Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho . . . yet . . .*cue thunder in
background and evil cackle*
Quote of the week: "The road to friend's house is never long"
-old Danish proverb
KKC: ~Still~ no new reviews . . . what's up with you people? Do I need to make death threats again like I did in the first few chapters? Please don't make me stoop that low.
Jin: Don't feel too bad, lass.
KKC: Whatever . . . better start on the tenth chapter, eh?
Jin: That's the spirit! ^-^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You took your sweet time, Yuske." Lark was in the kitchen, putting dishes away. "Me? I had to wait for hours before they called me! Then they cancelled the last two tests." Yuske hung his denim jacket by the front door. "Really . . ."
"Yeah. What! Rogerik?! The hell? I thought that you were behind me!" Rogerik grabbed a stool at the kitchen island and sat down. "I was behind you, but this lovely lady gave me I ride when I told her I was a friend of hers." Rogerik pointed to Botan, who Yuske didn't even notice. "Botan? Cripes . . . I really am off today, aren't I?" Botan stood up and hugged Yuske. "Huh? Um, excuse me, but what are you doing?" the blue-haired ferry girl blushed. "Oh, Kayko asked me to give you a hug for her. She misses you, you know." Yuske nodded, while pouring a glass of water. "Yeah, I know. How are they doing? Kayko, my mom, and Puu, I mean."
"Oh, fine! They all miss you; though, a lot. Even Koenma misses your griping."
"Really? Pacifier-breath misses me? Now that's new . . ."
"Yep. That's why he's coming to watch you and the rest of the Tantei in the tournament this week!"
"WHAT?! I thought he had paper work!" Yuske screeched, spraying water all over Rogerik and Botan. Botan grabbed a paper towel and wiped her face. "Apparently he made some time for this. Shizumuru and Kayko are coming too." Lark finished putting away the last of the dishes, and asked Botan, "Koenma-chan? Really? Wow. What's he like? I haven't seen him since before my mom left." The ferry-girl sweatdropped. "Um . . . well, he's not what you would call mature for his age . . ." Botan caught Yuske's warning glare. "-But I'm sure he'll be glad to see you nonetheless!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra was up half the night finishing the last of the five charms. Each swung on an identical silver chain, gathering and soaking the energy she poured out into them. She had used a different material for the charm itself, to make it easier to tell them apart and work best with the wearer. Hiei's was a moderately sized black pearl, Yuske's an inch-long quartz prism, Kuwabara's was a sturdy disk of hematite about the size of a half- dollar, Jin's had a tiny feather fossilized in a highly polished piece of agate, and Kurama's was a good-sized chunk of polished and cut moonstone. Each one of the diverse materials had become a useful tool with a simple brush stroke of silver ink and the infusion of spiritual energies.
Now white-hot from the energy that flowed inside, she set them on her dresser, where the highly polished surfaces reflected the moonlight shining through her French-style windows and billowy curtains. The foliage from the tree outside her balcony cast her room in a flaming stained glass display. Tomorrow was when most of the tournament was being held, as to the sheer number of entries this year. Usually the event only lasted throughout the day, but this time the finals were being held early the morning after. Of course, that could be helpful considering the extra rest the fighters would have. It all depended on the teams, really . . . The teams and the luck of the draw. Skill wouldn't do you much good if you were pitted against a team such as the Tantei in the first round. Lyra pitied whoever had to face those boys because; although, you weren't legally allowed to kill your opponent, drastically wounding or humiliating them was another story. And being taken out in the first or second round is the most embarrassing thing that could happen if you, by chance, happened to be fighting in the tournament. As she drifted of into the blissful unconsciousness of sleep, she knew that it would be a hard title to defend from the Tantei . . . that of defending champion . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hiei was up before the stupid ceramic cow went off, and begrudgingly went upon the task that the five boys had decided on last night. He who wakes up first, gets to struggle with the others about waking up early. The fire demon first turned off the alarm, and then proceeded to annoy the owner of the evil little knick-knack. "Hm . . . what would be best . . ? Set his sheets on fire, splash a bucket of cold water on him, or maybe just let him sleep through this entire mess altogether? Better do with the cold water . . . he wouldn't be much help if he has third degree burns or misses the entire fight. Not like he's much help anyways, but . . ." Hiei trudged into the bathroom and poured ice-cold water from the chrome faucet onto a large washcloth. Wringing it out a tad, he skillfully twisted it into a whip of sorts and walked back into the bedroom. He took careful aim at the snoring lump of sheets and pillows before snapping the soggy towel at Kuwabara with lightning speed. "YE-ARGH!!! Damn, that's cold! What was that for, shrimp." Kuwabara fell off the mussed bed with a loud and very audible THUMP! "Just doing my civil duty as fellow team-mate, idiot. You guys did say that the first one up had to wake up the others."
"But its six-thirty! The fights don't start until seven . . . wait a sec." Kuwabara took a second glance at his alarm clock and jumped up. "Six thirty?! Oh, crap! We're dead!"
"Why didn't you set your alarm? I thought that was what it was for."
