Chapter Four
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ONWARD!
"How do you like this one?! It's my take on 'Around The World'!" Rinku shouts so loudly that we could hear him even from our seats high in the stands while sending our brother painfully into the platform once more. Rinku, in a sadistic twist, had brought Kazuma down from his initial height to instead play with him like a puppet. My knuckles are going white with how hard I'm clenching my hands into fists, mind racing as I tried to think of a way to help.
'If I step in they will definitely be disqualified. And then what? Would their lives still be forfeited to this tournament?' I think to myself, chewing hard enough on my lower lip to almost draw blood. Kazuma's shouts echo around us, and I wince at the sound of his body hitting the ring for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Now, take your time with him, Rinku!"
"Give us more! I want to hear his fragile human bones breaking!"
"What a glorious fight!" The demoness on the ring shouts out with sick glee. "The opponent is absolutely helpless! It's hard to counter-attack when you can even move! I love it!"
"What kind of sick and twisted tournament is this?" I can't help asking in shock, eyes wide at the judge's words. The shouts around us echo similar merciless sentiments, and have my stomach churning and turning as every demon in the stadium urges Rinku to continue on with torturing my little brother.
"I warned you," Botan gently reminds me, her deep purple eyes not once leaving the ring as a concerned frown was etched on her own lips.
They had no idea how tough he was…and stubborn.
But the exasperated look on Rinku's face as he drives Kazuma into the ring one more time says he is finding out just that. I watch as Kazuma looks up at Rinku, and even at this distance I can see the determination in my little brother's eyes.
"Our little bro doesn't know when to give up," Shizuru comments from beside me, and I can't help a small smirk.
"This time, though, it's a good thing," I reply, Shizuru nodding in agreement as she takes another deep drag of her smoke.
My back suddenly goes ram-rod straight.
I can feel Rinku's energy expanding and increasing, causing the hair on my arms to lift straight up. All of us can only watch on in horror as Kazuma is once again lifted up high into the air, right towards the open ceiling of the stadium.
"I'm going to get you!" Kazuma can be heard yelling uselessly as he is pushed up further and further.
"Well, at least baby brother is getting a good view of the stadium," Shizuru comments lightly, and I'm a little surprised by her statement even though I knew this was how Shizuru dealt with stress. She made light of tense situations, had done so ever since Mom and Dad died.
"Well, at least they don't have to deal with bills anymore."
"Good thing Mom doesn't have to sit through her sister's fourth wedding like we do now."
"I thought without Dad here we wouldn't have to deal with stinky shoes, but Kazuma has him beat!"
"How can you joke right now? Don't you realize what will happen if he falls?" Keiko asks in shock, her brown eyes wide with disbelief as she looks at Shizuru. I turn to look at my sister as well, and find that Botan has her concerned gaze on me, before she looks towards Shizuru as well, frowning deeper.
"That's easy, he'll die."
The breath leaves my body hearing her say it so casually.
This was bad, even for my sister.
"Shizuru!" Botan exclaims angrily, leaning forward and glaring at my older sister. "You should be ashamed of yourself! Speaking like that in front of your little sister when your brother has his life hanging by a literal thread!"
Yeah, Botan, that didn't really help either.
"And us getting upset will make a heck of a difference, won't it?" Shizuru asks easily, before taking another long drag from her smoke, deceptively calm. All three of us are now staring at her, but Kazuma's voice brings me back to the fight.
"STOP IT YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
Turning my gaze upwards towards the dizzying height my brother was now at, I felt the bile rising in my throat. 'If he falls from that height, there won't even be enough left of him to scrape off of the surface of the ring,' My own dark thoughts take over.
"Just enjoy yourself! You'll be coming down soon enough!" Rinku shouts up towards my little brother, a cruel smirk twisting his face.
'Screw it. I'm stepping in! To hell with this evil tournament. I'll turn every demon in this stadium into moon dust if I have to,' my right hand slowly relaxes from it's fist and begins to raise up, the words on the tip of my tongue as I stand-
"YUSUKE!" Keiko's voice suddenly screams out from the other side of Shizuru, and I'm momentarily stunned. My eyes go wide, turning my head to look at the brunette who was currently glaring down towards the stadium. I turn my gaze forward once more, looking towards where her attention was directed, and for the first time taking in the full scene below.
Was Yusuke…sleeping?
I had been so distracted by Kazuma's fight that I had hardly taken the time to observe the other boys on their team. There he was, though, snoozing against the side of the ring.
"How can you keep sleeping when your friend is in trouble with these nasty demons?!" Keiko proceeds to berate the unconscious teenager, whilst also directing unwanted attention towards us. The demons in the rows around our group turn to look at us, eyes either filled with shock at Keiko's brazen behavior, or with unfiltered hunger.
And not just the 'I want you in my belly' kind, either.
"Help him, Yusuke! Get off your lazy butt and help him!" Keiko continues on, oblivious to the attention that she was getting from everyone but the person she had intended. Scoffing in irritation when her yells don't cause the teenage boy below to stir, Keiko suddenly sprints right by me from her seat.
"Don't get any closer, Keiko! We're not on safe grounds!" Botan yells out helplessly, reaching for the girl from her seat. Keiko turns back sharply from where she had made it to the main stairs near our seats.
"Maybe Shizuru is right, and worrying won't change a thing, but I still have to try!" Keiko replies firmly, and I feel my heart swell at how much she genuinely cared for Kazuma. Enough to put herself through the worry and danger she was now.
My respect for her grew significantly at that point.
A shadow suddenly overtakes her, and I don't hesitate to run to her side as a big, blue demon stands over the brunette. The ugly bugger was easily three times our heights, blue skin stretched tight over muscle as he braces his hands against his knees to hunch menacingly over both Keiko and I now. He chuckles lowly as he takes both of us in.
