my sweater over my heart as I watch on in mystified horror, Rinku now seeming to almost multiply with how fast he was bouncing around my little brother.

And the kid was fast.

'Come on, Kazuma…concentrate,' I beg to myself, chewing hard on my lower lip. Kazuma looks around, his gazed narrowed and posture stiff as he clearly tries to track Rinku's movements.

Then, finally, as if he had been able to hear my thoughts, Kazuma lands a solid punch to the top of the kid's head, sending him somersaulting across the ring.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, the match momentarily slowing down, I lean back, shoulders relaxing.

I knew it was hardly over.

Kazuma continues to land a few more hard hits, Rinku looking like each hit that took him down was harder to recover from. A particularly hard kick takes Rinku to the floor, and the boy just manages to sit up, face filled with pain and clearly struggling.

"Maybe we were wrong to worry about them all all?" I comment lightly from beside my sister, naive hope gripping me. Maybe this Dark Tournament wasn't as bad as Toguro made it seem? Maybe my little brother and his friends were stronger than we, I, had given them credit for?

I had spoken too soon.

Kazuma went in for the final punch, but the kid had clearly been putting on an act. Rinku moved, even faster than I could track, coming up behind Kazuma. A well delivered kick to the side of my brother's face had his neck bending unnaturally as his body went sailing through the air.

I felt sick to my stomach.

His neck was broken…it had to be.

The woman that was commentating steps back, grimacing over the mic in disgust as my brother nearly lands at her feet. I hardly take notice, finding myself standing and leaning forward, watching intently for any sign of life. The crowd is losing it around us, but it's only a dull roar compared to the pounding of my heart in my ears.

"One…two…," The demon judge in the ring begins the count-down, Kazuma laying motionless on the ring floor.

No…no this couldn't be it. Not like this.

I could feel my own powers itching beneath the surface of my skin, only a tiny thread of self control, of hope, keeping them at bay.

"…five…six…seven…,"

"What's the point in counting? I broke the dummy's neck!" We could hear Rinku's voice dimly with his proximity to the judge's mic as she continued the count-down. My stomach twisted in pure rage at the kid's easy dismissal of my brother's life. "Say, why don't you count his last heartbeats?"

If Kazuma's neck was broken, if he was dead, that little shit was going to pay.

I would take care of it personally.

"Yeah, you're the best Rinku!"

"We're behind you all the way!"

Rinku grinned widely and turned to the crowd at that, clearly soaking it all in. He waves at them, face filled with joy.

The little shit even goes as far as to blow the crowd a kiss.

Then, he suddenly freezes.

And my brother slowly rises up from the floor, a cocky smirk on his own face.

"Actually…my neck is just fine…"

Hearing Kazuma's voice through the judge's mic has my legs giving out from under me, relief flooding through my veins and muscles like a tidal wave. Dropping down hard onto the seat beside Shizuru once more, I can't stop the hand that is still clutching onto my sweater over my heart from trembling.

He's alive. He's okay.

And he was in deep trouble when I finally got a hold of his cocky, lying ass.

Rinku's face drops, and he turns to look towards my brother in annoyance.

"He's okay," Keiko sighs in relief.

"That boy is something," Botan adds, surprise clear in her own voice.

"He's our brother, is what he is," Shizuru adds, and I feel her take my free hand next to her own and grip it tightly. I squeeze her hand in return, turning and giving her a nervous smile, which she returns, before we both look back towards the fight.

"I love it! Just when we thought it was done, the two are facing off again!" The demon woman exclaims from the ring, sounding genuinely enthusiastic for this senseless fight to continue.

Demons made me sick.

"That human is like a punching bag!"

"Rip him apart, Rinku!"

We all ignore the calls from the crowd, so clearly against our brother's team. Instead I focus on Kazuma, watching as he cracks his neck and looks at his opponent with determination.

