Gilded Cage - Rewrite
Chapter 5: Training Day
Raven awoke from her nap and put herself through her normal stretches, determined to ignore that protests her body was sending to her. She estimated that she had slept for a good couple of hours and figured that it was just after eleven. The nap had done her some good, allowing her body to spend a little more time focusing on the healing she desperately needed. Between the sleep last night and the nap today, she noticed a significant difference in her injuries.
A sound from outside caught her attention as she strapped her sword to her back. Outside of her window she could see the others grouped around what appeared to be a training area. There was even a makeshift arena to practice on. How did I not notice that before? Maybe it was just hidden in the dark…
She quickly threw her hair into a ponytail in such a way that it tended to whip around her as she moved. Curious about the training that they had decided to start on today, Raven left her room to go join the group outside.
"Hey! Raven!" Yusuke called to her, interrupting their discussion on where to start with training Hawk. Yusuke was the only one who was facing her direction and probably saw her coming all the way from the back door.
As Raven approached closer, she could see a very irritated Kuwabara with his arms crossed. He obviously was not liking something that was happening here. Glancing around the training area, she was amazed at how much damage had been done to the ground and the arena. She let out a low whistle, "Who's your landscaper? I want to be sure not to hire him for my place." She said with a grin, trying to lighten up the mood.
Yusuke threw an arm around Kuwabara's neck, dragging the taller guy down to his level. "That would be yours truly." He threw back, joining her in the joke. Kurama politely covered his mouth to hide his smile, probably so he wouldn't be accused of encouraging their antics. "Though we have had some occasional help from these guys and Grandma when she decides to put me through my paces."
That last comment got a laugh out of everyone at his horrible joke. Kurama cleared his throat. "Um, Yusuke…I don't think it means what you think it does. Perhaps some better phrasing next time or you may run into issues with Master Genkai and Keiko both."
Yusuke blanched at Kurama's comment and hurried to release Kuwabara before acting like the joke wasn't on him now. "So, since Raven is here, how are we going to go about this?"
Raven glanced at Hawk, who gave her a confused shrug, and then turned her sights onto Hiei. "Well, I for one am eager to see just how wild these training sessions get." She shot out, trying to let Hiei know that she was ready to take him on. Really, she was eager to prove herself to him so that he would back off of this whole protector gig he had going with her. She did everything but challenge him outright.
"Hn, if you want to start with me, then it's your funeral girl." Hiei said as he took a stance, hands ready to draw his sword. He was just as eager to fight her and see just how much she had achieved without his guidance.
A squeak from her left drew her attention to Hawk. "Rae! What do you think you're doing? You're not fully healed yet and you want to go all out against Hiei? Did you hit your head or something?"
"Easy Hawk." Raven said in an overly eager voice. "Hiei and I are just going to have a nice little sparring session. Just to get a feel for each other."
Hawk frowned, not quite believing her sister's words. In fact, she half expected the two fighters to go all out and actually try to kill each other right now.
If this jerk thinks I'm the kind of girl who listens and obeys, he's fooling himself. She thought as she drew her sword, eyes never leaving Hiei's, even when her sister moved to stop her. There's not a chance in hell of that happening and I will prove it today.
"Hn, a girl who listens and obeys." Hiei's voice made its way through her barriers. The smug tone just adding fuel to the fire. "That actually sounds appealing, having you obey my every command."
"Keep dreaming buster!" Raven shot back with a glare. "I obey no one but myself and that's not going to change any time soon. I don't know why you think you should have control over me, but you are neither my mate nor my father. Since that isn't going to be changing anytime soon you should just forget this obedience fantasy you have."
Hiei frowned and wondered if he should tell her the truth about his connection to her, deciding just as quickly that now wasn't the time to go into that. The bloodlust in her eyes betraying just how angry she was. Ready to take her back down to her level, and even relishing in the idea of fighting against her, Hiei pulled his sword and prepared to lunge in her direction until Kurama stepped between them.
"This is probably not the best of ideas at the moment." He said calmly, directing their attention towards him. "I think the more practical way of doing this is to have each of the girls fighting each of us one on one. If Raven starts with you today, I doubt she'll have the energy to spar with anyone else. Please keep in mind that she is still healing."