"I did! I set it for five o'clock! Someone must've woken earlier and set it back . . . and I bet I know who . . ." The tall red-head stalked over to Yuske's bed and ripped the sheets back. Yuske lazily turned over to his other side and curled up into an even tighter ball. "Go 'way . . . I'm not going to school . . ." Kuwabara lifted Yuske off the boy's mattress and dropped him on the hard floor. "Of course not . . . You're just gonna get chewed out by me, Hiei, Kurama, and Jin for being such a lazy ass. Now wake the hell up!" Kuwabara delivered a swift kick to Yuske's ribs. The japanese delinquent yelped and quickly woke up. "Who? Wha- where? Argh . . . Kuwabara . . ."
"Well you shouldn't have turned the alarm back. If you had woken everyone else up, you wouldn't be sitting on the floor whining right now, would you?"
"God . . .you're starting to sound like Rachel . . . what time is it, anyway?" Yuske stumbled over to his dresser and started to pull out a pair of comfortable jeans and a sleeve-less shirt. "The tournament starts in thirty, no excuse me, twenty-five minutes. Everyone else has already left." Yuske face-faulted, but quickly recovered and ran into the bathroom to get changed. "Why the hell didn't you say so! We're late!"
"Not quite but . . . Whatever. Kuwabara, wake up Kurama for me. I'll go get that idiot wind master." Hiei grouchily stomped downstairs and across the living room. Opening Jin's bedroom door, he yelled at the demon to get up and apparently not hearing a reply, poked his head through the door. Jin wasn't there, and his computer was left running. The annoyed fire demon came down and read the note Jin typed on the screen. It read:
Guys, I left for the tournament with the girls and Rogerik. The teachers forgot to mention that we had "sponsers" for this thing, dunno why, though. Anyways, I'll meet you out by 'Siren's Circle'. It's near the main offices. You know, that big circle of weird stones that ring when you hit them? Um . . . yeah.
See ya later, Jin
Hiei closed the file and shut down the computer. 'That idiot could have at least waited or left a map . . .no wait scratch the map. If Jin's drawing skills were as bad as his penmanship, the map would have been useless.' Hiei thought as he walked up the stairs. Kurama and the others were all waiting outside for him, and Hiei told them where the fights were being held. Kurama was the only one that knew where " Siren's Circle" actually was and led them to the ring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I hope they make it in time. They're next and the first fight is almost over." Holly hovered on her broom, over the crowd. Jin was higher up than Holly, keeping a sharp eye out for Yuske and co. "Don' worry, Holly. They'll be along any minute now . . ."
"Sure didn't look it when we left. Ooh . . . that was a nasty kick!" Holly visibly flinched as the crippling blow landed on one of the fighter's ribs.
"What? Cripes, it was. Eh! There they are!" Jin pointed towards the shoreline. Holly flew up a little higher and shielded her eyes from the bright morning sunlight.
"Where? I don't see them."
"You see those specks way over there?" Jin looked at her from his higher perch.
"Uh . . . no. I don't."
"How can you not see them? They're over there." Again, the demon pointed over towards the water.
"Over where? I can't see them!"
"Fer the love of Mike . . . humans really ~are~ blind."
"I'm not blind! The sunlight is reflecting off of the water, so I can't see anything! Just because you're a demon . . ."
"Look! See! D'ya see them now?!" Jin turned her head in the right direction and pointed out to a pack of running specks. "Oh yeah! Now I see them! Um . . . they're waaaaaaaaaaaaay over there, and your match starts in two minutes. Think we should give them a ride?"
"Most definitely." Both wind riders swooped down upon the running Urameshi team, effectively surprising them. "Jin, you freak! Why didn't you wait for us?" Holly positioned her broom next to the griping Yuske. "Whatever. The next match starts in a couple of minutes and it's your team that's up. Hop on if you want to make it in time." Yuske stumbled, but managed to grab onto the broom's crooked tail. Holly desperately strained to straighten her ride and gain more altitude, but it was hard to do much with Yuske's extra weight dragging her down. "Yuske, you oaf! Don't just hang there! Try to balance your weight evenly!"
"I'm trying you witch! Just give me a second!" Yuske finally mounted the broom, and watched in envy as his other friends were lifted in the air by the winds Jin had summoned. "Sure, they get to travel the easy way . . ."
"Easy way?"
"Yeah. When you get to travel without a stick halfway up your-"
"Whoah-kay. Just drop it right there, Yuske."
"But its-"
"Drop it or I'll turn this broom around."
"Yes ma'am."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra sat in the stands between her sister and Botan. The crowd of anxious students was getting a tad too rowdy and noisy for her. She was glad Shizumuru had come; though, as Kuwabara's older sister didn't take any crap and was all too happy to beat the shit out of anyone that bugged them. Namely, a group of older boys between the ages of eighteen to twenty-one that had pinned poor Kayko against the office building.
The crowd grew quiet as Lyonell and a strange, pale girl strode out onto the ring. "Sorry to keep 'ya waiting folks. Team Urameshi is on their way, and will be here very shortly. Hey! Raven, this reminds me of something that happened to me on my family's road trip last summer-"
"Quiet, cat, or I will be forced to devour your insides."
