Okay, this time we actually get to see the announcer/MC for this tournament, not to mention a strange encounter with the first opponents. But I promise the fighting will begin in the very next chapter! I PROMISE. (The beginning of this chapter's a little lame. It picks up when Ki-Rokey appears)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original Yu Yu Hakusho characters. Sad is really SadSaturn, a very unique writer with a strange sense of humor, while Sayona, Rai and Ki-Rokey belong to their various owners. However, Misato, Luna, Kin and Anbu belong to me. (Yes Kin and Anbu are of my creation. I didn't get all the ideas from other people)
P.S. - I know Kuwabara finds out about Yukina sooner or later, so that's how it is.
The Tomuraigassen Tournament
Chapter 3: Rules and Team Sougen
Luna stirred early the next morning, rubbing her eyes and yawning. She didn't need to sit up, she already was. Without the correct number of beds, she'd fallen asleep propped up against Misato's bed, arms crossed over her chest and legs crossed.
Sunlight was peaking in under the door as she climbed to her feet. Given lack of space to change and the girl's willingness to do so, they'd mostly gone to bed fully dressed, simply shedding an outer layer for the nighttime warmth. Misato's sweatshirt was neatly folded at the end of her bed, as was Kurama's outer tunic. Kuwabara and Yusuke had both messily tossed their jackets into opposite corners.
Luna glanced down at the beds. Misato and was still curled up in a ball under her covers. Yusuke was splayed out on his back, snoring away, while Kuwabara was in a similar pose on his side. Kurama had the bottom bunk across from Kuwabara's, and was currently pressed with his back against the wall, hair falling into his face. A rather defensive and very demon-like stance, attacks could only come from one side. Hiei seamed to prefer leaning against the wall, ready to run or fight if need be, sitting straight up, with legs crossed and arms behind his head.
Luna smiled, just a bit, running her fingers momentarily through Misato's loose bangs. Then she noticed the light coming from under the door and stood to examine what was happening outside.
She came back in a moment later, snatched up Kuwabara's pillow from the floor and hit Yusuke in the face with it. The male Spirit Detective sat up with a start. "Wha-?!" he asked stupidly, and shaking the others all out of their slumber.
"Get up!" Luna shouted, loud enough to wake the ones who'd managed to sleep through Yusuke's outburst. "Come on, wake up!"
Hiei opened his eyes immediately, looking a bit perturbed. Kurama's eyes flew open and he brushed his hair away as he sat up. Kuwabara leapt a foot in the air and hit his head on the bottom of Yusuke's bunk. Misato sat up, blinked at her partner, then yawned as she stretched for the ceiling.
"What's with you, Luna?" she asked in mid-yawn.
"We over-slept, that's what!" the wolf demon snapped, ears twitching as she yanked Kuwabara out of bed by his collar. "The boat's pulling into the island's harbor now!"
That got the group moving. Five minutes later they were fully-dressed and staring out over the water at the island as they approached. It was lush and green with grass atop high, ragged cliffs in a shape that pointed out, then in again, like a W. "So that's the place, huh?" Yusuke muttered.
"Pretty dismal." Hiei muttered.
"Such an odd shape." Kurama noted the high cliffs as they pulled in. "What is this place called again?"
"Kyuuketsuki Island." Luna sighed.
"Ah." Kurama nodded. Good name. From the air this place would probably look just like a bat.
"…" was all Misato could muster. She was staring down into the water, gazing half-heartedly at her reflection, lost in thought. Luna glanced over at her partner in concern, and Yusuke followed her gaze after a moment.
"You okay?" he finally asked her.
Misato shook her head like she was shaking water out of her ears. "A little nervous, I guess." she finally sighed. "This isn't gonna be easy."
"Don't worry about it." Yusuke crossed his arms over his chest. "We'll take 'em all down, no problem."
A short, dark-clothed figure watched them from the shadows, chuckling to himself as he heard Yusuke's comment. "Don't give the girl false hope, Urameshi." he muttered to himself. "Akki Kaijuu may very well be your end."
~ * ~ * ~
"People, people, please! Calm down! Once everyone's seated we'll get started!"
The team glanced around. There were dozens of black seats around them, slowly filling with whatever spectators who were interested in the rules, which was definitely not as many as who would be there for the fights.