"What's the matter, little ladies? You both lost?" He asks sarcastically, drool dripping from one of the large fangs that sat in his mouth. The multiple eyes that sat on his forehead starred down at Keiko and I, along with the larger pair that sat in the usual place on his face. "You all should go back to your filthy home! This tournament is for apparitions only," The demon growls, the threat very clear. Keiko stomps her foot childishly beside me.
"You can't scare us with that talk-" I grab her upper arm firmly, pulling her back behind me now. I was shorter than her by an inch, so I didn't exactly create the best human shield, and judging by the laugh the blue demon gives, he thinks my attempt to protect Keiko is humorous as well. "Yusuke has beaten creatures a lot bigger than you!" Keiko goes on stubbornly, speaking from over my shoulder as we both glare up at the demon. He simply laughs in our faces.
If only he knew that the real threat was currently standing right in front of him.
"Your boy is asleep! Too bad you can't protect yourself!" The demon opens his wide mouth, tongue flapping out against his chin as he moves forward with the clear intention of eating us both. I raise my right hand up into the air.
"Moon Pri-"
A cigarette butt promptly twists into the oversized tongue in front of us.
I turn, shocked to see my older sister standing there confidently, twisting the hot cigarette but deeper into the stunned demon's tongue. It takes a moment for the asshole to react, and when he does I think I would have laughed had the situation been different. He whirls around, like he's unsure of what to do as he fans his tongue, before running back down the stairs.
"Thanks for that, sis," I muttered blinking in shock as I look to her. She nods nonchalantly, Botan coming to stand by us as Keiko once again takes off down the stairs.
"So I see where Kuwabara got the need to defend himself growing up…" Botan trails off, looking at Shizuru with a mixture of awe and nervousness.
"Yeah," Shizuru admits easily, shrugging her shoulders. I can't help a small smirk as I shake my head, before turning to look back down at the stadium.
Only to lock gazes with my green eyed classmate.
And he hardly looked impressed.
A frown marred his delicate and handsome features as he stars at me, hands clenched into fists on either side of his body. He's tense, and something tells me it's more than just the fight that had him that way.
Was he…was he angry that I was there?
I feel a shiver rush down my spine at the cold look Shuichi was giving me, so unlike the warmth that I was used to. Next to him the fire-demon, Hiei, turns his head to look at what had Shuichi distracted. His red eyes narrow, a displeased look growing on his own handsome face too. With both of them staring me down, I can't help taking a step backwards, my thumb nervously twisting the snowflake ring around my right middle finger.
Why did I suddenly feel like I really shouldn't be here?
I'm frozen on the spot as the two finally look away from me, clearly discussing something as they do, and turning their sights upwards towards the skies once more. I do the same, watching Kazuma as Shizuru grabs me by my upper arm and drags me down towards where Keiko was currently standing at the edge of the arena, yelling at Yusuke once more.
"Hang tight, Kuwabara! I don't suppose you can fly, can you?!" Botan shouts uselessly up at my brother, and I can't help giving her a displeased look.
Now was really not the time for sarcasm.
"Oh, hey Botan!" Kazuma shouts from his place up high, sounding surprised, and even more suprised as he realized Shizuru was here. "Sis! I didn't know you were going to be here! I'd give you a better greeting, but I'm kinda busy right now!" He calls out nervously, before there is this long, awkward pause.
"KAERA! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING HERE?!"
I can't help wincing as Kazuma clearly struggles and fights at the yo-yos then, his nervousness replaced with anger upon seeing me. I honestly should have expected that reaction though. After all, just one look at me and you would assume I couldn't handle myself. I was short, overweight, and meek as Kaera Kuwabara. Shuichi and Hiei share a look at that as well, glancing at me over their shoulders before looking up towards Kazuma once more.
"Rinku seems to be hesitating. Why don't we ask the fans what they want?!" The judge's voice rings out over the stadium, and is quickly followed by roars from the crowds around us.
"FINISH HIM, RINKU!"
"SMATTER THAT UGLY HUMAN ALL OVER THE RING!"
"DO IT, RINKU!"
"LET HIM DROP!"
The crowds chant that final outburst over, and over, and over again, Rinku's cruel smirk only getting bigger at the idea of pleasing his fans.
"Say, I guess that answers that. My fans know what they want, and they want a drop!" Rinku exclaims, then with a flick of his wrists the blood in my veins run cold, and the yo-yo's retract.
My baby brother goes plummeting towards the ground.
Without thinking my actions through, I jump over the barrier and down onto the grass below, kneeling down on one knee to absorb the shock of the fall. I can hear Kazuma's screams mixed with Botan and Keiko's shouts to come back as I stand and race towards the ring, fully intending on jumping in and doing something, anything, to save Kazuma from becoming a fucking human pancake.
Until two strong arms wrap like steel bands around my midsection, and draw me back to an equally hard chest.
"You cannot interfere, Kaera," Shuichi's low voice in my ear clues me in to who has me, but it doesn't stop me from prying at his arms and trying to get him to let me go. He was strong, though, inhumanly strong.
'Because he's not human, remember?' My inner voice chimes, as tears burn at my eyes. It was like everything was happening slow motion, even my brother's fall. I struggle harder in Shuichi's grip, his body having to shift with my own just to keep a hold of me. "Let me go, Shuichi!"
"So you can go into that ring and get yourself killed?" Hiei scoffs next to us, his red eyes turning momentarily from my brother towards me. "You'd be just as useless as the oaf in there."
"You have no idea what I'm capable of!" I hiss back at him, eyes narrowed. I don't have a mind to think about what I've said, but I do feel Shuichi stiffening against my back at my words. Hiei, meanwhile, simply turns back towards the horrible scene in front of us.
"And you have no idea what your brother is capable of," Shuichi counters calmly, still holding my struggling form was a fair amount of ease. He sharply shakes me, as if to try and get my attention. "Watch." The tears leak out of my eyes as I blink hard, eyes not once leaving Kazuma's falling form, his screams still echoing through the stadium as he fell.