"Um . . . okay then! Moving right along . . ." Lyonell gulped and pleadingly looked at his sister, who just shrugged and made a shooing motion with her clawed hand. The two seemed to be in a heated argument, and one or two swearwords floated over the crowd to the girls. "Oy, here they go again." Lark sighed and rubbed her temples. Kayko innocently looked over at her new friend. "Again?"
"Yeah. Those two-" The black-haired girl lazily pointed over at the quarreling cat demons. "- Are always at each other's throats when the tournament rolls around. Lyonell treats it all like one big joke, and Chrysanthemum is way too serious. You should have seen it last year. I thought they would never decide whether or not I broke that kid's neck on accident . . ."
"Broke a kid's neck? Wha-Were you in this tournament before?" Kayko asked. Lark smacked herself in the forehead for her own stupidity, but it was too late for her to blow it over. Luckily, Lyra spoke up for her. "Yeah, we have. We've gotten pretty far too." Shizumuru took another drag off her cigarette before casually flicking it over her shoulder. "Really . . . Well, Yuske and the others are no slouches, either. "
"Oh, I know that. They did win the Dark tournament, after all. But I think that they're going to go a little easier on the students than all those demons." Kayko stared at Lark's outburst. "Y-you know about the Dark Tournament? But how-"
"Girl, just because I don't get straight A's doesn't mean I'm completely stupid. A lot of kids here want to win the Dark Tournament. More than half of them would get killed even at their maximum power. Not built for fighting, ya know? Like him over there." Lark pointed her blonde roommate out to Kayko and stood up, trying to get Rogerik's attention. "Hey! Rogerik! Over here! We saved you a seat!" Lyra hastily yanked her sister back down. "Saved him a seat? Since when do you save Rogerik a seat?" Lark shrugged off her sister. "Since he offered to pay for our food and drinks. Ooh! Look! The match is starting! Yay!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyonell gratefully stalked back to the commentator's booth, ready to do what he did best; commentate. "And now, finally, the Urameshi team shows up and the match is ready to begin!" Kuwabara stopped posing and yelled back, "What!? We were right on time!"
"Now, now. No need to mince words, Kazuma. Farida, would you be so kind as to referee the match?"
"Very well. But you all know Cthulu shall claim your souls in the end, you shallow simpletons. And do you know what The Great Destroyer does to fools such as you, cat?"
"Um . . . Destroy . . ?" Lyonell nervously answered from the safety of his seat.
"Very good. You guys know the rules. No killing, no maiming, and no hitting your opponent below the belt, often." The unusually pale Cthulu worshipper lifted a bright red bandanna and let it drop. Both teams charged at each other, weapons brandished. "And let the fight begin! . . .or end . . .whichever one you guys prefer . . ." Lyonell glanced at his watch. " . . .Wow . . . that was quick. Um, the winners are team Urameshi. Geez . . . that's a lot of blood . . ." Lyonell sat back in his chair and let loose a long, low, whistle. After watching the severely beat-up team being carried out of the ring, he finally snapped back to attention. "Okay, then! Moving right along! If the audience doesn't mind, how 'bout you all get something to eat while we clean the blood off of these tiles, eh?"
The audience just stared, silently, at the abandoned ring. Rogerik sat next to Lark and absent-mindedly chewed on a cheese-covered french fry. "How ~ can~ you eat with all that blood and carnage?" Kayko asked him. "Hm? Nerves of steel, babe. Nothing bugs me- OW!" Rogerik gingerly rubbed the rising lump on his head. "What was that for, Lark?"
"Stop flirting with Yuske's girlfriend!'
"Y-Yuske's girlfriend?! Crap! I'm dead if he finds out!"
"You're dead if I find out what?" Yuske stood right behind Rogerik, and snagged a fry. Rogerik broke out into a cold sweat. "Uh . . .um, n-n- nothing! Absolutely nothing! Here, you just help yourself to those fries and I'll see you later, buddy." Rogerik got up, shoved his container of Chili cheese fries in Yuske's hands, and scurried down the stands. Yuske just stared. "What's wrong with him?" He asked Lark. The raven-haired girl innocently looked at him. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"He willingly gave up his food."
"Oh, yeah. You know what? I'll go check on him! 'Kay?" She flipped them a peace sign behind her back and ran after Rogerik.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rogerik miserably wandered around the decorated grounds, kicking up flame-colored leaves with each step. In his opinion, he was lucky to have gotten away with flirting. If he had ever done that to one of his old friends' (note the sarcasm, there folks.) girlfriends, he would have been a living punching bag. He was so deep in thought; however, that he didn't even notice his aforementioned "friends" loitering around the cotton candy stand. "My, my. What do we have here?"
"Dude! It's Rogerik! I thought that you were expelled!"
"I know. We haven't seen you in such a long time, dear buddy. Pray tell, what have you been up to?" Shuichiro put Rogerik in a friendly headlock and gleefully punched him in the ribs. The 'playful' punch was strong enough to knock the wind out of Rogerik and the demon shoved the gasping boy onto the ground, away from the curious stares of others. The smaller demon, Satoshi, kicked him in his already aching ribs. The two demons sniggered as Gomo, leader of the bunch, lifted the psychic up by the collar of his leather pilot's jacket.