"I believe team seating is down there." Kurama muttered, pointing at sixteen small clusters of five to six seats down right next to the stage.
"Nice crowd." Misato growled as a blue demon with pointy horns lashed out at her, hissing insults about human girls. "I'm guessing we won't be fighting here."
"This place is completely black." Kuwabara muttered. "Bedrooms and all, it's creepy…"
The others had to nod. It was early evening, they'd already been given their suite and been able to clean up, but the room was just as Kuwabara had said. The wallpaper was white background, spotted with midnight black bats. The drapes were black, the four beds were black, with gray sheets and black covers, the carpet was black and the furniture ranged from light gray to as black as the curtains.
The Urameshi team took the final group seats at the very end of the row, getting lots of frighteningly curious looks from the other 15 teams. They took a seat just as the MC climbed on-stage, commanding silence.
The MC looked like a normal human girl, but knowing this crowd that probably wasn't saying much. Her hair was dark, dark brown, braided like Misato's, just a little looser and dark brown eyes glared over the crowd. She was dressed in a dark blue, long-sleeved, button-up shirt with a medium blue t-shirt poking up from underneath, black jeans and gray-ish purple shoes. She gripped her microphone in one had and coughed loudly, and moments later the place quieted.
"Evening, ladies and gentlemen, humans and demons alike." she said calmly, glaring around at them. "My name is Sad, I'll be the MC and ref for this year's Tomuraigassen Tournament."
"The announcer's name is Sad." Luna rolled her eyes. "This tournament's looking up to be a bundle of laughs."
"All the fighting and bloodshed any of you could ever ask for will be starting tomorrow." Sad said crisply, no smile crossing her lips but an odd gleam in her eyes. "But there are a few details we need to work out first." a crowd of boos and hisses filled the room. "Quiet down, all of you."
"First of all, general rules. The four rounds of the Tomuraigassen Tournament have a set fighting style. The first round of fighting will be set as one-on-one, straight fighting. Once you enter the ring, you can't leave until you've either been killed, disqualified, or otherwise lost and/or given up fighting. Once you've left the ring, you are not allowed to return for the duration of the round. First team to eliminate all their opponents, or to get five consecutive wins, will win the match."
"Round two." Luna leaned against her hand, Yusuke and Kuwabara leaned back with a sigh, Misato's eyes began to glaze over, Hiei mumbled something about stupid tournament girls, and Kurama simply brushed his hair back and pulled his demon book back out. It's just that there was no real reason to pay attention.
"Round two." Sad cleared her throat. "Is a five-on-five battle royale. At least those five members of the team must be present at the beginning of the round, or your team will be disqualified. At the end of the round, the team with at least one man left standing wins the match.
"The semi-finals and final round will be simple one-on-one, best of three fights. Whichever team survives all these fights will be the winners, awarded with one team prize of anything money can buy, as well as an individual purse of 100,000,000 Yen (A/N-That's about $1,000,000 American) for each surviving fighter on the winning team."
"Now…" she pause a moment for dramatic effect. "The team match ups for the first round of the tournament!"
That got everyone's attention. The lights dimmed and the tournament screen lit up with a chart showing the lineups. The eight bottom brackets were separated into 2 groups of 4, listing the two days the first round would take.
"Tomorrow's first match will be Team Urameshi vs. Team Sougen!" Sad exclaimed into the mic, reading the board out-loud. "The second match is Team Takitsubo vs. Team Meshiu! Match three…"
"Looks like we're first up." Kuwabara muttered as the MC continued with her banter.
"Yes…But which team is that freak on?" Hiei hissed grumpily. "I certainly don't see a 'Team Kaijuu' listed."
"That's them." Luna whispered, pointing at a name second to last on the list, only one from being the farthest from their listing. "Team Koumajutsu."
"Hm…" Kurama sighed. "It seams we might have our work cut out for us."
"Better than last time." Kuwabara grunted. "We won't hafta fight all in a bunch like last time."
"Hopefully." Kurama sighed.
"That's the line-up for the first round!" Sad announced as the lights came back on and the screen cleared. "Now everyone has the rest of the night to rest up, plan your strategy, or pray desperately for your mortal souls. Enjoy your night!"
"Well…That was a waste of time." Yusuke rolled his eyes as the crowd left.
