Ankoku Bujutsukai Ch.4 Arigatou minna for all the reviews! Please keep them coming! ^_^!
Sorry if this fight is too short... I'm not that great at writing fight scenes... but I'll try and write longer and more action-packed sequences okay? Any suggestions, comments or violent reactions can be sent to: catsky_26@yahoo.com
Take care all!
- Krianne-chan
Chapter Four
Hokage and Ishimaitsu :: Tokiya versus Matiyo

Korogi, the referee for Hokage's first round, smoothed down her sea-green hair and adjusted her grasshopper attire. "You are gorgeous," she assured herself. And she did too. Long green hair, coal-black eyes and a somewhat revealing bug costume that left little to the imagination with matching antennas at the back of her head. She held up her head, grabbed her microphone and stepped out from behind the front row, where all the referees were gathered.

Whispers of 'good luck's and 'break a leg's echoed around in her eardrums, but she only heard the roar of the crowd as they impatiently waited for the start of the most-awaited tournament. And she was going to start it.

She, lowly, humble, gorgeous, beautiful and incredibly talented Korogi!

She smiled widely and, stepping out, waved to the crowd enthusiastically. Everyone applauded wildly, and her grin grew even wider. "Ohayou minna-san!" she shouted over the din the crowd was creating. "Welcome to the first round of the Ankoku Bujutsukai, between Team Hokage," she thrust her hand at the left side, "And Team Ishimaitsu!" she gestured at her right.

"The first match!" she announced, "Between Matiyo, of Team Ishimaitsu, and Mikagami Tokiya of Team Hokage!"

* * * * *

For the first time since the previous night, Tokiya looked grim. He gripped the Ensui tightly. He felt someone tap his shoulder and, unhinging his neck joints, he turned to Fuuko. She had a large smile on her face.

"Good luck, niichan. You're going to do great! I know you will!" She assured him. She winked at him, giving him a cheerful thumb up. "Go Mi-chan!" She cheered.

"Arigatou, Fuuko," he grinned slightly. He gave her one last look, and then leapt onto the stage. As his toes touched the hard concrete of the floor beneath him, he heard the approval of the crowd. Somehow, that gave his morale a small boost. Lifting his eyes, he noticed a young man standing beside the referee.

His uniform, a dirty white tunic and pants, revealed a scrawny chest, and he had a youthful smirking face. Long spiky chestnut brown bangs fell over his eyes, which were a bright reddish-brown, an unusual color. Some may even call it burgundy. He felt those wine-colored eyes boring into his own baby blues. He narrowed his eyes. This man is too confident for his own good. He gripped the Ensui tightly, feeling the urge to thrust it through this arrogant bastard.

* * * * *

Matiyo laughed inwardly. He's getting irked at me, he thought, amused. He watched his opponent grip his weapon impatiently. Matte, Tokiya-san. Soon you won't be in a hurry to use that against me.

He turned slightly and saw his sister watching him. He gave her a cheerful wave and a wink. He saw her roll her eyes and mouth the words, 'good luck you jerk' at him. He grinned.

No matter what would happen, he would always have his sister and brother with him. They were his family, his only family since the death of his parents' years before. His eyes darkened. He would win. For his parents, and for his siblings.

He jutted his jaw out at him. Whatever you have in store, Tokiya Mikagami, I'm as ready for it as I'll ever be. I only wish I could say the same for you. His eyes turned into narrow brownish-red slits of hidden fury.

"Hajime."

* * * * *

Soshi eyed the handsome young man who was about to battle her brother. Damn, he was too cute. She thought, smiling. The spiky-haired guy with the band-aid was kind of good-looking too. Rule out the guy with the Mohawk and frown though. And the girl with the short hair. She looks like a guy! She twirled one end of her styled brown hair. I look much better than her.

"Shiryo," she called out.

Almost instantly, a man appeared behind her. He had long brown hair and the family's burgundy eyes. Unlike Matiyo, Shiryo had a sturdy body, one that had obviously been through vigorous training in the past two months. He placed a hand on the shoulder of his sister. "Hai, Soshi?" he answered in his deep timbre.

"Oh!" she jumped back, surprised, then smiled at her oldest brother, "You startled me. Why didn't you tell me you were back there?"

