Lucky Pendant

By: KC

Here it is! Chapter Three of my first fic WITH A PLOT! Yay! I'm so proud of me... I accomplished my goal from the end of Chapter Two - I FOUND CHOCOLATE! Woo-hoo! ::Pops another Tootsie Roll in her mouth and puts the wrapper in the rapidly growing pile behind her:: Mmm...utter happiness and bliss... .

Yami: . How many of those things are in a bag, again?

Kurama: Over seven hundred... 0.0

Yami: We're doomed...

Oh, you people are so gloomy. Smile! ::Throws a Tootsie Roll at Yami::

Um...back to the fic...I feel like Happy Gilmore. He needs to work on his short game, and I need to work on my fight scenes. I will try to improve by next chapter (or maybe even by the end of this one).

The disclaimer from Chapter One carries over to this chapter as well. (They're all still afraid to read it.) The tournament is still on. Kurama is still slightly OOC. Kuwabara is still stupid. (Really. Was there ever any doubt about that one?) I am still writing. You are hopefully still reading.

Enjoy!

Chapter Three: The Second Match

"Let the second match begin!"

This cloaked fighter was completely different from the one Yusuke fought. He immediately charged at me, brandishing a dagger drawn from the depths of his cloak. He intended to kill me on the spot!

Fortunately for me, I'm much faster than that.

I sprang out of his reach and quickly pulled my rose out of my hair. I wasn't about to fight a blade bare-handed, no matter how small.

"Rose Whip!"

I lashed out with my whip, catching him around the ankle and slamming him into the ring floor. He immediately stood back up and attacked my whip with his dagger.

Yeah, right. Good luck breaking that, buddy.

I yanked on my whip, upending my opponent again. I released the whip from his ankle. This fight would go nowhere fast as long as I kept knocking his feet from under him and nothing else.

He immediately rolled to his feet and charged again, dagger clearly visible.

He couldn't really be that stupid...could he?

I jumped away again.

Then, for just a moment, his hood flapped back, and I saw him smirk. It was the same smirk Hiei wore when he knew his fight was in the bag.

Then his second dagger flashed in the sun.

- - - -

It was too late for me to dodge. His second dagger bit into my chest, ripping through shirt and flesh and splattering blood onto his own face and the floor.

My blood.

I landed hard on my side. I pushed myself to my feet, then staggered backwards, shock making it difficult for me to regain my balance. I couldn't believe I had been caught so badly off my guard.

"Kurama!" I heard Hiei yell from the sidelines. "It's not over yet!"

Hiei was right. I wasn't dead yet, and it would be a cold day in hell when I gave up without a fight.

But where was my opponent?

There! Above me!

I narrowly dodged his flying strike. If it had hit, he would have killed me.

Maybe that pendant really was lucky.

I wasn't waiting to be attacked anymore.

I picked up my whip from where I had dropped it. Fighting unarmed against this particular opponent had proven to be a very bad idea.

I swung my whip around and caught the robed fighter by the leg. I had abandoned this strategy before, and look what it had gotten me - another scar to add to the collection.

I slammed him into the ground headfirst. I waited for him to get up.

And waited.

And waited.

"TEN!"

I jumped slightly. I hadn't even realized she was doing the count.

I also hadn't realized that I had been fingering the pendant under my shirt.

I quickly lowered my hand, praying Hiei hadn't seen. He would be worried if he saw me doing that again.

"The second match goes to Team Yurameshi!" The announcer waved again at the board. Another green O appeared next to the first one.

"Wow, two already for Team Yurameshi!" the announcer continued, pointedly ignoring the overwhelming jeers from the crowd. "Team Ryoki had better get it's act together if they want to get to the next round!"

Translation: Damn you, Kurama. Damn you, Hiei. Damn all of you in that human team. I hope you all die soon.

We have such a lovely announcer.

"This next match could spell victory for Team Yurameshi!"

Thank you Captain Obvious.

"Will the fighters for the third match please enter the ring!"

This time, Hiei stepped forward, with no argument from Kuwabara. Even he knew that preventing Hiei from fighting was technical suicide.

The fighter from the opposite team was the team leader.

"Let the third match begin!"

- - - -

AAAAAGH!! ::Dodges the many pointy/heavy/explosive/all-of-the-above objects being thrown at her from various Kurama fans:: I'm SORREEEEEEEEE!!! C'mon! NOBODY can go through a fight like that without getting hurt! It's not fatal! He'll get better! LEAVE ME ALOOOOOOONE!!!

Only two more chapters to go! Yay! ::Thinks to herself:: I still have to rope somebody into reading the disclaimer next chapter...oh well. I will get somebody to read it, that I will.

Yami: ::Puts hands over ears:: AARGH! "DUBBED KENSHIN" TALK! NO MORE!!!

Oops. . Sorry. Bad habit. I am trying to break it, that I -

Yami: NOOOOO!

Sorry Yami.

Oh, BTW, I just realized that Hiei is completely OOC...oh well. It could be worse: he could be drunk.

Stay tuned for the next chapter!