The unspoken as are you wasn't missed by Hiei. The fire demon scowled at the fox and relaxed his stance before taking his post on the branch of a nearby tree. "Do what you will. I'd rather test her once she is recovered anyways."
Despite the fact that what Kurama had said made absolute sense, Raven was still irritated that he interrupted her chance. She turned her glare onto him. "Fine, I'll fight the idiot first." She snapped, leaving out her demand for the two of them to finish their battle soon.
Kurama mentally sighed. That went slightly better than I had expected. Still, I wonder what the two of them had been discussing. Whatever it was had sure put them both on edge.
"None of your business fox!" Hiei's voice broke into his thoughts, and he spared a glance in the fire demon's direction.
"If you don't like what thoughts I hold, you should stay out of my mind while I'm having them." Kurama snipped at him, knowing that it wouldn't really make a difference.
"I didn't need to read your mind. It's all over that inquisitive face of yours." Hiei responded and then shut the connection down tightly.
Surprised, Kurama was a bit startled to see that Raven was standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. "So how are you planning on doing this?" She demanded.
"Yeah, there's three of us and only two of them." Yusuke asked, using his pinky to clean out his ear out of boredom. Hawk made a face as she watched him and he just gave her a confused look in response. "What?"
"That is disgusting!" Hawk told him and strutted to the other side of the group, closer to Kuwabara. Yusuke shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets, still waiting for Kurama's answer.
Kurama thought for a moment. "I'll sit back and watch so that I can assess both the girls' fighting abilities and be better prepared for future training sessions. I'm sure Hiei will be observing from his position as well. For now, I think we could start Raven off with Kuwabara since she is so eager to fight."
"Uh uh!" Kuwabara objected. "I can't fight her!"
Hawk looked at the human completely confused. "I don't get it…I thought you and Yusuke fight all the time. It's like a hobby for you two, isn't it?"
"It's against my honor code to fight with women." Kuwabara replied and crossed his arms defensively. "I'm a man of honor after all."
"It's only because you would be too embarrassed to admit defeat by a female of any species." Hiei snarked from his perch.
Kuwabara took several steps towards the tree before raising a fist to Hiei. "Big words from someone sitting in a tree. Why don't you come down here and I'll show you just how tough I am!"
Hiei flashed from his spot on the tree branch and in the blink of an eye was on the ground with his sword to Kuwabara's throat. "Seems to me that if this were an actual fight, you'd be dead already. Fortunately for you I have a moral code that includes not killing my allies. It'll do you well not to fall out of that category. You wouldn't last very long."
With that said, he returned to his previous position and watched everything unfold as Kuwabara did his best to recover himself. As soon as he did, Kuwabara started going off about how that match didn't count and Hiei shouldn't be going around threatening everyone.
Kurama tapped his chin in thought. "Perhaps it would be best if we started with Hawk against Kuwabara. Then it can just be her attacking and him on the defensive. Would that work for you two?"
Kuwabara thought about it a moment before nodding his agreement. "Yeah, just as long as I'm not fighting back I think that's ok. Defense only, can't be worse than when I used to fight with Urameshi back in Middle School."
Hawk agreed quietly and the two of them took the arena before them.
*Hawk vs Kuwabara*
"I don't mind if you fight back." Hawk said sweetly as she stood across from Kuwabara. She could feel the others watching from the sidelines and wanted to prove to Raven that she could fight when needed.
Kuwabara stood his ground. "Nope, uh uh, can't do it. My rule is no fighting girls and I am not going to change that."
Hawk shrugged and sent her first punch in his direction. As Kurama watched, he thought about all the battles they have fought. It amazed him that not once did Kuwabara actually have to fight a woman in any of their fights. Either someone else fought for him or he was relieved from having to fight. He can't even recall a match between the human and Genkai. Shaking his head, he watched the two battle and wondered at the boy's amazing luck.
Hawk's speed was impressive and Kuwabara seemed barely able to dodge her attacks. Relentlessly, she threw one attack after another and Kuwabara was doing all he could to keep out of reach of those attacks. He spent almost as much time tripping over himself on the ground as he did dodging the blows.
I think we found a new training regime for him at least. Kurama mused to himself.
One of Hawk's attacks were so powerful that a small crater was left in the place that Kuwabara had been only a split second before. Some odd expression crossed his face as he stood his ground with the girl's next attack. As she swung at him, he grabbed her wrist and flipped her over his shoulder, startled as she landed hard on her back with a grunt.