"This is it people! Get ready for a boom!"
"KAZUMA!" I can't help screaming out desperately as he was moments away from hitting the ring.
And, suddenly, his screaming stopped.
"You just made your big mistake, Rinku!" Kazuma calls out to his opponent confidently, bringing his hands forward. I can feel his energy rising, and soon see the familiar yellow glow building between the palms of his hands. "You should have never let me use my hands! Spirit Sword Get Long!" I have to lean back as the light from his energy bursts forth, one of my arms coming up to shadow my eyes from it's intensity. It dims as the tip pins itself into the floor of the ring, Kazuma bending it back…almost like he intended to…
"No way…" I trail off, arm dropping down and mouth agape, shaking my head. "He's not really going to…is he?"
And he did. He most certainly did.
Kazuma used himself like a human sling shot, aiming head-first for his opponent.
"What an amazing recovery! It looks like it's time to get into the nitty-gritty!" The judge exclaims gleefully.
"So the sword absorbs your fall like a backwards bungee cord, huh? That's a pretty neato idea from a block-head," Rinku smirks, still confident as he crosses his arms in front of him, clearly getting ready to release his yo-yos once more. "There is one little problem, though. You flying straight at me makes it easier for all my yo-yos to hit you at once, and you can't handle that!" Rinku exclaims, before leaping into the air and releasing all his weapons as he had openly planned to do. In a surprising twist, literally, Kazuma releases his Spirit Sword once more, the energy bending and winding through the yo-yos, and clearly catching Rinku by surprise. Both of them take each other's hits simultaneously, and are thrown from the ring all together.
Silence rings throughout the stadium before the judge shakes herself out of her own shock.
"Right, well, um, both of the fighters have been extraordinarily knocked out of the ring and the very same time!" The crowds roar once more in the background, clearly shouting their own judgements of the match for all to hear.
None were in favor of Kazuma being declared the winner.
"Was that the focus of your training?" Hiei asks, giving Shuichi a side-glance.
"Well, more or less," Shuichi answers, his tone suggesting he was just as shocked my Kazuma's actions as the rest of us.
Was it bad that I was slightly distracted by the feeling of his chest rumbling against my back as he talked.
His very muscular chest.
"The main focus of our training was to teach him precise control of his Spirit Sword," Shuichi continued to explain, and I can't help scoffing a little.
"Well, clearly he learned something," I comment, knees feeling weak knowing that even through he was clearly hurt he was at least alive. I could feel Shuichi shifting once more behind me, this time not to keep my struggling form subdued against him, but to shoulder the extra weight I was no doubt giving him as my shaking legs continued to get worse. "I, uh, I think I might need to sit down," I add shakily, my head-space at the moment not allowing me to feel self-conscious about my weight as Shuichi gently helped to lower me to the ground. I sit on my knees, Shuichi's arms moving from around my waist causing me more harm than good. I wrap my own around myself to try and hold onto the feeling of security I had unconsciously felt being in his arms, having only realized I had actually felt that way after his secure hold was gone.
"By the rules, you're only allowed to stay out of the ring for ten seconds, so, um, I'm just going to start counting," The judge continues on, and I find myself once again staring at my brother's prone form.
'Move, Kazuma. Don't let this all be for nothing!' I beg him inwardly, as if my thoughts could be enough to will him back into the ring.
"One!"
"I would be surprised if either of them got back onto there feet in time," I can hear Hiei commenting from where he stood behind me, Shuichi now standing at his side once more as well.
"Two!"
"It's true," Shuichi agrees readily. "Both the yo-yos and the sword made solid hits. I guess we'll know soon enough." He adds, the judge's count-down echoing in the background.
"Three!"
"Get up!" A new but familiar voice joins in, and I blink in surprise as I turn my gaze towards the sleeping teenager. "You're late, Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouts out deliriously in his sleep, head turning and slumping once more as he grumbles a few last words I can't catch before slipping back into deeper sleep.
"Four!"
"Seriously, why is he sleeping?" I ask out loud, not really expecting an answer and not getting one.
"And five! Uh-?" I snap my gaze upwards towards the judge as she stops her count-down with a surprised sound, following her line of sight to the opposite side of the ring. I frown deeply, stomach dropping as Rinku struggles to crawl back onto the ring. He stands, just barely, breathing heavily and obviously in pain as the crowds roar with elation around us.
"Rinku has entered the ring after five counts!" The female demon shouts happily, her hand raised up above her head. "But it's not over yet!"
"Get up there Kuwabara, I'm serious!" Yusuke starts to talk in his sleep once more. "I know you're used to losing, but not now."
I swear to god Yusuke's words worked like magic.
Before I knew it my brother was conscious, but not only that, he had moved with impossible speed despite his injuries to grab Yusuke by the front of his jacket, fist poised and ready over the sleeping boy's face.
"Little punk! You wanna say that to my face?!" Kazuma snarls at him. "Come on!" I sigh heavily, head hanging slightly in embarrassment, before I do the sisterly thing.
And crawl over to smack my little brother over the back of the head.
"Hey!" Kazuma snaps, indignant as he turns sharply to look at me, eyes narrowed in an irritated glare.
"Would you get your ass up in the ring before you lose?" I sigh with exasperation, Kazuma's eyes widening at that as he looks up towards the judge in the ring.
"Seven!"
"Hold your horses! I coming!" He shouts, promptly dropping Yusuke and moving to jump back into the ring.
But not before Rinku is able to get the jump on him and wrap Kazuma up in his yo-yos once more.
"Eight!"
I just barely manage to scramble back to stay out of the mess and avoid getting tangled in with my brother as well. Rinku does nothing more than to simply tie my brother up, his energy no doubt drained to the point that was all he could do.
"Nine!"
My brother wasn't going to die. At least, not in this match.
Feeling my anxiety finally getting under control, the strength returned to my legs, and I could finally stand without fearing I'd just crumple to the ground.