"What now?" Misato asked, standing. "No fights 'til tomorrow…hopefully."
"Perhaps we should find out about this Team Sougen ahead of time." Kurama said quietly. "It would be good to know what we're up against."
Luna's ears perked up suddenly and turned to the right in a confused gesture. "Hiei…" she said quietly, bemused. "I think someone's calling you over there."
"What?" Hiei narrowed his eyes in the direction she was pointing. Kurama turned his ears in the same way as Hiei's face paled with a gulp. "Oh dear…"
"Hiei-chan!"
Something black and white, even smaller than Hiei, suddenly zipped forward and had the fire demon fighter in a tight hug around the neck. Hiei turned red in the face as Kuwabara and Yusuke burst into wild laughter, and Kurama, Luna and Misato muffled theirs in various different ways.
"Ki-Rokey…" Hiei growled angrily, prying the figure off him. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"
The black shape stepped back, laughing, and at first glance seamed to be a much smaller Hiei. With a closer look, it was actually young girl, though hard to tell what age she was, with shoulder-length black hair streaked with white lines. Her eyes were red, a more of a bright crimson than Hiei's red wine, but the same tanned skin. She was wearing an outfit similar to Misato's, a white hoodie over a light blue t-shirt and blue jeans.
"Thought I felt your energy on the boat, Hiei-chan!" she laughed, rocking from heel to toe with a wide smile and her hands behind her back. "This is great! I hoped you might be fighting in this tournament!"
"You…know this little demon, Hiei?" Kurama asked, hiding an amused smile behind his hand to stifle the laughter.
"She's a friend of Yukina's…" Hiei mumbled, looking ready to kill all of them. "Ki-Rokey…a fire demon…"
"That's me!" the girl flashed them a V-for-Victory sign wave.
"I'll ask you again." Hiei growled sourly. "Why are you here? Watching the tournament?"
"Oh, give me a little more credit than that!" Ki-Rokey giggled, reaching into the right-hand pocket of her sweatshirt and pulling out a bright red card. "I'm fighting in tournament! I'm on Team Sougen!"
"Sougen, eh?" Luna sighed. "Our first opponents tomorrow."
"If I remember correctly, Ki-Rokey, you find it difficult to hold your own even in normal fights." Hiei scoffed, looking down at his adoring little fan. "What makes you think you can handle this tournament?"
"Hey!" the tiny demon snapped. "I've gotten better, duh, Hiei! I bet I could even take you on now!"
"Hn. I doubt it."
Ki-Rokey threw her hands up in frustration. The red card went flying upwards and hit the support beam just above them. There was a slight hiss, then the edge of the beam melted away. It broke free from the wall and fell, just barely missing the team as they leapt to the sides, the other end just barely hanging on above a hanging pathway to a large press box.
"Um…oops?" Ki-Rokey laughed, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. "Didn't mean to do that…"
"Obviously." Luna muttered, annoyed, as the other end of the beam fell and crashed down, getting stuck in the pathway below, so that it was stuck with one end on the ground and the other hanging high above.
"You don't think…anyone's hurt, do you?" Misato asked nervously.
~ * ~ * ~
"Um…Botan? I think we've taken a wrong turn." Keiko muttered, glancing around her.
"What make you think that?" the guide asked, pawing the air like a cat.
"Botan. Look around us." Shizuru opened her arms wide. The hall way was painted black, just like all the ones before them, but this one had peeling paint and no lights but from tinted windows to their left. At least the others had been brightly lit.
"Perhaps we should go back…" Yukina whispered quietly. Finally, Botan relented and they began back down the long, dark tunnel.
All of a sudden they heard a male's voice shouting at them. "Watch it!"
There was a crash, a couple of thumps and a loud breaking sound. Next thing they knew they'd all been thrown on the ground, and there was a support beam about three feet thick stuck through the hallway.
"What…what…?" Keiko exclaimed.
"Jeez." a voice above her and to the left groaned. "Couldn't those idiots have waited 'til the tournament to start wrecking the place?"
"You girls okay?" a deeper voice this time, and the owner hoisted her up by the arm.
"Y-Yeah…we're fine…" Keiko stuttered, looking up.