Flustered, Kuwabara rushed over and kneeled down beside her. "I'm so sorry Hawk, are you okay?" Suddenly images of Shizuru beating him into the ground for fighting with a woman flew through his head and he paled.
He didn't see as Hawk regained her breath and stood back up. He was practically pacing the arena, arms wrapped around his body and seemed to be shivering as if he had absolute fear of something. She took advantage and kicked him across his back, sending him forward. Before he could land or react, she appeared above him and punched him to the ground.
"Never take your eyes of your opponent idiot!" She shouted the words at him, just as Raven used to do with her. With a final kick, she sent him flying into a tree. When he didn't get up right away, everyone rushed over to see if he was okay.
"Is he dead?" Yusuke asked as Kurama checked Kuwabara's vitals.
"One could only hope." Muttered Hiei. Kurama shot him a displeased look since he and Raven were the only ones who actually heard him.
Kurama shook his head and propped Kuwabara up against the tree in a more comfortable position. "No, she just knocked him out. He'll be okay in a little while." He said answering Yusuke's question, refusing to engage in Hiei's rude antics.
"Great!" Yusuke shouted and then hopped into the arena. "That means I get to test out Raven!"
*Raven vs Yusuke*
Raven stood across from Yusuke. Hawk and Kurama were on the sidelines watching and Hiei was simply leaning against his tree. His irritation from earlier quickly dissipating after watching the younger of the two sisters fighting with the big oaf.
"Unlike Kuwabara, I'm not gonna go easy on ya." Yusuke told her with all the warning he could offer. He was always eager for a good fight, and he suspected Raven would give him one. Without the threat of life and death on the line, he wasn't worried about drawing out his extra power and over doing it. This was a simple, friendly spar between friends after all.
"I wouldn't expect anything less." Raven taunted back. "Just don't go crying when I wipe the ground with your face!"
"Ha!" Yusuke laughed. "As if you could! Let's just keep this nice and fair! no weapons, no powers."
"Agreed"
"Alright, the rules are set." Kurama said and raised his hand in the air. Bringing it down he yelled, "Begin!"
Raven and Yusuke both left the ground as they launched themselves at each other, each simultaneously landing a punch. They spent the next minute throwing punches and dodging before Raven blocked one of his punches and sent a kick to his unprotected ribs. Yusuke let out a grunt as the two of them separated.
"Wow! You pack a nice wallop in those legs of yours." He said, rubbing his ribs for a moment.
Raven smirked at him, hands still up and ready. "Don't go thinking I'm a weakling just yet. I'm tougher than I look."
They shared a knowing grin and launched into a second round of attacks. They separated for a moment to catch their breath and trade more insults before launching into a third series of attacks. Raven landed a solid punch to Yusuke's cheek while at the same time, he kicked her hard in the ribs. It was almost an exact reversal of the first attack and Raven berated herself for falling for it.
I need to end this soon. Raven thought to herself as she struggled to catch her breath a bit. She swore that Hiei's ruby eyes were glaring into the back of her head. She brushed it off and took her stance again. I'm not going to be able to continue for much longer. I need to take him out quickly if I'm going to win and prove myself capable.
"You ready to give up yet kid?" Yusuke taunted as he rubbed his bruised cheek.
Raven grinned and ignored the throbbing in her shoulder. "Not a chance!"
"Good, I was hoping you'd say that." He grinned at her and fell back into his stance once more. "Now I get to finish you off!"
With a final effort on her part, Raven rushed back at Yusuke and dodged the punch he threw at her right shoulder. She rammed the same shoulder into his chest, turned, grabbed his arm and threw him. She didn't realize the direction she had thrown him but was relieved when she watched Hiei dodge out of the way of the flying detective. The thud of Yusuke hitting the tree caused everyone to race over as they had done with Kuwabara.
"…went easy on you…kid" Yusuke mumbled before he was passed out and snoring under the tree.
Raven shot a grin at Hiei who just rolled his eyes at her and waited to see what the fox had in mind next.
*Post-training session*
After both boys had been thoroughly knocked out, Kurama had declared a break in the training to get them inside until they could recover. Hiei was relieved that he wasn't going to have to step in and put a stop to the training himself. He could see the sweat coming off Raven's body from that short battle and she was starting to favor her shoulder again.