"Ten!" The judge finally shouts the last of her count-down, my brother still outside of the ring, and clearly the loser of the match. He struggles to break free, despite the final count, but finally falls backwards, unsuccessful. "And Rinku is the winner! The Rokuyukai team gets a point!" The cheers nearly drown out my little brother's protests.
Nearly.
"No, no, no, no!" Kazuma argues childishly, finally being let free from his trap and stepping up onto the ring. "Hold it, you jerk! That wasn't a fair move! Let's go!" Kazuma insists, though it's clear from the horrified expression on Rinku's face that he has absolutely no intention of dragging the fight on. No matter how unfair Kazuma thought the outcome was, he had lost, and Rinku didn't have to feel the need to prove his victory.
"Wha-you run on batteries or something?" Rinku asks in disbelief. "I beat you, just please go away."
"That was fairly innocent. It's rare to see both fighters still standing," Shuichi comments from somewhere behind me, and I can't help frowning as the sense of dread settles in once more.
This was only the first match. The first of many, no doubt, more deadly matches.
"I assure you it won't happen with me," Hiei comments coldly, oozing confidence that even I could feel without needing to be near him. It cases a cold shudder to rush down my spine. Kazuma would be facing demons like him in the near future, demons that won't hesitate to end the match over Kazuma's dead body.
"This isn't over, kid! Meet me behind the hotel when the tournament is done!" Kazuma goes on to challenge the kid, and I can't help groaning in embarrassment, hiding my face against my hand and shaking my head.
"This isn't high school, baby brother," I groan to myself.
"Go away!" Rinku exclaims, turning and running away from Kazuma without shame and out fo the ring, prompting Kazuma to shake his fist at the boy's retreating form before he jumped out of the ring himself. As soon as the boy leaves, one of his teammates steps up to take his place. The demon that enters the ring has grey skin, and his bat-like in appearance. With large pointed ears on either side of his head, and a narrow face with a mouth filled with fangs, the resemblance was uncanny. His narrow, yellowed eyes have locked onto our side of the ring, and everything from his baggy clothing to the sleazy expression on his face paint him as a slimy thug. Rinku looked absolutely innocent in comparison to this guy.
"I'll handle this one," Shuichi states calmly from behind me, before he steps forward. The red-head pauses beside me, and I could tell his eyes were locked on my form. Though I knew I was going to regret it, I turn to face him, swallowing heavily at the sight that greets me.
His green eyes are hard, perhaps even a shade darker, and his face is set like stone-sharp and unforgiving.
"After this round is over, we're obviously going to need to talk," Shuichi states softly, his voice low and calm, adding to the uneasiness that I was already feeling between his look and the aura he was exuding. It seemed to strengthen in that moment, and stretch forth to wash over me like a tidal wave. I wasn't a demon, but I also wasn't new to demon behaviours. This, the fluctuation of auras, had happened to me before as an intimidation tactic by the Netherworld demons that I had gone up against in the past. It was their way to flex their strength.
This, though, something about the way Shuichi's demonic aura felt was different. It was still intimidating, but there was an underlying tone, a warmth, that was vastly different than I was used to feeling. The demons that had flexed their energy at me so far in my life as Sailor Moon had done so to invoke fear in me. I didn't feel fear now.
"Obviously," I whisper out in agreement, trying not to let on how in tune I was to him. The last thing I needed was for Shuichi to find out about my alter-ego. Not when I wasn't entirely sure I could actually trust him. Shuichi gives me one last unreadable look, before moving forward and onto the ring to face off against his opponent. In his place, Hiei walks up soundlessly to stand beside me now. I can't help giving him a side-glance, the demon next to me standing only a half inch taller than myself. It hits me, not for the first time, how handsome he is as I take in the flawless skin of his face, and the sharp yet somehow delicate features of his nose and chin. His attention, luckily, is solely on the two fighters in the ring, a confident smirk on his face as his red eyes barely conceal excitement for the battle ahead.
"Kurama," Hiei's voice speaks out calmly from beside me. I nearly jump, having been lost in thought taking in the man beside me, "considering the stakes we can't afford to take any chances. Don't leave the ring with him still alive."
"Naturally," Kurama smoothly agrees. I blink in surprise, feeling a little put-off by how easily Shuichi just agreed to killing the demon standing before him.
Who was this guy?
Beside us from his place sleeping against the ring, Yusuke mumbles lowly about being careful, the name 'Kurama' falling from his lips as he does. It's another stark reminder that the man I was watching so intently wasn't the same person as the Shuichi I knew from school. A cold shiver rushes down my back.
This cold, calculating, murderous individual was named Kurama, and perhaps I should be referring to him as such from here on in.
I turn towards my brother then, frowning as I see him still shaking with exhaustion and holding onto his shoulder as if he were in pain. I sigh, walking around behind Hiei to kneel down behind my brother, gently easing his hand from his shoulder so I could feel if it was dislocated.
"We will deal with the rest of their team, you relax," Hiei cuts in, his tone filled with authority as he frowns down at Kazuma. True to form, my little brother would have none of that, and brushes my hands away from his shoulder impatiently just to emphasize his next point.
"Hey, I'm not out of this yet! If Yusuke doesn't wake up I'll take the last guy," Kazuma argues, and before I can tell him how absurd that was, Hiei beats me to it.
"We'll pray that doesn't happen." Hiei responds with cold sarcasm.
I have to bite down on my lower lip pretty hard so as not to laugh at Kazuma's expense.
"Alright boys, I'm here! Now let's whip this team into shape!" A now familiar, overly cheery voice pipes up from directly behind us. Kazuma turns to look suspiciously at the blue haired Grim Reaper, her perky smile almost off-putting given the situation.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Kazuma asks, sounding confused.
"Leave, before you hurt yourself," Hiei speaks up in the same tone he had just used on my brother.
