Catse: Well here's chapter numbah seventeen for yah! And three more chapters to go. The end is near, and in my opinion, I think it's the best ending I've ever written. Well, here you go. Enjoy!

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, and I'm sure by now everybody knows it. Well then, I have nothing else to say here. On to chapter seventeen!

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The fight between them intensified, as both of them increased their skills and their speed.

It didn't seem as if the fight would ever end.

Hiei's blood constantly splattered on the floor in droplets, leaving a red mess everywhere he went.

The other's worried that if he continued any longer, he would end up draining the blood from his entire body, and then there would be trouble.

Kurama picked at a hole that looked big enough to let them through, but just as he managed to stick the pencil completely through it, it crashed into it's self and closed up, leaving him to find another hole.

The barrier was tricky, but foxes loved tricks.

It was only a matter of time before he could open it up completely and get inside.

Suta at the moment looked like she was sleeping, only a few chest movement presenting that she still lived.

Kurama certainly hoped that she lived.

She had to in order to save man-kind.

Hiei struck Shadow once in the shoulder, but it wasn't deep enough to cause pain.

As it was, Hiei was fending off two swords with his katana, and Shadow had a way of jumping about and attracting attention to one sword while he cut you with the other.

Hiei had to keep his eyes on both in order to keep from getting cut, so that he didn't bleed any farther.

As it was, he had lost so much blood that he was becoming weak...almost too weak to keep going...and his eyes were blurring up, in which he had to fight to see straight.

Usually, had this been in his past, he would have retreated and healed up, then come back and killed him at a later date.

But at this point, this was no time to back down.

As it was, they were very low on time, so he had to finish this quickly.

It seemed that his anger was the only thing keeping him going...that and his love for a young hanyou girl.

Hiei blocked another sword move as it came at him, and only managed to dodge the second sword as it flew at his head.

Then the first one jabbed at him, nearly hitting him except for the few inches distance that he had put between them.

Shadow was becoming even deadlier than before.

It was as if he was trying to finish up his work quickly so as to get to watch the show.

So far, ten minutes had passed since they arrived, and Hiei too felt the tension in the room.

If he didn't win soon, Suta would die, and so would the whole human race.

So his only choice was to win, no matter what.

With that though in mind, Hiei slashed forward and managed to snip at the wrist of his opponent.

Shadow dropped the sword, and, in anger, slashed back.

He caught Hiei in the shoulder, but it was too light a gash to produce much blood.

He had to win! He just had to!

The two continued to fight, and Yusuke and Kuwabara stood on the side lines, cheering their team member on from the side, although they would rather be in the arena fighting with him.

Kurama continued on the barrier, but as he did, he began to notice movement in the jar.

At first he thought it was only his eyes playing tricks on him, but after staring at the girl with in a few moments, he began to realize that she waking up.

Her hands twitched, and her head rolled around gently over the glass bottom.

Kurama did his best to pay more attention to the barrier than her, for that was the priority at the moment, but when she lifted her head, he couldn't help but stare.

Suta turned around in the glass, and smiled when her blue eyes landed on Kurama.

Slowly, pulling herself up, she finally got the full image of what was happening.

Her eyes widened when she saw the blood spilling from Hiei's wounds and she slowly and weakly dragged herself to the glass to get a better view.

Kurama hated the fact that she had to see the one she loved in so much pain, fighting for her like he was.

But he couldn't stop the match, nor could he interefere in a battle that Hiei had declared his own.

To do so would anger the koorime so terribly, that he would turn on him, so it was better to wait of it for the moment, and see what happened.

Hiei and Shadow's fight intensified, and finally it got to where neither of them could land a blow.

They merely struck the other's sword with their own, and watched the others moves for ideas on plans they were thinking up.

Of course, Hiei kept his mind clear so that nothing could be read by the mischevious cat demon.

Any sort of thought would tell the cat what he would do next, and to allow that would condemn him.

Kurama found another hole through when he happened to notice the tears welling up in Suta's eyes.

Crystal like tears, brimming over her bottom lashes, swept down her cheeks and onto her lap as she clenched her fists and looked on.

He could see the pain in her eyes, the longing to help him, but also the understanding of her imprisonment, and of her fading life.

Suta had always been a wise girl, and even now, she didn't allow fantasies to cloud her mind.

Kurama commended her for her calm composer, and of her understanding of the situation. She truly was a brilliant young woman.

It was like she understood now, what it had taken Kurama a little over three hundred years to figure out.

There are times to react, and times to watch.

There are things to see, that one cannot help but see.

These had taken Kurama long to learn, and he experience, yet she understood them almost as if she had gone through everything he had.

"Suta..." He whispered.

She watched the fight with sorrow, and a pleading helplessness in which she wished to be out there with Hiei, at his side caring for him.