It was a teenage boy, maybe eighteen years old. He was as tall and muscular, and his skin had a dark tan. His hair was short and messy, dark brown, and he had friendly, dark brown eyes. He was dressed in a torn white shirt, red jacket, and a red jeans with dark brown shoes and a red headband.
The one who had spoken previously was a girl, about 15 and Botan's height, glaring viciously at Shizuru and Keiko but smiling gently as she helped Yukina to her feet. Her hair was long and brown, tied back in a long-slung ponytail that fell down her back in gentle waves, and her eyes were dark blue with an odd kind of purple ring in the middle of it. Her skin was pale and she was wearing a blue outfit very similar to one of Kurama's or Genkai's, with a dark blue tunic tied with a purple sash over a sort of long-sleeve aqua-colored martial arts outfit and slipper-like shoes.
"What happened?" Botan asked as the girl helped her up. "Who…"
"Apparently some of the tournament teams got a little rowdy." the girl muttered. "And our exit's blocked, from the looks of it we're stuck up here."
"I can get down…" Botan muttered, her oar materializing in her hand. "I'll go see if I can get us a little help!"
She as gone before anyone could say no. Shizuru brushed herself off, then looked up at the boy in curiosity. He was about as tall as her brother. "Pardon me if I seam blunt but…who are you people?"
"My name's Kin." the large one smiled. "Kin Suisei. And my friend over there's Anbu Jintai."
"A pleasure." Anbu muttered grumpily, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Is something the matter?" Yukina asked her. "You seam upset."
"Don't mind her." Kin sighed. "Anbu's just not crazy about humans."
"Ahem." Anbu coughed. "Before you tell them our full history, Kin, don't you think it'd be good to figure out a way out of here?"
Kin shrugged, looking out the shattered window and down the smooth steal beam.
"We could slide down." he suggested. "It's about three stories up, but only about a 75 degree incline. It'd be easy."
"What about us?" Keiko asked. "We certainly can't slide down that thing."
"That's easy." Kin smiled at her. "We'll carry you."
Anbu did a double-take, glaring at her friend in frustration. "Don't rope me into your rescue mission, Kin!" she snapped. "You're the reason we're stuck up here instead of on the other side!"
"Anbu…" Kin gave a weary sigh. "Come on. You wouldn't have wanted these girls to get killed now, would you?"
"I'm not rescuing humans." Anbu snapped directly in his face.
"You don't have to." Kin raised his hands in defense. "I'll take the human girls, you can take this ice apparition. We'll just get them down and be on our merry way."
Anbu pouted a moment, then nodded her defeat and turned to Yukina, face softening into a smile. "Alright then, are you ready, dear?" she asked sweetly.
"I…guess…" Yukina was a bit surprised when the taller girl picked her up off her feet like a baby and held her easily in both arms. The Koorime gave a soft cry and put her arms around Anbu's neck, who didn't seam to mind at all.
"Now for you two." Kin came up behind Shizuru and Keiko. "Up ya get."
He grabbed both girls around the waist and hoisted them up so that the two were sitting on each arm. Keiko gave a bit of a squeak and clung on tight, while Shizuru merely supported against the boy's arm.
"Ready then?" Kin glanced over to Anbu, who gave her nod of approval before he bounced onto the beam. "Well then…here we go!!"
~ * ~ * ~
"Boys! What in the world are you doing?"
The group looked up in a bit of surprise as Botan touched down next to them. Even Hiei, who had been chewing Ki-Rokey up one side and down the other savagely, stopped and stared at the blue-haired ferry girl.
"Botan?" Misato gulped. "You weren't…up there…where you?"
"As a matter of fact, yes!" the guide was out of breath. "And Keiko, Yukina and Shizuru are still stuck up there with a couple of demons!"
"Demons?" Yusuke gasped.
"Yukina-chan's here?" Ki-Rokey asked.
"Sure, she cheers me on!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "She's not hurt, is she?!"
"No." Botan sighed. "The two demons pushed us out of the way. But the whole lot of them is stuck up there, I don't know how they'll get down…"
"Here we go!"
Eight heads snapped up. Two teenagers were sliding down the beam to them, their smooth-soled shoes slipping easily down the iron pole. The first was a tall boy, Keiko and Shizuru on each shoulder. Behind him was a young girl, holding Yukina like a child. At the end of the banister they leapt off, landing easily with all three girls still safe, if a little flustered.