"What took you so long, moron? I never found out anything about those kids at the Psycho dorm. Any news?" Rogerik mumbled something under his breath and Gomo whapped him on the head, adding another lump to the one Lark had inflicted. "Well? Out with it!" Again, Rogerik just stood there, intimidated by the shorter demon, and mumbled. Gomo's long ears twitched as he caught what his victim was saying and he growled. "Louder, you idiot. I want the others to hear this."
"There's nothing about them, you egotistical, over bearing, load of shit! Now let go-" Rogerik was kicked in the ribs again by Satoshi. "All those years and he still has an attitude. Should we thrash him, dude?" Gomo glanced around before viciously punching Rogerik in the jaw. Taking that as a signal, the other two demons jumped in the fray.
Kuwabara was returning from the main picnic area was set up, stuffed to the brim with food, when he heard the demon's threats. Peering around the corner of a cotton candy stand, he watched as Rogerik got pummeled. "Huh? Hey! Get away from him!" The redhead charged at the largest of the three, and Suichiro dodged his wildly thrown punch. "What the? Are you trying to stop us?"
"Well, yeah! Why are you guys even beating on Rogerik in the first place? What'd he do to you?" Gomo seemed quite amused by Kuwabara and burst out laughing. "Hah! Why? He actually asked why? That's a first! Rogerik, since when did anyone care about you? Made a few new friends, I see." The blond teen just scrambled to his feet and tried to get the hell out of there, only to bump into a shocked and very pissed Lark. "Rogerik, what's going on here?" She tried to grab onto his jacket as Rogerik ran past her without a word. Kuwabara watched out of the corner of his eye as the beaten kid ran, and turned to face the three demons. "So you were the ones that put him up that bet!"
"Bet? Is that what he told you? It wasn't a bet, it was a threat."
"You bastards!"
"So what if we bugged him? He deserved it, always running away like a whipped dog."
"Well I- that's it! Spirit Sword!" The flickering blade slashed at where Gomo had been standing but a few seconds before. "Wha- where'd he g-" WHAM! Kuwabara, meet dirt. Dirt, Kuwabara. Lark winced as her baka roommate was pile-drived into the hard earth. "That was easy . . ."
"Woo-hoo! Go Gomo!"
"That idiot didn't stand a chance. Look at him! He can't even pry himself outta that imprint his ugly face made!" Suichiro highfived Gomo, who landed between his two friends. However, Kuwabara was slowly getting back up as the three students laughed at the quick skirmish that had ensued. Lark stalked over and kicked Kuwabara in the shins. "Don't even try it. You'd be better off kicking their asses in the ring, where they can be humiliated in front of everybody. C'mon." Lark grabbed Kuwabara by the ear and dragged him towards the stands. "B-b-but what they were doing to Rogerik . . !"
"Yeah, I know. I'm not to pleased about it either, but what are we really gonna do about it? Go sit with Kayko and Botan, will ya? I have my own fight starting."
"You guys entered?"
"Yeah . . ."
"But you're girls!" Kuwabara stared at her stupidly, only to realize his mistake a ~little~ bit too late. "SO?! If you can fight, than so can I!" Lark was about to kick Kuwabara in the shins again when Holly dropped out of the sky on her broom. "Lark, save it for the ring. We gotta go. Save me a seat when our fight's over, okay Kuwabara? Bye!" The younger Admarant sister grumbled, but followed her friend towards the makeshift arena.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And here we are folks, with another fight soon to be underway!"
"Shut up. Cthulu is still going to consume your soul, no matter how cheerful you seem."
"Okaaaaaaay . . .um, I'm just going to go commentate the match now . . ." Lyonell slowly inched away from his creepy companion and, once out of the ring itself, rushed over to the commentator's stand. Farida just glared at Lyonell and introduced the teams. "Pathetic mortals, I bring before you the Smith team-" a few scattered bunches of applause was heard. "-and the Admarant team! You guys know the rules . . . Lark, that means to follow them this time." The younger sister pouted, but stayed silent as the red bandanna fell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KKC: Not too shabby if I say so myself.
Shishiwakamaru: You can't write battle scenes, can you?
KKC: *sweatdrops* now, whatever gave you that idea . . ?
Shishiwakamaru: You made it funny! Battles are not funny! They are true contests of skill between two men-
KKC: So? The Urameshi team woulda won anyways and I was saving page-space. Waitasec . . . you thought it was funny?
Shishiwakamaru: I never said such a thing. KKC: Yes you did, samurai boy! No denying it now! *laughs maniacally at the annoyed demon*
Shishiwakamaru: You dare mock me?
KKC: Yes I do. Now put that sword away before I sic my sister on you.
Shishiwakamaru: You wouldn't . . .
KKC: I wouldn't . . . if you would stop griping.
Shishiwakamaru: *growls*
KKC: Whatever. Anyways . . .review! Or the Pretty-boy Samurai gets it!