Kurama made a trip inside to get Kuwabara settled inside as the girls talked about the battles they just had. Hawk mentioned getting some lunch just as Kurama headed in with Yusuke over his shoulder. He agreed and said that once both Yusuke and Kuwabara were settled, he'd see about lunch. "Perhaps these two will wake up from the smell of the food. You girls really did a number on them. It was enlightening."
As they entered the temple behind Kurama, Yukina poked her head out of the kitchen to let them know that lunch would be ready shortly and that Keiko and Shizuru had returned home after breakfast that morning. They thanked her and she disappeared back into the kitchen. Kurama had settled the boys on two of the three couches before heading in to help Yukina with their meal. Raven and Hawk went to go get cleaned up as Hiei took his normal place in the windowsill to wait for them.
Kurama's predictions were a bit off when it came to the recovery of the two boys. Everyone was nearly done eating with Yusuke and Kuwabara stuck their heads in the doorway. Yusuke thanked Yukina for the meal and sat down at the table to eat. Kuwabara on the other hand, took Yukina's hands in his and heaped praises on her wonderful cooking, making everyone uncomfortable.
Hiei's reaction to it all caught Raven's attention. She noticed the tight grip on his chopsticks and bowl, tight enough that she wondered how they didn't break. His eyes were also glaring daggers right into the back of Kuwabara's skull. Everyone else at the table seemed to pick up on the tension and stopped what they were doing, just watching to see what Hiei was going to do next.
Raven glanced at everyone before turning her eyes towards Hiei. How could Kuwabara not feel this tension in the room. And why is Hiei so upset over the oaf's interest in Yukina? Wait! Could they really be related?! There's no way Yukina they could be, could they? I mean, with the way Hiei acts around here, he could easily be seen as her over protective brother…Maybe I should ask her about it later…
"You will do no such thing!" Hiei's voiced boomed through her mind, making her flinch.
"And why not? I'm right, aren't I?" Raven asked realizing that she stumbled across one of Hiei's major secrets. Oh the things she could do with that level of blackmail. Ideas rolled through her mind and were discarded almost instantly as she worked on where it would be most effective.
"Don't even bother woman!" Hiei growled and she cursed herself for forgetting that he was listening in. "If you say a word to her or that overgrown punching bag, I will kill you myself."
"Fine, but I want answers later." Raven demanded as she erected her barriers around her mind. She had gotten complacent with them since she and Hawk used telepathy so often between one another.
"Hn, fine." Hiei agreed reluctantly. "If it will reduce the chances of me having to take your life myself then so be it."
With that last comment, Raven got her barriers up fully and Hiei could not longer intrude in her thoughts…hopefully…
It didn't take long for Yusuke and Kuwabara to get into another eating contest, so the group cleaned up and moved themselves out into the main living room to rest and wait for them to finish. Hawk and Kurama chatted politely as Raven leaned against the back of the couch and fell into a light doze. Hiei sat in the windowsill as he listened to the rest of the group and Yukina, who was still in the kitchen cleaning, humming to some unknown melody.
Yusuke and Kuwabara eventually came out and plopped down on the couches with the others. Yusuke, for some reason, sat down next to Raven. She opened one eye to glance at the two before closing it again. Kuwabara took the last open couch, directly across from Kurama and Hawk. "So Raven, other than breaking into castles and jumping dimensions without permission, what do you girls do normally?"
"Attempt to remain undiscovered. Though, it seems we need more practice in that area as of late." She responded without opening her eyes. Hawk giggled.
"What she means is, we're always in hiding so we don't stay anywhere for long." She told them, intentionally ignoring the glare that Raven sent her way. "Normally we get by with my gambling skills or little odd jobs that we can remain anonymous with. The breaking into the castle was simply a way to cross dimensions and get away from everything for a little while."
"Seriously!" Yusuke said as he sprawled backwards, using the corner of the couch as a back rest. His legs were sprawled out in front of him, one arm leaning on the armrest and the other resting on the back of the couch. He looked bored, yet comfortable. "That was just for kicks? No ulterior motive at all?"
Hawk shook her head at him. "Nope, no ulterior motive. We just wanted to get away for a bit and see something new. We've traveled throughout most of Makai already, so we needed something new and exciting before backtracking to any one place."