'I guess now at least I know he doesn't have it out for Kazuma alone,' I think to myself, frowning a little as I look to Botan, a little surprised she didn't back down. Instead she actually had the gull to throw the short demon a disgusted look. 'Brave girl. Judging by his strong aura he is not someone you want to go toe-to-toe with,' I think to myself, his energy licking at me like flames from a raging fire. It was almost uncomfortable to be so close to this particular demon, but the warmth didn't burn me to the point it hurt.
Rather the opposite, and I found that deeply disconcerting.
"Well that's a jolly thing to say to someone who is going to help you win, don't you think?" Botan asks rhetorically, annoyance clear. Hiei, surprisingly, continues to just look disinterested, and instead of fighting with Botan turns back towards the ring.
Huh, not the response I would have expected.
"Woah, hold up! You're not the replacement fighter for Urameshi, are you?" Kazuma asks, his voice filled with disbelief, and even a little doubt. I mean, she did do fairly well standing up to my big sister, so I would have to give her points for that. Otherwise, though, unfortunately I couldn't help agreeing with my little brother. This girl here wasn't a fighter by any means, and she wouldn't last two seconds in the ring if Rinku set the standard at all for the fighters here.
Judging by the look fo amusement on Botan's face, she thought the idea of her fighting ridiculous too.
"No, silly! Ta-dah!" Botan exclaims as she rips off her pretty kimono to reveal pant suits with red suspenders, and a yellow button up shirt as her outfit underneath. "In addition to being the Spirit Detective's assistant, and pirate of the River Styx, I'm also a licensed trainer," She states proudly, her hands on her hips as she gives us all a wide smile. "I'll be looking after you all and making sure you stay in tip-top condition for fights," While Hiei continues to appear bored with the whole situation, Kazuma's look goes from doubtful to ecstatic in a split second as he begins to unbutton his shirt.
I, meanwhile, couldn't help the small smile on my face, wanting to enjoy the lightness that her presence brought to this dark place for at least a little while.
"That's great! Maybe you could nurse my wound-" Kazuma cuts himself off as Botan clearly ignores him, her sights targeted on a previously forgotten individual of the team. She promptly walks over towards where Yusuke is sleeping, crouching down and grabbing him with one hand by the front of his orange jacket.
Her other hand smacking him repeatedly across the face.
"Spirit World to Yusuke! Wake up! Come on now!" Botan shouts at the boy as she slaps him, but Yusuke doesn't even flinch. A look of disappointment crosses her pretty features as she slowly stands.
"None of that will work. The boy is determined," Hiei informs her, only gifting Botan with a side-glance before he looks back up at the ring.
"Well…" Botan sighs, hesitating for a moment, before leaning down and grabbing Yusuke by his ankles. "At least I'll get him out of the way," She mutters, mostly to herself as she drags the boy across the grass towards the walls that ran around the outer circle of the stadium. I shake my head in amusement, knowing for a fact that Yusuke would rather be caught dead than be dragged around like he was by a girl, no less. I stand from kneeling behind my brother, frowning as I watch Kurama's back intently now.
"You should go back up with Keiko and Shizuru, sis, where it's safe. This is no place for you girls," Kazuma comments from where he still sits in front of me. I quirk at eyebrow at him then, hands on my hips.
"Kazuma," I sigh, needing patience to say what I was going to say next as I pinch the bridge of my nose, "we are humans that are currently surrounded by demons who hate the team we've openly associated ourselves with. Your team, which is currently involved in a bloody spectacle aptly named the 'Dark Tournament'. We are on a goddamned island named after a grotesque form of execution. I don't think you fully understand the fact that this whole situation is dangerous, no matter where us 'girls' are or go."
"So then what are you even doing here?" Kazuma asks irritably, and I give him a glare that sends him reeling back.
"Don't. Go. There." I hiss at him lowly. "Because you won't like the answer."
He smartly does as I advise, instead getting up to watch the match begin along with the rest of us. It's only then that I noticed another fighter standing to the opposite side of my brother. They had a mask on, obscuring their features, and stood even shorter than my own height. Pushing my curiosity back into check, I return my attention to Shuich-Kurama, and his fight.
"You know, that Rose Whip that he's got has to be ten feet long. Where does he stash it?" Kazuma breaks the tense silence, looking to the side towards Hiei. "All the ways I can think of seem kind of painful," Hiei turns to look at Kazuma, his gaze bored, but not condescending.
"Kurama simply carries a normal rose," Hiei answers, my interest peaked for the moment. I had seen the roses, but I'd never seen or heard of this Rose Whip Kazuma was talking about. "By manipulating it with his Spirit Energy it's transformed into a whip," He explains, turning his gaze back to the red-head in the ring. "Even weeds can be turned into a deadly weapon for Kurama."
"Second fight, Roto verses Kurama!" The judge in the ring announces, raising her right hand up in the air and then swinging it down. "Begin!" The crowd goes wild, the roar of their cheers filling the stadium once more just as it had with Kazuma's fight. It was nearly deafening, but I could still pick out shouts of demons condemning Kurama to death.
"I know you've been spending your years in the Human World," Roto's voice was a dark and twisted as his appearance, and I was able to hear it clearly from my position by the ring. I find myself unconsciously learning forward, inwardly hoping Roto would elaborate more.
How sad was it that I was depending on Kurama's opponent to learn more about him than Kurama telling me himself?
"We all do what we must. I only hope that you didn't, say," Roto's yellowed eyes shift over Kurama's shoulder, landing on me, and causing my whole body to tense, "get attached to one of them?" He finishes his question, the implications clear though I could hardly believe it.
Roto didn't really think that Kurama was attached to me of all people, did he?