Shishiwakamaru: Don't touch me.
Quote of the week: "The road to friend's house is never long"
-old Danish proverb
KKC: ~Still~ no new reviews . . . what's up with you people? Do I need to make death threats again like I did in the first few chapters? Please don't make me stoop that low.
Jin: Don't feel too bad, lass.
KKC: Whatever . . . better start on the tenth chapter, eh?
Jin: That's the spirit! ^-^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You took your sweet time, Yuske." Lark was in the kitchen, putting dishes away. "Me? I had to wait for hours before they called me! Then they cancelled the last two tests." Yuske hung his denim jacket by the front door. "Really . . ."
"Yeah. What! Rogerik?! The hell? I thought that you were behind me!" Rogerik grabbed a stool at the kitchen island and sat down. "I was behind you, but this lovely lady gave me I ride when I told her I was a friend of hers." Rogerik pointed to Botan, who Yuske didn't even notice. "Botan? Cripes . . . I really am off today, aren't I?" Botan stood up and hugged Yuske. "Huh? Um, excuse me, but what are you doing?" the blue-haired ferry girl blushed. "Oh, Kayko asked me to give you a hug for her. She misses you, you know." Yuske nodded, while pouring a glass of water. "Yeah, I know. How are they doing? Kayko, my mom, and Puu, I mean."
"Oh, fine! They all miss you; though, a lot. Even Koenma misses your griping."
"Really? Pacifier-breath misses me? Now that's new . . ."
"Yep. That's why he's coming to watch you and the rest of the Tantei in the tournament this week!"
"WHAT?! I thought he had paper work!" Yuske screeched, spraying water all over Rogerik and Botan. Botan grabbed a paper towel and wiped her face. "Apparently he made some time for this. Shizumuru and Kayko are coming too." Lark finished putting away the last of the dishes, and asked Botan, "Koenma-chan? Really? Wow. What's he like? I haven't seen him since before my mom left." The ferry-girl sweatdropped. "Um . . . well, he's not what you would call mature for his age . . ." Botan caught Yuske's warning glare. "-But I'm sure he'll be glad to see you nonetheless!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra was up half the night finishing the last of the five charms. Each swung on an identical silver chain, gathering and soaking the energy she poured out into them. She had used a different material for the charm itself, to make it easier to tell them apart and work best with the wearer. Hiei's was a moderately sized black pearl, Yuske's an inch-long quartz prism, Kuwabara's was a sturdy disk of hematite about the size of a half- dollar, Jin's had a tiny feather fossilized in a highly polished piece of agate, and Kurama's was a good-sized chunk of polished and cut moonstone. Each one of the diverse materials had become a useful tool with a simple brush stroke of silver ink and the infusion of spiritual energies.
Now white-hot from the energy that flowed inside, she set them on her dresser, where the highly polished surfaces reflected the moonlight shining through her French-style windows and billowy curtains. The foliage from the tree outside her balcony cast her room in a flaming stained glass display. Tomorrow was when most of the tournament was being held, as to the sheer number of entries this year. Usually the event only lasted throughout the day, but this time the finals were being held early the morning after. Of course, that could be helpful considering the extra rest the fighters would have. It all depended on the teams, really . . . The teams and the luck of the draw. Skill wouldn't do you much good if you were pitted against a team such as the Tantei in the first round. Lyra pitied whoever had to face those boys because; although, you weren't legally allowed to kill your opponent, drastically wounding or humiliating them was another story. And being taken out in the first or second round is the most embarrassing thing that could happen if you, by chance, happened to be fighting in the tournament. As she drifted of into the blissful unconsciousness of sleep, she knew that it would be a hard title to defend from the Tantei . . . that of defending champion . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hiei was up before the stupid ceramic cow went off, and begrudgingly went upon the task that the five boys had decided on last night. He who wakes up first, gets to struggle with the others about waking up early. The fire demon first turned off the alarm, and then proceeded to annoy the owner of the evil little knick-knack. "Hm . . . what would be best . . ? Set his sheets on fire, splash a bucket of cold water on him, or maybe just let him sleep through this entire mess altogether? Better do with the cold water . . . he wouldn't be much help if he has third degree burns or misses the entire fight. Not like he's much help anyways, but . . ." Hiei trudged into the bathroom and poured ice-cold water from the chrome faucet onto a large washcloth. Wringing it out a tad, he skillfully twisted it into a whip of sorts and walked back into the bedroom. He took careful aim at the snoring lump of sheets and pillows before snapping the soggy towel at Kuwabara with lightning speed. "YE-ARGH!!! Damn, that's cold! What was that for, shrimp." Kuwabara fell off the mussed bed with a loud and very audible THUMP! "Just doing my civil duty as fellow team-mate, idiot. You guys did say that the first one up had to wake up the others."
"But its six-thirty! The fights don't start until seven . . . wait a sec." Kuwabara took a second glance at his alarm clock and jumped up. "Six thirty?! Oh, crap! We're dead!"
"Why didn't you set your alarm? I thought that was what it was for."