"Man! That's a lot of traveling!" Kuwabara sputtered as he readjusted himself on the couch so that he was leaning forwards, elbows on his knees and hands relaxed. His posture clearly showed that he was paying attention to everything Hawk was saying. "Didn't you have trouble with crossing into so many territories?"
Hawk thought about it. "Um…a little but not often. Raven is pretty good with disguises, and she has at least some affinity with most elements. What she lacks I can kind of pick up the slack for."
"Would you mind elaborating on that?" Kurama asked politely. He leaned back into the corner of the couch, one ankle resting on the opposite knee, one hand rested lazily across his waist as his head rested in the palm of his other hand thoughtfully. Like Kuwabara, it was clear that he was interested in the conversation and paying strict attention to it.
"Well, um…" Hawk hesitated as Raven opened her eyes until the color of them was just visible and gave her sister a nod. Apparantly they were going to go ahead and trust this crew with sensitive information. "Raven is a master of fire and shadows, but her heritage gives her a small affinity for the wind. Well, at least enough affinity to manipulate it for flying and small things, we both can. I'm a shadow and water demon. We share the same dad, so I inherited the wings and a small affinity for wind as well. I think there was some mixed heritage on my mother's side, but she never spoke of it. I feel like there's a connection to elements of light. I'm actually a pretty strong healer as well. Raven just prefers to not have me use my healing ability if it's not absolutely necessary. She's stated multiple times that it would make me a target if it got out about my abilities."
Kurama sat thoughtfully for a moment as Yusuke and Kuwabara were going back and forth. "Wait!" Kuwabara piped up, "that covers all the primary elements except for Earth."
"Yes indeed," Kurama agreed. "That would indeed make you a very powerful pair if trained correctly. The two of you actually counteract each other perfectly."
Hawk blushed. "You think so? I really don't feel powerful. I mean my powers are mostly on the magic side, but I am pretty good with a bow. Raven though, she's skilled with just about anything that has a blade on it, it doesn't take long for her to master a weapon. And her shadow abilities are amazing."
"Hm…Perhaps we should do a bit of focusing on your elemental abilities. Weapons training can easily be learned in natural situations like fighting, but abilities that directly use energy to manipulate take a bit more practice." Kurama stated and stood up. "For now though, I would still like to put the two of you against Yusuke and Kuwabara again. This time switching opponents. Yusuke and Kuwabara each have different fighting styles and it would be good to get all the data possible before setting up a training regime."
"Aw man! Again?" Yusuke complained. "Grandma's gonna have my ass if I keep losing in sparing matches. She'll get on me about going soft."
"Hah!" Kuwabara cried out, jumping to his feet. "Maybe we should see which of us is really stronger! Just because I've been focused on schoolwork, doesn't mean I've let my training fall too far behind. Hawk was just lucky that I have a code I live by, one that doesn't include fighting with girls."
"Hn, fool." Hiei said, sliding off of the windowsill and appearing right behind Kuwabara. Kuwabara shrieked and jumped right into Yusuke, toppling both them and the couch backwards. Unable to stop the fall, Raven allowed the movement to aid her in rolling backwards just as the couch hit the ground and landing in a crouched position. Hiei appeared at the head of both boys, squatting down so that he could look Kuwabara in the eyes. "If you continue with not fighting women, even when they attack first, eventually your weakness will be discovered and used against you. The chances are high that eventually, it will be a woman who kills you for not defending yourself. Or worse, kills someone you care deeply about."
With that, Hiei left out the back door in the direction of the training area. Raven looked at the two idiots, who were trying to separate themselves from the awkward position they found themselves in and went out the door after Hiei. Hawk and Kurama assisted in getting the two boys onto their feet and then righting the couch.
"Shall we go?" The fox asked and indicated for Hawk to lead the way. With a beaming smile, Hawk practically skipped towards the door and the others followed her.
"I know she's the nice one, but sometimes she scares me more than Raven and Hiei do." Kuwabara whispered to Yusuke as they watched Hawk and Kurama catch up to Raven, who was leaning against a tree while waiting for them to arrive.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Yusuke agree, whispering back. "It's like that perfect level of nice where you wait for the switch to flip and find out she's secretly a serial killer or something."