It was up to Kurama to make that happen.

He slowly cut away at the circle, causing it to grow larger.

But cutting a hole in a barrier was serious work, and any sort of loss of concentration to it, would cause it to close up again.

He stuck his mind on the hole and little else, keeping a close eye on his work, so that this time it would succeed.

Hiei again sliced at his foe, and again, Shadow blocked him with his sword.

But this time, he wasn't so tricky, because he could only use one hand, so it was only one sword to deal with.

But he had to keep in mind, that Shadow had made his swords fly in the first place, so maybe he could do it again.

He would have to keep his eyes on the surrounding objects, including his abandoned sword.

Things were cutting close.

It had been another five minutes of fighting, and yet both of them were still going at it, neither of them willing to give up on their battle.

Hiei because he had Suta...Shadow because he was far too stubborn to begin with.

But Hiei was confident that with a strong will, he could finish this match, and end the battle. Then he could concentrate on breaking the barrier around the glass bottle, getting Suta out, and then getting her close to the barrier that separated the worlds, and allowing her to fix it and herself.

It wouldn't be easy though.

They only had fifteen minutes to spare and it didn't seem as if the battle was going to end soon!

When his thoughts turned to Suta, he instantly glanced towards the bottle to see how she was doing.

He was instantly surprised to see her sitting up, staring at him with glistening tears in her eyes.

'She's awake! She's okay!' he thought, staring at her.

She stared back, almost pleading for him to give up and leave, before he got killed.

Hiei couldn't quit watching her face, and it cost him dearly.

Shadow took the opportunity to cut down on him, and, through instinct Hiei was able to bring his katana up to take the damage.

The big problem though, was that the pressure was too strong, and so his katana was diced in half, left to a mere stub from the blow.

Hiei of course jumped out of the way to prevent the same to happen to his body, and found himself pinned in a tight spot.

He had no weapon on him, and his enemy was fast and vicious.

His thoughts of course turned to the sword Suta gave him, near the glass, but if he attempted to grab it, then Shadow would get him for sure.

So Hiei reverted to his usual reaction.

He glared his meanest, but Shadow glared back, just as dangerously.

This wasn't doing him any good!

If Shadow wanted, he could easily jump and kill him, leaving him to die for sure!

Then where would he be?

Hiei sighed.

There had to be a way to kill this predator.

There just had to be a way.

Shadow stepped closer to the koorime, and smiled.

"I told you you couldn't beat me Hiei. I'm too good." He snickered, raising his blade above his head for a final blow. "But I will comment you on lasting this far. You're the best kill I've ever had."

Hiei spat at him.

"What makes you think I'm going to die?"

"Why Hiei, don't tell me you get the belief you can still win. Your chopped up and you have no weapon. What else would you like me to do? Now sit still so I can slice your head off cleanly. I'll hang it on the wall to remember you by. How's that?"

Hiei was going to reply with another one of his remarks, when he felt something cold and firm slip into his hands.

It had various shapes in it, and he suddenly had an idea to what it was.

'But how...?'

Hoping it was what he thought it was, he dragged it out from behind him and jabbed it right through Shadow's chest.

'Yes!'

Some how, the other sword he had brought, the one Suta gave him, had slipped into his grip as if it had been there the entire time.

But how...?

Hiei glanced over towards Suta once more, and found her smiling.

He knew then.

Suta, in worry for his safety, had some how triggered her demonic powers.

Those included the same powers her Uncle, Shadow had used, such as telekinesis, or the ability to make objects fly.

Hiei smiled back and returned to the job at hand.

Killing his foe.

He tried to press the sword in further through the chest, but Shadow was far too fast to let him, and jumped away, landing a good five feet away.

He held his stomach in pain, as his blood spilled over his hands like a waterfall.

"That sword...I know that goddamn sword! It was Hinote's, before I killed her! How did you get it?!"

"That's for me to know, and you to die with out." Hiei replied, pulling the sword into a position.

Shadow growled and pulled his own blade forth, no longer caring for his deep wound.

He was prepared to fight to the death, and at this moment, Hiei was ready to do the same.

If he couldn't kill him, then he'd rather die than live on without Suta. That was all there was too it.

But at least now, he had hope.

He had a powerful sword to use, and he's was going to use it to it's potential.

The two fought on again, around the time that Kurama was able to crack the barrier and destroy it.

With a sigh, Kurama stepped up to the glass and began looking for an easy way to crack it.

He could do the usual messy way, but that would splatter glass on the inside of the bottle, and cut Suta up pretty bad...either that or kill her.

So he had to find a way to destroy it from the inside.

That would take a while.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Catse: What do you think? Don't you just hate cliffies! Oh well, at least with this cliffy I'm uploading everything, so there isn't very long to wait! Well, next chapter will be up very soon. Ja Ne!