Kurama shifts ever so slightly, Roto's line of view to me effectively blocked by his body. Only then do I feel my tense muscles relax slightly. My heart was still racing, eyes wide as Roto's question echoes in my head. Kurama is silent, not even bothering to dignify Roto's suggestion with an answer. His back is tense, though, and Kurama's body language gave away that the demon's clear implication hadn't been completely ineffectual. Roto grins maliciously, leaning forward and manipulating his energy into a blade that appeared with a flash on his arm. It was long and sharp, nearly the size of his entire forearm where it was firmly attached.
"Would you mourn any of those filthy humans if they were gone?" He asks with a wide smirk, gaze narrowed.
"What is your point?" Kurama asks coldly, his voice low and dangerous. Roto simply smirks and begins his charge, snarling as he bares down on Kurama. The red-head in question leaps out of the way smoothly, seemingly only just in time, but as I catch glimpses of his calm, stoic expression between dodging the sharp blade on Roto's forearm, I know that those apparent near-misses were an illusion.
Kurama was toying with the demon.
"He's clearly no match for Kurama," Hiei comments from beside me, only confirming my suspicions. "What a joke of a round," he scoffs, glancing towards Kazuma on my other side. "It's a pity you couldn't have taken him and let Kurama deal with the child and his yo-yos," The demon openly jabs at my brother. I snort in my attempt to hold back a laugh, able to take in the humour since, this time, it appeared no one's life was in danger except for Roto's.
"You watch it shrimpy! I just got cheated is all!" Kazuma defends himself rather poorly. I can't help raising an eyebrow at my little brother, unable to stop from commenting.
"Shrimpy? Really, Kazuma?" I ask lightly, laughter clear in my voice. He glowers at me, crossing his arms and looking back towards the battle at hand with a pout.
"Shut it, sis."
Kurama continues to simply dodge each attack as it comes, until finally it looked as if he was going to deal the first and final blow to his opponent.
Before, for some unknown reason, he hesitates.
A look of surprise flies over Kurama's face, the first expression of emotion he has shown so far during this fight. Roto takes the opportunity for what it is, swiping upwards towards the red-head. Kurama moves quickly, disappearing from sight before reappearing across the ring.
My eyes are instantly drawn to the thin line of blood on his cheek.
"Roto cut him," I murmur in shock, eyes widening slightly as worry seizes my chest once more. "What just happened? Kurama clearly had the upper hand. He was ready to end this thing," Hiei and Kazuma are equally as stunned, both looking towards Kurama with with disbelief.
"Allow me to introduce my little button," Roto raises his hand, showing what looked to be some sort of demonic bomb detonator in the palm of his left hand. My mouth drops slightly in shock.
Was he about to blow up the ring?
The stadium?
Was that even allowed?
'Who am I kidding. Since when did rules ever matter to demons?' I think to myself faintly, nails biting into the palms of my hands as they clenched into tight fists at my sides.
"When I press it, a signal will be sent to my demon brother. He's been tracking your Mother for some time, you see," Roto goes on, and my stomach drops, having an idea of where this was no doubt going. "And he's been very anxious to bite her head off."
"That twisted bastard," I mutter with disgust, looking towards Kurama. He was fairly well snarling at the guy, his teeth grit together and eyes narrowed in a glare that would have anyone in their right minds running for the hills.
He was mad.
No, he was absolutely furious.
'I remember what Botan told me, about how Kurama was ready to sacrifice his life for his Mother's to make her better,' I think to myself, frowning deeply in disgust at Roto's cowardly attempt at blackmail. 'He loves her so deeply…and Roto is going to use that to his advantage in this fight.'
Kurama persona shifts, and so does the battle, almost instantaneously.
The red-head relaxes his pose, and in response Roto disengages his own weapon, allowing the blade to disappear. "So you understand.," The slime-ball chuckles sadistically, before launching himself towards Kurama's prone form.
And he lands blow, after blow, after blow.
It was actually getting to the point it was painful to watch. I could feel the way my stomach churned, sickened by the absolute corruptness of this fight, of this whole damn tournament.
Then, everything comes to a merciful stand-still.
"What? Why did he stop?" I can't help asking in confusion as I look between the two fighters, frowning.
"Perhaps if you stop asking questions long enough to observe, you would know why," Hiei quips unhelpfully from beside me. I look towards him then, catching the side-long glance he had been giving me before he could look away. His lips part, clearly hesitating, before his shoulders slump slightly and he sighs impatiently.
And I hear his voice inside my head.
Inside my freaking head.
"Kurama has launched an attack under the guise of throwing a pebble at Roto's face," Hiei explains to me, obviously using some form of telepathy so that Roto couldn't hear what he was saying, and he wouldn't give away Kurama's trick. I felt frozen to the ground, fear gripping me harder than it had for a long, long time.
A different voice starts to echo in my mind from the not so distant past.
/"You're going to give me all your secrets, Sailor Moon, regardless if you want to or not."/
I fight back the memory of the excruciating pain that had accompanied that invasion into the deepest parts of me, instead trying to focus on the now, the present. Hiei wasn't trying to torture information out of me, in fact, he was doing something I didn't doubt was very uncharacteristic for him, and sharing information instead.
"So Kurama still has the upper hand. What about his Mom, though?" I can't help asking, chewing on my lower lip as Roto looks towards Kurama with annoyance.
"I can see her and she is safe. Don't worry, Kurama knows I'll handle it." Hiei responds evenly, not giving away exactly how he was dealing with it. If Shuichi, because being that it was his Mother in my mind this was Shuichi we were dealing with now, trusts Hiei, then I suppose I could too.
For a moment.
"Oh, honestly," Roto begins, exasperation clear in his voice, "do you think throwing a pebble in my face is the best thing to do in this situation?" Kurama doesn't answer, the question obviously rhetorical. Instead he calmly turns to fully face Roto, standing straight as the demon points an ugly, clawed finger at him. "You've been warned! With a push of this button your Mother will meet her death in a very unsightly manner," He threatens once again, flashing the button in front of Kurama's face, making sure it was clearly visible. "Now fold your hands behind your back and let me hit you as I please," Roto commands, a sinister smirk spread wide across his face.