"There now. That wasn't so bad, was it?" the boy smiled, setting Keiko down first before Shizuru jumped off. "You girls still doin' okay?"
"Y-Yeah." Keiko stuttered, shaking his hand. "T-Thank you."
The girl set Yukina down with a smile, patting the smaller girl on the head. "There you go, little one."
"Thank you very much." Yukina gave a polite bow. Then she caught site of something cowering behind Hiei. "Oh! Ki-Rokey!"
"H-Hi Yukina-chan." the girl fire demon laughed nervously, eyes the two demons. "Anbu…Kin…N-Nice to see you…"
"Don't give me that." Anbu snapped, her voice lowering sharply. "I'd recognize your little trick anywhere, Ki-Rokey. I don't even know why Sayona let you join."
Kin grabbed Ki-Rokey by the collar and lifted the little demon off her feet. She smiled sheepishly in his grip, laughing with the hope of getting off. "We'll be fighting tomorrow, kid, you don't need to wreck where we're sleeping the whole time."
"I-I didn't mean too…"
"I'll take it they're on the same team." Kurama muttered, glancing between the tree when a voice suddenly broke through the conversation.
"Ken. Anbu. Ki-Rokey. That's enough."
The group turned. There were two figures approaching, looking very cool and in-charge. The one who had spoken was a boy, looking about 18 years old, with silver hair and bright blue eyes. He was about 5'5", with tanned skin. He was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans, with a bright yellow pendant around his neck. The energy he was giving off was about half that of his companion, a much younger woman who, by the way she held herself, was obviously the leader. She looked about 15, with shoulder-length red hair and glowing blue eyes. She had small silver kitty ears and a thin, cat-like tail sticking out of the top of her head and the back of her clothes like Luna's wolf features. She had one hand in her pocket and seamed very content to let the boy handle this situation.
Kin dropped Ki-Rokey, who landed on her feet thankfully. "I don't see what business it is of your, Rai." Anbu muttered.
"We are a team." the one now reveled as Rai sighed. "Can't we at least act like it?"
"Well, Kurama, you've got the look at Team Sougen you wanted." Yusuke hissed out of the side of his mouth.
The girl's bright blue eyes suddenly snapped to them, then an odd smile crossed her face. She moved smoothly up to the group and surveyed the Urameshi team. "So. You must be the infamous Team Urameshi."
"Yeah." Yusuke took over the talking, stuffing his hands in his pockets like when he faced down street gangs at school. "You've heard of us?"
"Hn." the girl's gaze turned sharply to Misato, who was about a head shorter, though not a lot younger. "From your reputations I was expecting something a little more impressive. Don't tell me that little human girl is a competitor."
"What?!" Misato snapped, eyes flashing dangerously. "You've got a child on your team! Who do you think you are?!"
"I'm not a child!" Ki-Rokey snapped, but the red-haired girl waved her to be quiet.
She looked Misato straight in the eye with a demonic smile, showing small fangs in her teeth. "The name is Sayona." she growled. "I am the captain of Team Sougen. And…you are?"
"Misato Itoshigo." the blonde girl growled. "Spirit Detective."
"Oh, how impressive." Sayona laughed mockingly. "The little girl's playing gumshoe. How cute."
"Misato…" Luna warned, holding her partner back as tempers flared again.
"How…dare…you…" she growled, eyes flashing. Kurama and Yusuke decided to join in at holding the raging girl back. "I'll show you…you…"
Sayona laughed again, brushing Misato's bangs back with her hand. "Don't worry. I'll deal with you team tomorrow." she turned on her heel and began to leave, teammates at her back, "I hope that it won't be too pathetic."
The Sougen Team disappeared into another hall. Misato let her body go kind of limp. Kurama, Luna and Yusuke let go of her, though she was still fuming. "Does everyone at this tournament just wanna piss me off?" she growled under her breath.
"With your temper, it isn't that hard." Luna pointed out, and didn't even flinch when her friend shout her a death glare.
Kurama sighed. "Once again." he muttered. "It seams we have our work cut out for us.
GS: Wow, long chapter. The first match starts tomorrow, Team Urameshi vs. Team Sougen! Ki-Rokey's fighting first, to prove herself, but who's she up against? ^_^ I'm not telling…The next chapter will let you find out!