"I did! I set it for five o'clock! Someone must've woken earlier and set it back . . . and I bet I know who . . ." The tall red-head stalked over to Yuske's bed and ripped the sheets back. Yuske lazily turned over to his other side and curled up into an even tighter ball. "Go 'way . . . I'm not going to school . . ." Kuwabara lifted Yuske off the boy's mattress and dropped him on the hard floor. "Of course not . . . You're just gonna get chewed out by me, Hiei, Kurama, and Jin for being such a lazy ass. Now wake the hell up!" Kuwabara delivered a swift kick to Yuske's ribs. The japanese delinquent yelped and quickly woke up. "Who? Wha- where? Argh . . . Kuwabara . . ."
"Well you shouldn't have turned the alarm back. If you had woken everyone else up, you wouldn't be sitting on the floor whining right now, would you?"
"God . . .you're starting to sound like Rachel . . . what time is it, anyway?" Yuske stumbled over to his dresser and started to pull out a pair of comfortable jeans and a sleeve-less shirt. "The tournament starts in thirty, no excuse me, twenty-five minutes. Everyone else has already left." Yuske face-faulted, but quickly recovered and ran into the bathroom to get changed. "Why the hell didn't you say so! We're late!"
"Not quite but . . . Whatever. Kuwabara, wake up Kurama for me. I'll go get that idiot wind master." Hiei grouchily stomped downstairs and across the living room. Opening Jin's bedroom door, he yelled at the demon to get up and apparently not hearing a reply, poked his head through the door. Jin wasn't there, and his computer was left running. The annoyed fire demon came down and read the note Jin typed on the screen. It read:
Guys, I left for the tournament with the girls and Rogerik. The teachers forgot to mention that we had "sponsers" for this thing, dunno why, though. Anyways, I'll meet you out by 'Siren's Circle'. It's near the main offices. You know, that big circle of weird stones that ring when you hit them? Um . . . yeah.
See ya later, Jin
Hiei closed the file and shut down the computer. 'That idiot could have at least waited or left a map . . .no wait scratch the map. If Jin's drawing skills were as bad as his penmanship, the map would have been useless.' Hiei thought as he walked up the stairs. Kurama and the others were all waiting outside for him, and Hiei told them where the fights were being held. Kurama was the only one that knew where " Siren's Circle" actually was and led them to the ring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I hope they make it in time. They're next and the first fight is almost over." Holly hovered on her broom, over the crowd. Jin was higher up than Holly, keeping a sharp eye out for Yuske and co. "Don' worry, Holly. They'll be along any minute now . . ."
"Sure didn't look it when we left. Ooh . . . that was a nasty kick!" Holly visibly flinched as the crippling blow landed on one of the fighter's ribs.
"What? Cripes, it was. Eh! There they are!" Jin pointed towards the shoreline. Holly flew up a little higher and shielded her eyes from the bright morning sunlight.
"Where? I don't see them."
"You see those specks way over there?" Jin looked at her from his higher perch.
"Uh . . . no. I don't."
"How can you not see them? They're over there." Again, the demon pointed over towards the water.
"Over where? I can't see them!"
"Fer the love of Mike . . . humans really ~are~ blind."
"I'm not blind! The sunlight is reflecting off of the water, so I can't see anything! Just because you're a demon . . ."
"Look! See! D'ya see them now?!" Jin turned her head in the right direction and pointed out to a pack of running specks. "Oh yeah! Now I see them! Um . . . they're waaaaaaaaaaaaay over there, and your match starts in two minutes. Think we should give them a ride?"
"Most definitely." Both wind riders swooped down upon the running Urameshi team, effectively surprising them. "Jin, you freak! Why didn't you wait for us?" Holly positioned her broom next to the griping Yuske. "Whatever. The next match starts in a couple of minutes and it's your team that's up. Hop on if you want to make it in time." Yuske stumbled, but managed to grab onto the broom's crooked tail. Holly desperately strained to straighten her ride and gain more altitude, but it was hard to do much with Yuske's extra weight dragging her down. "Yuske, you oaf! Don't just hang there! Try to balance your weight evenly!"
"I'm trying you witch! Just give me a second!" Yuske finally mounted the broom, and watched in envy as his other friends were lifted in the air by the winds Jin had summoned. "Sure, they get to travel the easy way . . ."
"Easy way?"
"Yeah. When you get to travel without a stick halfway up your-"
"Whoah-kay. Just drop it right there, Yuske."
"But its-"
"Drop it or I'll turn this broom around."
"Yes ma'am."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra sat in the stands between her sister and Botan. The crowd of anxious students was getting a tad too rowdy and noisy for her. She was glad Shizumuru had come; though, as Kuwabara's older sister didn't take any crap and was all too happy to beat the shit out of anyone that bugged them. Namely, a group of older boys between the ages of eighteen to twenty-one that had pinned poor Kayko against the office building.
The crowd grew quiet as Lyonell and a strange, pale girl strode out onto the ring. "Sorry to keep 'ya waiting folks. Team Urameshi is on their way, and will be here very shortly. Hey! Raven, this reminds me of something that happened to me on my family's road trip last summer-"
"Quiet, cat, or I will be forced to devour your insides."