Kurama does so, without hesitation.
"Oh yes, that's much better," Roto goes on with sick glee, obviously getting off on the power trip he was having. "I love the posture of forced submission. Why train hard to be the best when you can hold onto one of these?" He flashes the button once more, reminding Kurama that his current predicament was all a result of him being manipulated by his human Mother.
"Mysterious," The judge commentates, awed. "Kurama has become completely obedient to his opponent!"
"What's wrong, Kurama? Let him have it!" Kazuma calls out, clearly not remembering what was at stake.
"Quiet," Hiei hisses out, and Kazuma surprisingly shuts his trap.
"His Mother, you ding-bat," I mutter low under my breath towards Kazuma, my little brother looking embarrassed at his obvious oversight.
"You want to try. I can see it in your pretty eyes," Roto laughs cruelly as he approaches the red-head, cocky smirk still in place. Kurama stays as still as stone, looking Roto directly in the eyes with no shame.
Just cold calculation.
"I know what you're thinking," Roto goes on to goad further. "'What if I can quickly cut off that left arm of his? But what if that severed finger of his still presses the button?'."
"Kurama remains absolutely motionless! What is the cause?! Has he lost his willingness to fight?!"
Could she not hear?! Did she not understand?! I blink at the female judge with disbelief. We had all heard exactly what was happening.
Did all demons truly believe that human lives were worthless?
/"I can see her and she is safe. Don't worry, Kurama knows I'll handle it."/
'Hiei obviously doesn't hate humans or he wouldn't help Kurama with his Mother. Unless, he just respects Kurama enough to do so.' I think to myself, remembering the demon's words from before.
"Why don't you answer?!" Roto shouts, driving his foot directly into Kurama's stomach. I can't help the small gasp that leaves me at the impact, hand cupping over my mouth as my stomach churns with worry. Kurama's stoic expression breaks slightly to show the pain the direct hit caused, and the anger that was broiling just beneath his deceptively calm surface. Roto had no idea what was in store for him. "Go on, tell the rest of the crowd that you refuse to fight for the sake of a human tramp," Roto draws his fist back, landing one punch before drawing the other fist back and quickly delivering another. For the first time during this fight, I finally clue into another thing I was learning about Kurama through Roto. My suspicions from earlier were only confirmed.
Shuichi was human, Kurama was definitely not. Not by a long shot.
'With the way that Roto is speaking to him, making it sound like Kurama's relationship with his human Mother is something he should be disgusted with himself about, maybe Shuichi…Kurama…is a demon after all,' I think to myself, wincing as the sound of skin hitting skin echoes in quick repetition over the arena. Roto keeps delivering punch after punch, and I couldn't help wondering what exactly Kurama was waiting for.
"It's wonderful! Roto is punching him like a slab of meat and there is not retaliation!"
"Wow…she's a bitch," I comment, truly disgusted with what the girl with the mic was saying. "Loud mouthed, foul bitch," How could anyone, demon or human, get that much satisfaction out of watching a guy get the shit kicked out of him? It was sickening.
"This was why you girls should have never came. You're too soft for this world," Hiei scoffs next to me, obviously hearing the disgust in my voice. I frown at that, turning to look at him. I'm about to argue, about to tell him that he has no idea what I've been through. If he did know, I doubt he'd think of me as soft. I could go off on him about losing my parents, about the bullies at school that I had to fight off for both my brother and I before my brother was big enough to deal with them himself. Not once did I ever back down from a fight if it came my way. Not as Kaera Kuwabara, nor as Sailor Moon. I was not soft.
But I could already tell I would be wasting my breath.
Hiei struck me as the type that would never understand the difference between being weak and being compassionate.
"Dammit!" Roto's frustrated exclamation comes mere seconds after he stops his ruthless assault. His gaze is narrowed and his lips twisted in a sneer of annoyance as he stares at Kurama's detached expression. "I hate that look," Roto snarls, allowing his long blade to reappear attached to his forearm. He points the tip of it against the right side of Kurama's face. "Despite all that I've done you still have that look, like you're superior to me," I wince as I see him cut perpendicular to the cut Kurama's cheek already suffered from earlier, creating a grotesque 'x' on his skin. "Stop. That. Look!" Roto shouts in frustration, digging his blade in deeper and slicing it brutally forward. Blood flies through the air as Kurama's head turns from the impact, but other than that, he doesn't flinch. As his head slowly turns back to Roto his gaze shows nothing but a solemn calmness.
How much more is he going to have to take?
"It doesn't matter anyway, because I'm the one who has the power now," Roto goes on confidently, seeming to get over his frustration with Kurama easily. He lifts his left leg up, bent at the knee so that his foot was hovering a couple feet off of the ground. Bracing his elbow on the bent knee, he shoots Kurama an easy smirk. "I would like you to lick the scum off of my boot," My mouth drops opens as a disgusted scoff rushes forth.
Say what now?
"I just can't seem to keep it clean," Roto goes on casually, as if discussing the weather. "Then, once you have licked the whole thing clean," He continues, licking sadistically at the blade on his forearm, "I will decapitate you and spare your nasty Mother's life. Since you care about her, Shuichi, it's really your only choice."
"I will not."
The words hang heavy in the ear, the tension rising sharply between the two fighters in the ring. I find myself leaning forward, listening and watching intently as Kurama makes his first stand since Roto took control.
'This is it, it has to be,' I think to myself, anxiously waiting to see what Kurama had in store for this asshole.
"What?" Roto grunts in shock, frowning as Kurama nonchalantly dusts off his fighting uniform.
"Go ahead," Kurama states easily as he does so. "Press it now if you wish," Roto smirks widely at that, allowing his blade to disappear once more.
"Your true character emerges. You're nothing special! Nothing high class! Just a selfish demon like all the rest of us here!" My eyes widen and I forget to breathe for a moment.