"The first competitors of the tournament are locked in a stare-down! Who will throw the next punch?!" As if to emphasis what the demon woman was commentating, the skies suddenly crackle above with thunder, causing me to skittishly jump.

Shizuru's hand squeezing my own grounds me once more.

Rinku suddenly pulls a pouch in front of him that had been resting at his hip, reaching in with a confident smirk spread wide on his face. He reveals not one, not two, but eight yo-yos attached to each finger.

And his energy spikes. A lot.

The charge in the air could be felt by everyone, even Keiko, goosebumps littering all of our arms. Shizuru lets go of my hand in that moment, rubbing it over her opposite form arm through the sleeve of her shirt.

'This kid is stronger than most of the Netherworld demons that I go up against,' I realize fearfully, eyes wide with shock.

"The Serpent Yo-Yo Attack!" Rinku shouts out, his voice echoing unnaturally around the stadium as his body hummed and vibrated with the energy he was exuding.

Kazuma, not to be outdone, follows suit.

I'm astounded at the sudden burst of energy I feel coming from my little brother. I had always known he had spirit energy, that he was spiritually aware, but I never knew he could physically harness it. Watching his energy form into two sword-like objects and both of his hands, my jaw literally drops.

"Double Spirit Sword!" Kazuma's voice echoes around the stadium, much like Rinku's had as he swings both of his spirit swords in front of him, crossing the blades. They face off against one and other for a mere moment, before Rinku launches himself in the air and lets four of his yo-yos fly.

"Spin-tops!" Rinku shouts loud enough for us to hear, even up where we were. Kazuma swings the blade of one of his swords, clearly intending to simply cut the strings that ran from the childish weapons to their owner. It seemed like a simple, straight forward way to finally end things.

Until the strings suddenly moved out of the path of Kazuma's sword.

'It's like they have a mind of their own,' I gape in shock, leaning forward once more as my heart leaps into my throat. Kazuma takes the direct hit, clearly caught off-guard. His pained cries cut through me like a knife, and the feeling of overwhelming helplessness overtakes me once more.

I was here, at the Tournament like I wanted…but I still couldn't keep him safe.

Not now, not from this.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who saw that people! Somehow the yo-yos snuck around to avoid Kuwabara's sword!" The girl in the ring shouts in clear amazement, her voice tinged with sick joy.

Rinku, meanwhile, is casually playing with said deadly weapons as Kazuma recovers.

Kazuma powers up once more, summoning his spirit swords, and the fight was back on.

Rinku begins by some sort of take on what looked like the trick 'walking the dog', his yo-yos digging into the very floor of the ring as he traveled forward behind them, floating with his own energy. In a feat of brute strength I hadn't know my little brother was capable of, he backs away while using his spirits swords to cut up and throw pieces of the arena in Rinku's path, slowing him down.

Rinku is hardly dissuaded, however.

He sends his yo-yos through the last half dozen barriers of concrete that Kazuma had created in front of him, taking him by surprise. His spirit swords both dissipate as he looses concentration due to the hit, the strings quickly wrapping themselves around Kazuma's wrists and ankles. Horrified, we watch on helplessly as Rinku uses the leverage to throw Kazuma down onto the ring.

Over, and over, and over again.

Until, suddenly, Rinku slowly raises Kazuma up high above us all, not stopping until he reaches the same height as the opening of the stadium above.

'He's hundreds of feet in the air…if Rinku were to let him go now…,' I think to myself, tears of worry and anger burning in my eyes. 'Have I come all this way just to watch my little brother die? Just to be able to sit back, unable to do anything?'

"Well, I'll let you use your own imaginations for what happens if that human's poor, frail, body falls from the top of the stadium, and crashes all the way down to the ring!"

Trembling, mind racing on what I could do in that moment, a thought hits me so hard I can barely breathe.

I was Sailor Moon, Defender of Love and Justice, Protector of the Earth…but what good was that, all my powers, if I couldn't even save the ones I loved most?

Looking forward to hearing what you guys think!

Until next time!

T.O.T.