Kuwabara nodded. By the time the two boys got to the field, they'd worked each other up to the point of imaging Hawk's welcoming smile as something to hide the evil behind the grin. Kurama noticed their false bravado walks and dropped his head into his hand. "Whatever you two have worked into your heads, I very much doubt that it is true."
"Hn." Hiei replied from above them, a very amused smirk on his face. "These fools have somehow come up with the idea that Hawk is the more dangerous of the two and is hiding it behind an angelic façade."
"Really?" Hawk said, tears touching the corner of her eyes as she folded her hands in front of her. "You really think I'm a sinister being?"
Raven had been ready to defend her sister until she realized what was happening. Pay attention boys, this is gonna be good. She thought to herself and moved to get a good viewing of the show to come.
"Um, uh…" The two started stuttering as they looked at the angelic beauty in front of them. They were just about to relax and apologize when something flashed in Hawk's eyes and several gallons of water appeared out of nowhere. They were instantly soaked and the ground below them grew soft. They were knee deep in the soft ground before they realized their mistake.
"We're sorry Miss Hawk! Please don't kill me, I mean us!" Kuwabara finally gave in and started begging as they scrambled to find solid earth to pull them out of the ground.
Satisfied, Hawk manipulated the earth to raise the boys to solid ground. The two collapsed in a heap as they regained themselves, amazed at her abilities. Kurama stepped up next to her and examined the ground around the two boys. "I take it you manipulated the water in the ground to essentially turn it into a form of isolated quicksand?"
Hawk looked at him, surprised that he figured it out so easily. "Yeah, pretty much. It's not hard to do and it gives the illusion that I can manipulate the earth. Comes in handy when crossing into a territory that is full of earth demons."
"I see, I will keep that in mind for the future." Kurama said and got the boys to their feet. "Yusuke, you will fight with Hawk first. Then we'll have Kuwabara against Raven."
"Do we have to?" The boys asked, completely freaked out at this point. If Hawk was supposedly the nice one, what did that say for Raven? They suspected that she may actually be a bit scarier than Hiei. The fire demon must have caught their random thoughts because a frown appeared on his face before he regained his composure and pretended to ignore them.
*Hawk Vs Yusuke*
"So, who is actually stronger? You or Raven?" Yusuke asked as the two of them stretched out. "I mean she is older but that doesn't mean much sometimes."
"Well, I guess Raven is technically stronger." Hawk said thoughtfully. "Then again, when we spar, the matches usually come out to a draw so I can't be totally sure."
"Huh, so you don't go all out against each other?" He asked and got into a ready stance.
"No," Hawk replied and mimicked him. "It would leave us too vulnerable to attack. Mostly we focus on improvement of whatever we are sparing with. We even have fun competitions with our abilities. It's really fun to challenge each other. We just have to be careful when we do it."
"Huh," Was all Yusuke managed before Kurama called for the fight to begin.
Something caught Yusuke's attention just as the fight started and he just narrowly missed a full-on kick to his face. "Is that all ya got?!" He challenged.
Hawk responded with a flurry of punches that Yusuke struggled to block with one hand. Her speed impressed him, and he wondered how it compared to Hiei's if she were to go full out. He considered suggesting to Kurama that they have a race between the girls and Hiei to gauge their actual speed.
Distracted by his thoughts, Yusuke didn't catch that she had changed attacks and caught him in the side of the head with a solid hook kick. He stumbled backwards, donning a huge grin as he wiped the blood from his face. "Alright, time to get serious." He said and cracked his knuckles. Hawk grimaced at the sound but got back into her ready stance.
They exchanged more blows, most of Yusuke's glanced off of her as she dodged his attacks easily. They eventually reached a stalemate with each of her fists locked into his hands. They pushed back against each other, Hawk quickly losing ground. Yusuke grinned, confident that he was going to win this match and tried to finish her with a headbutt. Hawk shifted to the side, throwing Yusuke completely off balance and causing him to lose his grip as the headbutt failed. Hawk took advantage and swept his legs out from under him. He landed on his back with her standing above him, her foot on his neck. The pressure was just hard enough to prove the point that she won her match against him.
Yusuke flopped back onto the ground and groaned. "Aww man! No one tell Genkai about today! She'll run my ass into the ground for a month is she finds out I lost two matches in a row."