There it was. The word I had been unknowingly waiting for all along.
Demon. Shuichi…Kurama…was indeed a demon.
'How could I have missed that?' I think to myself with disbelief, shock resonating throughout my system. 'How?'
"You look at me like I'm dirt! But in the end it's a lie! You only think of yourself!" Roto goes on, sounding all self-righteous in that moment. Kurama still looks hardly phased by his criticism, but I could tell that his patience was wearing thin.
"Push it," Kurama demands lowly, his green eyes narrowed in on his opponent. Roto lifts the button high in the air, laughing sadistically as he does.
Was Kurama really about to sacrifice his Mother?
'No, I can't believe that. I won't. It doesn't make sense. Not after everything he's been through for her,' I think to myself, desperately hoping that my gut was right about him. 'I can't live in a world where Shuichi is a monster.'
"I will," Roto grins widely, before clearly moving to push the button.
Only…he can't.
Roto was frozen on the spot, unable to move even his thumb enough to press the button. "I…can't…move," He is able to groan out, the shock look at his paralysis frozen on his face. Kurama walks up, calm, cool, and collected, to simply bat the button out of Roto's grasp and catch it safely in his own.
"Fighting on the strength of one threat is a very risky gamble," Kurama proceeds to lecture the prone demon in front of him, a confident smirk quirking at his lips. "What if I truly didn't care? Or what if I could just make you immobile?" Roto is clearly struggling to make something, anything, move is shown on his face.
"I'm not exactly sure what is happening now, but it's clear that Kurama has control!" The girl yells over the mic, and I can't help looking at her bitterly. What? No talk of the gruesome death that Kurama could now easily deliver? No wishes for drawn out torture and torment for the twisted demon frozen before him? Even the judge was clearly biased.
"I've sewn the seed of the Death Plant in your body," Kurama informs Roto, casually bringing his hand up to cup his chin as his other arm wraps around his middle, "and it's had plenty of time to take root." The fear Roto felt in that moment was palpable, and easily seen in the features of his face. The demon's yellowed gaze looks downward, so I follow his line of sight to see the tiniest sprout protruding from his left pec.
"What's a Death Plant?" I can't help asking curiously, wondering how such a tiny thing could be named so ominously, as well as obviously do enough damage to bring real fear to the demon's eyes for the first time since this fight started.
"It's a plant only found in the depths of Demon World," Hiei answers, smirking widely and looking entirely pleased with the turn of events. "As for the rest, I'm sure Kurama will be explaining soon enough."
"I feed it with my energy," Kurama indeed goes on, and I turn my attention quickly back to him. "I have but to will it, and it will instantly bloom. I'm afraid there won't be anything left of your evil life after that," He adds calmly, turning from his opponent with clear confidence that Roto was utterly incapacitated. Kurama shifts his hands so they rest in the pockets on either side of his pants, and as he does so he looks upwards, our gazes locking once more. His green eyes shine with that same unreadable expression from earlier, and I find that despite how uncomfortable it makes me, I can't look away. Even as he steady walks towards me at the edge of the ring, the intensity of his gaze not once leaving my own to look at any of his teammates, I can't look away.
"Wait, Kurama! You don't have to do this!" Roto begs from behind him. "I never actually would have pushed the button! I swear it! I'm just a low-class! I don't know any better! Come on, you believe in mercy, don't you?" Roto tries to desperately appeal to the red-head, but even through all his begging Kurama's sharp green eyes never once stray from my own to deign Roto with even a glance.
"No."
That single word, spoken in such a deep and deadly tone, coupled with the intense eye contact, sends a shudder through my entire body.
Why was he looking at me?
And why did I feel shook to the core that he was?
The only reason the eye contact breaks is because I jump at the sound of ripping flesh and Roto's dying screams. Looking past Kurama, I have to swallow back the bile burning in my throat at the sickening sight of vines wiggling forth from within Roto like worms. Blood was spurting in all directions, painting the area floor a gruesome shade of red.
'Huh…red. I never would have thought demons had red blood. That seems too…human,' I think to myself, dazed. Roto falls over, Kurama now looking over his shoulder towards his opponents very dead body. Blooms start to burst forth in an array of beautiful purples and pinks, feeding off of Roto's corpse. In a way, it was very poetic, and suited Kurama. A beauty on the outside, but underneath lay an ugly savagery when invoked.
"What irony. Such beauty sprung from such ugly soil," Kurama comments smoothly, turning and making his way towards the edge of the ring once more. He gracefully jumps down to the grass below as the judge ends the match.
"Well, that's over! The score is tied at one!"
"What a fool, so intent on proving himself he couldn't notice your moves," Hiei comments as Kurama approaches. Luckily I wasn't caught in his green-eyed stare again, Kurama nodding as he looks towards Hiei instead. This was a good thing, considering my legs felt like jello to begin with, and it would be utterly embarrassing if the handsome red-head literally brought me to my knees in front of everyone. Shizuru, in particular, would never let me live that down. "Don't worry about his demon friend. He vanished the moment that Roto died," He adds, and I can see the relief that floods Kurama's face almost instantly upon hearing the good news.
My heart admittedly melts a little seeing how much he truly cared for his human Mother.
'Kurama is a demon,' the thought hits me like a punch to the gut now that everything has calmed down once more for the time being. 'Shuichi is a demon,' I find myself watching the his peripheral like a hawk, too lost in this revelation to care that I was staring, or to even think about being caught doing so.
"Thank you, Hiei," Kurama gives the smaller demon a gentle smile, before turning around and looking towards me once more. Our eyes lock again, this time his own are much softer, more warm. It was like I could see a glimpse of the boy I had known before all of this. Unconsciously I tuck my lower lip under my upper teeth, nerves rattled in that moment.
How much more was I going to uncover here in this dark place?
Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please don't be shy about leaving a review!
Until Next Time!
T.O.T.