He took his place beside his younger sister and stared stoically at his brother and his opponent.

"Be prepared, imouto, and prepare well," he said all of a sudden, "Matiyo will most probably lose."

Her head snapped as she turned to glare at her brother, "Why do you say that, 'niisan? Matiyo has trained as hard and as well as the rest of us. Why would he lose to an obviously inferior yet handsome young boy such as Mikagami Tokiya?"

"That's the problem, Soshi," he replied, "He knows what training he has gone through and he is thinking this would be a cinch. He is arrogant, overconfident and self-assured. And that, I'm afraid, will be his downfall."

"And you've seen Tokiya Mikagami's methods. He knows what he's doing."

Soshi clenched her fists. "But Matiyo's skill is undefeated," she argued, "He knows what to do and when to do it. That little boy is merely playing with a toy sword." She firmly refused to believe her brother would lose. Even though she knew that Mikagami Tokiya knew how to use that toy sword. She had seen him during the Urabutousatsojin and she knew he was dangerous. The one fleeting moment that he had seen him was when he was beating the hell out of a large tree. She shuddered to think if her brother was in the place of the tree. But her faith in her brother's skills exceeded the admiration she had for the water swordsman.

She had seen that power of his during their rigorous training sessions at their uncle's dojo. He was always the trickster, even when they were young kids. He enjoyed picking on her, and she loved kicking his butt all the way to kingdom come. But through those episodes a close brother-sister bond grew between them, and they protected each other no matter what. Their age gap wasn't too large, just a year between them, Soshi being the baby of the family.

Shiryo was always too busy to play with them. Being five years older than Soshi, he had a lot of responsibilities. Because their parents had died when they were only children, they had been entrusted to their uncle, a wealthy businessman. Always away on trips, he often left Shiryo in charge of the house. Since he took care of the house and the other duties, Matiyo and Soshi had to take care of each other.

They were a team, a family. Together forever, no matter what. They would not give up so easily. They were unbeatable. They were invincible. They would not be defeated.

Even by the likes of Tokiya Mikagami.

* * * * *

Korogi turned to the audience and waved cheerfully. Then she turned back to them and smiled widely, "Mikagami, Matiyo..." She held up a hand, and then brought it down sharply.

"Hajime!"

Tokiya held the Ensui out, and almost immediately, an icicle blade formed from the sword handle. The basin of water the Hokage Team kept beside the circle emptied. Matiyo did nothing but continue to smirk at his adversary. The annoying grin on his face was beginning to piss Tokiya off.

"So..." Matiyo said in a smooth voice. He brushed the hair off his face in a suave manner, "You are the admirable Mikagami Tokiya of Team Hokage." He smirked, and bowed low, "I am honored to combat you."

Tokiya readied the Ensui, "How do you know who I am?"

Matiyo smiled at him. "We paid a visit to the Urabutousatsojin. Didn't you notice my siblings and I? We are hard to miss you know," he said cockily. "Handsome, cunning, smart and..." He looked straight into Tokiya's eyes and whispered.

"Deadly."

Suddenly, he disappeared. Where he used to stand, an orb floated several feet above the ground. Tokiya blinked. The ball had started to spin around, harder and harder, faster and faster. Mist started to emit from the orb, until the whole arena was submerged into a thick fog. Loud, annoyed shouts were heard from the crowd's direction. They couldn't see what was happening. Korogi was trying to bat the mist away from her eyes so she could actually witness the fight.

"Uh hold on, ladies and gentlemen! Let's see... umm, it seems that Matiyo's power is the fog, and as you can see, it's has completely covered the arena from top to bottom! I wonder what Tokiya has to say about that?"

Tokiya shielded his eyes from the gauzy substance. "Shimatta," he cursed under his breath. He couldn't see a thing.

"Too bad you had to die this way..." the voice whispered from behind him.

He whirled around, and slashed the space behind him. Nothing.

"You know," the voice continued to taunt him, "For a brilliant fighter and the most intelligent person on your team, you sure are slow."

"What do you mean?" Tokiya growled, his temper flashing.

"You cannot find me, but I am all around you. I am the mist. I am the fog. To defeat me, you must defeat the fog."

Tokiya smirked, "Simple as that? Chih. Didn't expect this match to be over soon."

