You know, I get my most entertaining and nicest reviews on this fic! They're all nice and long, very descriptive…
Sakura: Um…What's a 'kitsune koinu'?
GS: Um…(flips through Japanese-to-English dictionary) Literally…'fox puppy'.
Sakura: Ah…*mumbling* What an interesting thing to call a person…
Mamoru: Yeah, that's why it's gonna be Kotori's nickname for you later on!
GS: (knocks Mamoru over the head with dictionary) Stupid! Don't give out spoilers!!
Sakura: Mamoru-kun? Are you okay?
Mamoru: X.X
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original YYH characters, but of course I own Sakura, Mamoru, and the new fighters. On with the fic!!
Yu Yu Hakusho - Blossom
Chapter 5: Dinner and a Tournament
Master Urameshi lead the eight contestants through a slightly faster short-cut past the woods, back to the house. He turned back to them with a smile as they reached the door. "Now then…" he said cheeringly. "Before we move on to the final test, I suggest we all tuck in a nice meal."
"Eat?" the monk gasped. "At a time like this?"
"Well, of course!" the master laughed, opening the doors. "You can't exactly fight on an empty stomach, now can you?"
He flung open the doors to reveal a long, low table, four sitting-cushions on each side and two at the very end, farthest from the door. There were plates and utensils set out at each spot, and already the table was lined with dozens of delicious-looking home-made dishes, from oden and hamachi, to rice cakes and sweat dumplings.
Mamoru took a deep breath of the sweat, familiar smells and his mouth started to water. Sakura whiffed the ambrosial fragrances as she and the others sat. "Oh…It smells wonderful…"
"Thank you for that."
Sakura snapped her head up. Standing above her was a smiling old woman, apparently the same age as Urameshi, with friendly, ageless brown eyes. Her hair had once been brown, but had now faded to a dull kind of gray. She was wearing an apron and holding a steaming pot of soup.
"Mamoru, dear, I should've known you'd be here." she said with a laugh, setting the pot down to ruffle Mamoru's hair.
"Yeah, I'm here…" he smiled, brushing his already-messy hair back into place. "It looks great, Gramma Keiko."
"Thanks again." the woman smiled, taking the second seat at the end next to Urameshi.
The Master laughed. "That's my girl." he sighed, putting one arm around his wife and kissing her on the cheek. He turned back to the competitors. "Well? What're you waiting for? Dig in!"
I didn't take long for them agree, piling food onto their plates and feasting gratefully. Some…like Mamoru and the Chinese girl…ate quite a bit, while others…the monk, and the ninja…barely touched it.
Mamoru noticed after a few minutes that Sakura was very careful to remove her rose and place it just out of the way, so that it was still close, but she had no chance of getting any food or drink on it.
He leaned over, curious, and picked it up. "This is the same kind you had with you at school, isn't it?"
"Yes…" the girl's hands gently removed his fingers from the flower, setting it on the other side so he wouldn't pick it up again. "I always carry one…"
"Why?"
Yusuke looked over as the girl fingered the rose lovingly. "It's…just kind of a habit, I guess." she muttered. "My grandfather always used to carry one with him, every day. I did it… to remember him…after he died. It just kinda…stuck…"
Keiko looked over at the girl, at the rose, and then at Yusuke. The two locked eyes, thinking the same thing, then they continued with the meal.
About fifteen minutes later, the plates were cleaned to the bone. Master Urameshi set down his utensils. "Well now." he smiled around at the group. "Now that we're all done, I think it's only fitting we give a little introduction. Starting at this end, go around the table and say something about yourselves."
He pointed at the person sitting on his left, the young Chinese girl. She was very small, the tiniest one there, with short-cut, black hair, died blonde bangs and bright blue eyes. She was dressed in a very Chinese-looking outfit, a dark blue shirt with a high Mandarin collar, long sleeves ending in loose white cuffs, white fastenings up from her waist and loose-fitting blue shorts.
She smiled out at the group, looking very cheerful. "Hello. My name be Ming-mei, of the Maolin School of Mastery." she said, stumbling a bit with the Japanese. "Master say to me 'Ming-mei become strong, learn new techniques in Japan' so here I am!"
The next one was the gray-cloaked ninja from before, who gave a soft sigh as it came to him. "My name's Kiyoshi, known to most as the Gray Shadow. A student of ninjutsu and acupuncture. Assassin-for-hire."