Hawk stepped back and helped him off the ground, then the two of them cleared the arena for Raven and Kuwabara.
*Raven vs Kuwabara*
Raven stood across from Kuwabara. From the looks of him, she was pretty sure it wouldn't take much to defeat him. Hiei's comment earlier hovered in her mind as she wondered about Kuwabara's abilities to train with the two sisters and if there was any way to save the human from his own morals.
Kuwabara looked frustrated, like he was at war with himself. "Argh, I can't do it!" He finally yelled and sat on the ground with his arms crossed. "Someone else is going to have to fight with them. I just can't change my code, even if it gets me killed."
Raven admired the fact that he still held so true to his morals, but if he were going to be her ally then that meant she had to do everything she could to help him. Even if it was saving him from himself. She walked over and tapped him on the head. "Yeah, I see how well that worked out with my sister. How's your head feeling? Obviously, she didn't knock any sense into it. I wonder what it's like to be so empty up there…"
Kuwabara absentmindedly rubbed the knot that had formed on the back of his head. He had forgotten that it was there until she touched it and brought it back to his attention and it started hurting again. "Hey! I just didn't want to hurt her. Girls are delicate creatures after all." He said, muttering the last part. "If she had been a guy, it would've been a totally different story!"
"Hn, right!" Raven taunted. "As if you could even defend yourself against a Makai flea. Just admit that you don't want to fight because you know you can't win."
Kuwabara's face got red as the insults got thrown in his direction. He stood up, hands in fists and got right in her face. "That's not true! I could beat you if I really wanted to!" He hollered at her. "It just wouldn't exactly be a fair fight is all!"
"Ha! Prove it Kuwabaka!" She said and proceeded to throw taunts at him until his face had turned tomato red. At first, he tried to hold his ground and object. She continued at it until finally she said something and had Kuwabara's fist hit her face before she could react. If only she could remember what she was in the middle of taunting him with to trigger that reaction. Was it just insulting his abilities? That seemed too easy…
"Fine! You want some of this!" He growled at her, and she wondered if she had gone too far. "Come and get it!"
She laughed at him, doing her best to keep him in a rage. "Is that all you got?" She called as she focused on dodging his attacks.
"Grr! Stay still long enough for me to hit you!" He demanded as he lunged at her again. Raven jumped and used his shoulders to flip over him, kicking him in the back on her way down. The action caused his momentum and balance to be thrown off, effectively sending him face first into the ground.
Kuwabara jumped up and called his spirit sword to his hand. Raven didn't mind and they hadn't explicitly said not to use weapons during this battle. Besides, Kurama did say that he wanted to see what she was capable of.
She effectively dodged most of his attacks, preferring not to actually get hit with the weapon, and watched as his temper flared. At some point, she had stopped insulting him and he seemed to forget who he was fighting. With another leap, Raven spun through the air to dodge another swipe of his sword. The move left her blinded to his position for a split second and he was able to nick her arm with the tip of the sword.
She landed, holding her arm. There was no blood and it seemed to have cauterized from the heat of his spirit energy in the sword. Damn, that was close.
"Too close woman! Now pay attention!" Came Hiei's voice in her head. He sounded irritated but she couldn't figure out why. It wasn't like her and Kuwabara were actually trying to kill each other.
Another swipe of Kuwabara's sword brought her out of her head before she could send a retort to Hiei or block him from her mind. She couldn't figure out how the hell he kept finding his way past her mental blocks, but that was a problem for later. Time to end this.
She rushed Kuwabara, who hadn't expected her to actively attack back since she had spent most of the fight dodging his attacks. Stunned, he missed his chance to attack her, and she feinted a punch to his head. He leaned back to avoid the hit and she took full advantage by sweeping his feet out from under him. He hovered in the air for the half a second it took for gravity to catch up and Raven fisted her hands together and brought them down, helping him to the ground the hard way.
Kuwabara groaned and his spirit sword faded away. She placed her foot on his chest and grinned down at him. "Congratulations, you just fought with a girl…and lost."
Dropping his head back, Kuwabara closed his eyes and allowed the darkness to take him as he was once again passed out.
*Post-Fight*
"I'm impressed." Yusuke said as they came and stood around the two fighters. "I didn't think any girl would ever be able to get him to fight with them."