"Um . . . okay then! Moving right along . . ." Lyonell gulped and pleadingly looked at his sister, who just shrugged and made a shooing motion with her clawed hand. The two seemed to be in a heated argument, and one or two swearwords floated over the crowd to the girls. "Oy, here they go again." Lark sighed and rubbed her temples. Kayko innocently looked over at her new friend. "Again?"
"Yeah. Those two-" The black-haired girl lazily pointed over at the quarreling cat demons. "- Are always at each other's throats when the tournament rolls around. Lyonell treats it all like one big joke, and Chrysanthemum is way too serious. You should have seen it last year. I thought they would never decide whether or not I broke that kid's neck on accident . . ."
"Broke a kid's neck? Wha-Were you in this tournament before?" Kayko asked. Lark smacked herself in the forehead for her own stupidity, but it was too late for her to blow it over. Luckily, Lyra spoke up for her. "Yeah, we have. We've gotten pretty far too." Shizumuru took another drag off her cigarette before casually flicking it over her shoulder. "Really . . . Well, Yuske and the others are no slouches, either. "
"Oh, I know that. They did win the Dark tournament, after all. But I think that they're going to go a little easier on the students than all those demons." Kayko stared at Lark's outburst. "Y-you know about the Dark Tournament? But how-"
"Girl, just because I don't get straight A's doesn't mean I'm completely stupid. A lot of kids here want to win the Dark Tournament. More than half of them would get killed even at their maximum power. Not built for fighting, ya know? Like him over there." Lark pointed her blonde roommate out to Kayko and stood up, trying to get Rogerik's attention. "Hey! Rogerik! Over here! We saved you a seat!" Lyra hastily yanked her sister back down. "Saved him a seat? Since when do you save Rogerik a seat?" Lark shrugged off her sister. "Since he offered to pay for our food and drinks. Ooh! Look! The match is starting! Yay!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyonell gratefully stalked back to the commentator's booth, ready to do what he did best; commentate. "And now, finally, the Urameshi team shows up and the match is ready to begin!" Kuwabara stopped posing and yelled back, "What!? We were right on time!"
"Now, now. No need to mince words, Kazuma. Farida, would you be so kind as to referee the match?"
"Very well. But you all know Cthulu shall claim your souls in the end, you shallow simpletons. And do you know what The Great Destroyer does to fools such as you, cat?"
"Um . . . Destroy . . ?" Lyonell nervously answered from the safety of his seat.
"Very good. You guys know the rules. No killing, no maiming, and no hitting your opponent below the belt, often." The unusually pale Cthulu worshipper lifted a bright red bandanna and let it drop. Both teams charged at each other, weapons brandished. "And let the fight begin! . . .or end . . .whichever one you guys prefer . . ." Lyonell glanced at his watch. " . . .Wow . . . that was quick. Um, the winners are team Urameshi. Geez . . . that's a lot of blood . . ." Lyonell sat back in his chair and let loose a long, low, whistle. After watching the severely beat-up team being carried out of the ring, he finally snapped back to attention. "Okay, then! Moving right along! If the audience doesn't mind, how 'bout you all get something to eat while we clean the blood off of these tiles, eh?"
The audience just stared, silently, at the abandoned ring. Rogerik sat next to Lark and absent-mindedly chewed on a cheese-covered french fry. "How ~ can~ you eat with all that blood and carnage?" Kayko asked him. "Hm? Nerves of steel, babe. Nothing bugs me- OW!" Rogerik gingerly rubbed the rising lump on his head. "What was that for, Lark?"
"Stop flirting with Yuske's girlfriend!'
"Y-Yuske's girlfriend?! Crap! I'm dead if he finds out!"
"You're dead if I find out what?" Yuske stood right behind Rogerik, and snagged a fry. Rogerik broke out into a cold sweat. "Uh . . .um, n-n- nothing! Absolutely nothing! Here, you just help yourself to those fries and I'll see you later, buddy." Rogerik got up, shoved his container of Chili cheese fries in Yuske's hands, and scurried down the stands. Yuske just stared. "What's wrong with him?" He asked Lark. The raven-haired girl innocently looked at him. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"He willingly gave up his food."
"Oh, yeah. You know what? I'll go check on him! 'Kay?" She flipped them a peace sign behind her back and ran after Rogerik.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rogerik miserably wandered around the decorated grounds, kicking up flame-colored leaves with each step. In his opinion, he was lucky to have gotten away with flirting. If he had ever done that to one of his old friends' (note the sarcasm, there folks.) girlfriends, he would have been a living punching bag. He was so deep in thought; however, that he didn't even notice his aforementioned "friends" loitering around the cotton candy stand. "My, my. What do we have here?"
"Dude! It's Rogerik! I thought that you were expelled!"
"I know. We haven't seen you in such a long time, dear buddy. Pray tell, what have you been up to?" Shuichiro put Rogerik in a friendly headlock and gleefully punched him in the ribs. The 'playful' punch was strong enough to knock the wind out of Rogerik and the demon shoved the gasping boy onto the ground, away from the curious stares of others. The smaller demon, Satoshi, kicked him in his already aching ribs. The two demons sniggered as Gomo, leader of the bunch, lifted the psychic up by the collar of his leather pilot's jacket.