Beside him was a man of about thirty-something, head shaved and wearing a purple cap, dark eyes smiling icily. "I am Rafu, from a village of fishers. I live to test my own strength."
The burly fight Mamoru had the run-in with before was next, folding arms confidently over his chest. "Yukio, strongest of all the fighters in the Akiyama mountain village. I crush any who get in my way."
Now it'd moved around the table, to a man with scraggly white hair and gray eyes that looked like rocks. He had a bow and a quiver of arrows over one shoulder. "My name's Kanaye, master of the hunt. Challenging large game is my hobby."
Between him and Mamoru sat the monk. His hair was long and uncut, a pale, pale blonde, hanging loose down his back, and his eyes were a haunting, almost creepy, blue. But his face was young and pleasant-looking, and he was dressed in long white robes and had a tall staff sitting beside him. "They call me Kisho. I come from a temple in the north, and travel to slay demons of evil."
Mamoru brushed his hair back with a confident grin. "Mamoru Urameshi, the best fighter at Sarayashiki Jr. High."
Many of the fighters raised eyebrows when they heard his last name. "Urameshi…" Kiyoshi muttered. "What relation could he have with the master?"
Finally, Yusuke turned to the red-haired girl, who had been quietly staring at her plate this whole time. "And you?" he asked gently, pulling a bit on her bangs to make her look up. "What's your name?"
"Sakura…Sakura Koubai." she muttered, keeping her voice low. "Fourteen years old, class 2B at Sarayashiki Jr. High."
Yukio scoffed at her. "Is that all she's got to say?" he muttered under his breath. "There's no way a prissy little flower-carrying schoolgirl can master this technique."
Mamoru shot the guy a death glare, but Sakura just picked her rose back up and tucked it into her lapel. Master Urameshi sighed, brushing his hands together, then smiled out at the group.
"Well." he started, glancing at them. "Now that that's finished, I suggest you all take a close look at your soup…"
"What?" The contests looked down at the bowls of brown, beef soup. Most of them had only recently been re-filled, steaming hot and filled with chunks of meat and vegetables.
Mamoru stared down at it, wondering what the trick was. Sakura, Ming-mei and Kisho picked up their spoons and poked at the broth-covered meat for some kind of sign of what they were waiting for…
Then Sakura uncovered a small, laminated piece of paper under a piece of meat. It was too large to be swallowed, and too bright a white to be hidden completely. She reached in with her thumb and fore finger and lifted it out to find that something was written on it. "…Two." she muttered, showing the others at the table.
Mamoru dug around in his soup, too, pulling out another number. Seven. One-by-one, each of the contests found their numbers and pulled them out, looking at it strangely. Master Urameshi grinned out at them. "Those numbers are your lots in the next test."
"What next test?" Kisho demanded. "What're these numbers for?"
"The final test is a full-fledged tournament between the eight of you." Yusuke stood, brushing himself off. "Follow me, and I'll show you where you'll be fighting."
The group stood and went after him. He opened a door at the end of the room and entered into a large room with a huge wooden fighting ring. Above them on the wall was a glowing screen with a tournament chart on it.
"My master made us fight in the dark this first round." the Master mentioned over his shoulder. "Personally, that was the stupidest fight I've ever been in. So we'll be going by simple tournament rules: You fight until your opponet is either dead or incapacitated. Honestly, I don't care which, just whatever comes first. Try to stay in the ring and not harm anyone but your opponet, but there aren't any penalties for stepping out of the area. As you can see, the matches are just about set up."
The chart flashed, the numbers being replaced by pictures of the contests who had drawn them, and underneath were multi-colored charts showing the results of the power tests.
Urameshi glanced up at the screen, then back at the group. "First match is Kiyoshi vs. Sakura." he announced.
The red haired girl looked nervous, shifting her weight. The gray-cloaked ninja had already climbed into the ring, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well? Are you coming, little girl?"
Sakura gulped, then climbed into the ring to face him. Mamoru licked his lips nervously. If it was true that Sakura had never fought before, she could be in big trouble.
Urameshi gave the a supportive glance before raising his hand over the ring.
"Fighters ready?" the two nodded. "Well then…BEGIN!"
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A little more explanation on the names… (Lots of 'em this time)
Ming-mei - Chinese. Smart or beautiful.
Rafu - A net
Yukio - He who gets what he wants
Kanaye - Zealous one
Kisho - One who knows his own mind