"Yeah, I just wish I had remembered what I said to trigger it." She told them and sat on the ground next to Kuwabara's limp form. The fight had worn her out a bit. "It could come in handy later."
"Ahem…" Kurama cleared his throat, getting their attention. "I believe it was a combination of insults. While the barrage of insults and attacks were effective in themselves, you challenged his status with the team followed by a jab at his fighting abilities being a prelude to his skills in the bedroom. I believe that is what actually sent him over the edge."
"Hahaha!" Yusuke laughed. "That's right! I couldn't believe that you actually insulted his manhood. Something about how he must not have much luck if he had problems swinging his weapon at a girl…or something like that…I was too busy laughing."
Raven paled a little. She was known for taking things too far on occasion and this might have just been one of them. "Ah shit biscuits!" She moaned and dropped her head into her hands. "I didn't mean to take it that far. I wasn't even paying attention to the insults I was flinging. I was just trying to get him to fight back."
Kurama dropped a hand to her shoulder as they ignored Yusuke rolling on the ground laughing, holding his sides against the ache forming. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll forget the actual words used by the time he wakes up. I believe the act of attacking you might take a little more precedence over his manhood."
Raven looked up at him, hopeful. "Thanks, Kurama. I hope so. But I still owe him a big apology later."
Kurama nodded and they hauled the unconscious Kuwabara inside. Looking over her shoulder, Raven noticed Hiei missing as they entered the temple.
Yukina handed them all water bottles as they came inside, holding Kurama's and Kuwabara's as she walked with him to lay Kuwabara on the couch once again. Everyone guzzled down their waters and Yukina told them that they had plenty of time to get cleaned up before dinner in a couple of hours.
Showers were limited but supplied with plenty of hot water from an underground spring. Hawk mentioned a nearby hot spring that they could go to as some point to relax. Raven like the idea as she and Hawk went to enter one of the bathrooms together.
"You guys are going to share?" Came Yusuke's voice. The two of them looked over to see him passing by on the way to his room. "Damn that's hot!"
With a growl, both girls lunged at him, and he was left leaning against the wall, slightly dazed with two new lumps on his head. Kurama entered the hallway with an armful of fresh clothes. "When will you ever learn Yusuke?" He muttered before heading towards the other shower at the opposite end of the hall.
Satisfied at their retribution, Hawk and Raven proceeded into the bathroom. Raven indicated for Hawk to enter first as the older sister got undressed and waited, covered in a towel around her body. Hawk entered the shower and they started to discuss everything that had happened over the last few days. "Was it just me or did Hiei not seem to care about me nearly killing Kuwabara?" Raven asked Hawk idly after a bit. Hawk popped her head out from behind the curtain.
"Don't know, I could tell that the fire demon isn't a fan of Kuwabara, but I doubt he'd hate his own ally enough to let him be killed that easily. Maybe he just knew you wouldn't do anything so extreme?" She suggested before she popped back in, rinsed her hair and came out to wrap a towel around her body, wet hair hanging freely. Calling on her abilities, she drew the majority of the water out of her hair and let it drain down the sink. She started brushing it out as Raven entered the shower.
"Hn, as if I care what happens to that buffoon!" Hiei's voice trickled into Raven's mind as she stepped under the spray of the water. "He hasn't been needed on the team for a few years now."
Shocked at hearing his voice, Raven sent a mental slap in his direction. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD YOU PERVERT!" Raven yelled at him mentally and slammed her barriers into place.
Several miles away, Hiei fell out of the tree he was resting in. Hitting the ground, he rubbed the area around his Jagan Eye. The force of her attack confused him. Why would she call me a pervert? I was just speaking to her, not watching anything…
Thoroughly confused and irritated at that point. Hiei removed all but his undergarments and dove into the pool of water next to him. He was determined to find out exactly why the girl had attacked him mentally, then to see about improving her abilities. He was already becoming well acquainted with her mental wards, she no longer felt his presence as he wove his way through the barriers, she formed against them.
In fact, it had become entertaining for him to try and break through each set of barriers she would erect. Each one more complicated than the previous, while still incorporating each barrier into the new level of protection. He was determined to find her limits and push her past them.
This girl has just gotten to a new level of interesting. He thought as he dove down to the bottom of the pool. Perhaps keeping that promise to Shade won't be as terrible as I had thought it would be upon finding her again.
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