"What took you so long, moron? I never found out anything about those kids at the Psycho dorm. Any news?" Rogerik mumbled something under his breath and Gomo whapped him on the head, adding another lump to the one Lark had inflicted. "Well? Out with it!" Again, Rogerik just stood there, intimidated by the shorter demon, and mumbled. Gomo's long ears twitched as he caught what his victim was saying and he growled. "Louder, you idiot. I want the others to hear this."
"There's nothing about them, you egotistical, over bearing, load of shit! Now let go-" Rogerik was kicked in the ribs again by Satoshi. "All those years and he still has an attitude. Should we thrash him, dude?" Gomo glanced around before viciously punching Rogerik in the jaw. Taking that as a signal, the other two demons jumped in the fray.
Kuwabara was returning from the main picnic area was set up, stuffed to the brim with food, when he heard the demon's threats. Peering around the corner of a cotton candy stand, he watched as Rogerik got pummeled. "Huh? Hey! Get away from him!" The redhead charged at the largest of the three, and Suichiro dodged his wildly thrown punch. "What the? Are you trying to stop us?"
"Well, yeah! Why are you guys even beating on Rogerik in the first place? What'd he do to you?" Gomo seemed quite amused by Kuwabara and burst out laughing. "Hah! Why? He actually asked why? That's a first! Rogerik, since when did anyone care about you? Made a few new friends, I see." The blond teen just scrambled to his feet and tried to get the hell out of there, only to bump into a shocked and very pissed Lark. "Rogerik, what's going on here?" She tried to grab onto his jacket as Rogerik ran past her without a word. Kuwabara watched out of the corner of his eye as the beaten kid ran, and turned to face the three demons. "So you were the ones that put him up that bet!"
"Bet? Is that what he told you? It wasn't a bet, it was a threat."
"You bastards!"
"So what if we bugged him? He deserved it, always running away like a whipped dog."
"Well I- that's it! Spirit Sword!" The flickering blade slashed at where Gomo had been standing but a few seconds before. "Wha- where'd he g-" WHAM! Kuwabara, meet dirt. Dirt, Kuwabara. Lark winced as her baka roommate was pile-drived into the hard earth. "That was easy . . ."
"Woo-hoo! Go Gomo!"
"That idiot didn't stand a chance. Look at him! He can't even pry himself outta that imprint his ugly face made!" Suichiro highfived Gomo, who landed between his two friends. However, Kuwabara was slowly getting back up as the three students laughed at the quick skirmish that had ensued. Lark stalked over and kicked Kuwabara in the shins. "Don't even try it. You'd be better off kicking their asses in the ring, where they can be humiliated in front of everybody. C'mon." Lark grabbed Kuwabara by the ear and dragged him towards the stands. "B-b-but what they were doing to Rogerik . . !"
"Yeah, I know. I'm not to pleased about it either, but what are we really gonna do about it? Go sit with Kayko and Botan, will ya? I have my own fight starting."
"You guys entered?"
"Yeah . . ."
"But you're girls!" Kuwabara stared at her stupidly, only to realize his mistake a ~little~ bit too late. "SO?! If you can fight, than so can I!" Lark was about to kick Kuwabara in the shins again when Holly dropped out of the sky on her broom. "Lark, save it for the ring. We gotta go. Save me a seat when our fight's over, okay Kuwabara? Bye!" The younger Admarant sister grumbled, but followed her friend towards the makeshift arena.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And here we are folks, with another fight soon to be underway!"
"Shut up. Cthulu is still going to consume your soul, no matter how cheerful you seem."
"Okaaaaaaay . . .um, I'm just going to go commentate the match now . . ." Lyonell slowly inched away from his creepy companion and, once out of the ring itself, rushed over to the commentator's stand. Farida just glared at Lyonell and introduced the teams. "Pathetic mortals, I bring before you the Smith team-" a few scattered bunches of applause was heard. "-and the Admarant team! You guys know the rules . . . Lark, that means to follow them this time." The younger sister pouted, but stayed silent as the red bandanna fell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KKC: Not too shabby if I say so myself.
Shishiwakamaru: You can't write battle scenes, can you?
KKC: *sweatdrops* now, whatever gave you that idea . . ?
Shishiwakamaru: You made it funny! Battles are not funny! They are true contests of skill between two men-
KKC: So? The Urameshi team woulda won anyways and I was saving page-space. Waitasec . . . you thought it was funny?
Shishiwakamaru: I never said such a thing. KKC: Yes you did, samurai boy! No denying it now! *laughs maniacally at the annoyed demon*
Shishiwakamaru: You dare mock me?
KKC: Yes I do. Now put that sword away before I sic my sister on you.
Shishiwakamaru: You wouldn't . . .
KKC: I wouldn't . . . if you would stop griping.
Shishiwakamaru: *growls*
KKC: Whatever. Anyways . . .review! Or the Pretty-boy Samurai gets it!
Shishiwakamaru: Don't touch me.