The voice guffawed deeply, startling him. "It'll be over sooner than you'll expect."

All of a sudden, the mist seemed to thicken, and close around him. Tightening against his neck and face, Tokiya coughed. He covered his nose and mouth with his hand and started to breathe slowly. The fog just seemed to get tighter and tighter, like someone had grabbed his lungs and squeezed all the air out of it.

"I hope you're not claustrophobic," the voice teased him gleefully, "You see, the mist has the power to choke and suffocate. No one I have ever faced has managed to defeat me." He could feel him smirk.

Tokiya panted, then managed a hoarse chuckle. "I'm afraid you're sadly mistaken." He wedged the Ensui deep into the ground and placed his palm over it. He frowned, concentrating hard, his brow knotting from the effort.

A few seconds later, he seized the Ensui, and thrust behind him. He was satisfied to hear his opponent grunt in pain as the ice sword went through him. He grinned and finally opened his eyes. He could see the familiar faces of his teammates cheering for him, and the crowd screaming their lungs out for him.

* * * * *

Soshi stared dumbfounded at the sight. "Masaka… 'niichan… masaka!"

* * * * *

Tokiya glanced behind him and saw the shocked face of Matiyo, near his ear. "Naze... nani..." Matiyo choked. Tokiya withdrew the sword and Matiyo collapsed to the floor. "How did you... defeat me?"

Tokiya stared coolly at him, "For someone as arrogant and brash as you, you sure are slow." He glanced at his Ensui, which had become thicker and glossier. "Fog is mostly water vapor." He shrugged, "In the few seconds in which I had placed my Ensui on the ground, it had absorbed the moisture in the mist, leaving only air."

Korogi leapt over to them happily, "And without further ado, the winner is Tokiya Mikagami, Team Hokage!"

And while the crowd applauded, Tokiya turned to Matiyo and offered his hand, "Here," he grunted. Matiyo stared at it for a moment before slowly reaching for it.

"Iie, 'niichan!"

Their heads snapped up at the voice. "Soshi!" Matiyo croaked. "And Shiryo. What are you doing?" He grasped his stomach and winced at the pain.

The one called Soshi had fire in her eyes. "Oniisan," she spat, "Tend to Matiyo's wounds. It's my turn to fight." While the other man helped Matiyo to his feet, Soshi marched to where Tokiya was standing.

She glared pointedly at Tokiya. "No matter how handsome or how good you are, I will never forgive you for what you did to my brother. We siblings protect each other and defend each other. Forever together, no matter what. Come on and fight, you jerk. I'll be sure to kill you, nice and slow."

Tokiya only heard half of what she said. The fight had drained him of most of his energy. If her brother had that kind of power, surely she had some kind of strange power. But he was positive that he wouldn't live through her onslaught, especially in her angered and enraged state.

A gimlet flew through the air and landed in front of Soshi, which elicited a yelp of surprise from her. "Hey you!" said a familiar voice. "Nobody talks to Mi-niichan that way, except me!"

"Fuuko…" Tokiya exclaimed weakly. His legs were beginning to give way.

Fuuko smiled at Tokiya and walked toward him, "Daijobu, Tokiya?" she asked him seriously, as his arms came down on her shoulder heavily. "Oof!" she grunted under the weight. She dragged him swiftly to Team Hokage's side of the arena.

"You're gonna be a-okay, Mi-niichan," she promised, "Just rest a little."

"Fuuko," Tokiya murmured, grasping her fingers, "Good luck." He gave her a wry smile before sinking into unconsciousness.

She dusted her hands off, and turned abruptly to Soshi. She walked confidently until she and Soshi were nose and nose.

"You better be ready, little girl," she warned, cracking her knuckles as she glared into Soshi's wine-colored eyes, "It's me you're going to face and you better believe that I'm going to teach you some lessons on manners. Deal with one Hokage, you deal with the rest. That's our motto."

Soshi sneered mockingly, "I'm petrified."

* * * * *

Domon scratched his head, "I thought it was 'be prepared'?" Recca snorted as he laid Tokiya on the wall of the Arena. The Ensui master had lost consciousness. "That'll be the day. And 'be prepared' was for Boy Scouts."

Domon blinked.