Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. But watch me, someday I'll
have people writing fanfics for a insanely popular manga or anime series
that I created . . . yep . . .some day . . . dude, who am I kidding?
*coughs* oh, and Tiger of the Fire belongs to herself, respectably. But the
"Wheel of Torture" belongs to me.
Quote: "You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses."
KKC: Well . . . that quote is oddly Kurama-related . . .
Yuske: Um . . .yeah.
KKC: Yep . . . Orchids are prettier than roses, though . . .
Yuske: Don't matter to me. They're all weeds as far as I'm concerned.
KKC: -_-;; Of course, Yuske . . . Nothing matters to you, does it?
Yuske: That's not true!
KKC: You really need a hobby . . . you know that, right?
Yuske: *grumbles* Shut up and write the fic.
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Chapter 11: The tournament begins pt.2
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When we last left our Heroines . . .
The red cloth fell to the ground, signaling the beginning of the match. The three girls split up, hoping to loop around their opponents and attack from all sides. George Smith, leader of the Smith team (um . . .duh . . ?), raced at Lyra, who brought up a powerful defensive shield. As he pounded away at her shield, Lark ran in and grabbed him by the back of the collar, and delivered a swift knee-jab to the spine. Holly, meanwhile, was circling around the ring on her broom, warning her teammates and sometimes taking a swipe at her opponents. Lyonell's voice was heard on the mic throughout the entirety of the fight. "And the Admarant team starts with a pretty good defense. Better than last year, I'll admit. Ooh! And Jason Gilbert just took a bad blow to the head from Holly's broom. Let me tell ya, I've been on the receiving end of that thing and it hurts! Lark just reversed George's headlock . . . THAT CAN'T BE LEGAL!!!"
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Kurama watched the girls fight it out from the safety of the stands. Lyonell was doing a pretty good job, he had to admit . . . but Farida just creeped him out. Chuckling as Holly tossed another unsuspecting student out of the ring, his attention was suddenly caught as he heard a group of girls try to sneak up behind him. Slowly turning around, he was presented with the most of his on-campus fan club. At its head was the nefarious Helen, a top-honors student in love-potions. He did the only thing a fox trapped by a horde of females would do, he ran. He ran and never looked back at the fan girls, who were quickly gaining on him. God, it was scary how fast and determined those girls were. He thought he would never lose them, and never would have if it hadn't been for Koenma.
"Oh, hello Kurama. How are you do- HOLY SHIT!" Koenma stood in his teenage form, stunned as the fox hid behind him. The prince looked over Kurama's fan girls in awe, and the pacifier dropped from his mouth. "Gotten a bit popular, Kurama?"
"Yeah . . . can you get rid of them?"
"I suppose . . ." Koenma replied, although he looked quite dubious about the task set before him.
"Thanks, Koenma." Kurama nodded his head in respect before running off again.
Helen stomped over to the Rekai prince, curious as to where her bishie went. "Do you know what direction Kurama went? He's about this tall, long silky red hair, and beautiful green eyes."
"He went thataway." Koenma cleaned his pacifier off with his cape and pointed in a random direction away from the arena stands. "Thank you. C'mon girls! This way!" Helen and her mob stampeded in the direction Koenma had pointed. "How come I don't have fan-clubs. . ?" He sadly mumbled as soon as the girls were out of earshot.
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"And the Admarant team scores a second victory! Two fights in a row, and they don't even look that worn down . . .makes you wonder if maybe they were just playing around." Lark straightened up and shot the cat-demon a death glare. Not quite as lethal as Hiei's, but pretty scary nonetheless. Lyonell cringed and hastily tried to backpedal. "-Of course, it doesn't take much effort to take down those guys. Nope . . . none at all . . ." Lyonell sighed and turned the mic over to Farida (A/N: I accidentally called her Raven first in chapter ten, decided that the name Farida fit her better, and forgot to change all the Raven's to Farida before I updated. Oops!), who proceeded to give a sermon about her favorite topic (I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count).
"Cool, We're up after this fight." Yuske flipped through Kayko's packet. The tournament rosters were printed on it, and Yuske could barely read the script lettering among the scribbled out names. "Really? I thought it would take much longer." Kurama peered over his friend's shoulder (Apparently he had outran his fangirls) and pointed out the asterisk next to their opponent's name. "It says here that our opponents are the reigning champs."
"Well that won't last long!" Yuske gleefully shouted. Kuwabara scratched his head.
"How do you get the idea that they're good because of a little star next to their names, Kurama?"
"Footnotes, Kuwabara, footnotes."
"Oh . . . Hey! I know those guys! They were beating on Rogerik earlier!" Kuwabara pointed to the trio of sniggering demons down near the vending machine. Botan's pink eyes clouded with anger. "How dare they!? Picking on such a sweet and well-mannered boy! (A/N: -_-* ) What did poor Rogerik ever do to them?"
"Botan, I'm sure that Rogerik deserved it. He isn't as nice as you think . . ." Yuske grumbled and nibbled on his last Chili Cheese Fry, savoring the taste for as long as he could. Botan was about to summon her oar and whack Yuske over the head with it, but Shizumuru stopped her. " Stop it, I'm sure he's just joking. Aren't you Yuske?" Shizumuru gave Yuske an odd look that he took as a clue to apologize before the ferry girl beat the stuffing out of him. "Uh, sure! It was a joke! Yep. Just a joke." Yuske roughly elbowed the fox in the ribs. "Back me up here, Kurama!"
"I'm sure you can handle it on your own, Yuske. I have to go thank Koenma for getting those girls of my trail. So if you will please excuse me . . ." Kurama gracefully made his way down the crowded stands, leaving Yuske with the girls and Kuwabara for company.
"Some friend you are, Kurama! Just you wait! I'll sic Kuwabara's skeleton on you!" Kazuma yanked Yuske back into his seat. "Get down, Urameshi. Quick, before someone recognizes you."
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Rogerik sat under the branches of a large Maple, one of the few trees that hadn't lost all of its leaves yet. Moodily, he sipped his can of Dr Pepper and thought. He thought about his past roommates, his life, his father and sister, how Lark had looked at him with so much pity, anything that crossed his mind, really. Something shifted in the leafy branches above him, and Rogerik tossed his now empty soda can up at it. The aluminum can fell back down, neatly sliced into two halves. "Hiei, will you go sit in some other tree? I'm trying to mope down here." Rogerik leaned back against the worn bark, listening for the Jaganshi's customary "Hn". It seemed that Hiei was in one of his rare talkative moods today.
"Moping, Rogerik? What good is that going to do?"
"Nothing. Except maybe earn a little pity . . . "
"From who?" The psychic glared up at the tree, hopefully where Hiei was hiding, and chucked a pebble at the shadowy form. As much as he hated to admit it, the demon was right. Who would pity him? The same perverted boy who lied, stole, and shamelessly flirted? Not many, that much was true. Rogerik got to his feet, bent down to pick up the can halves, and walked towards the stands; but not before he turned to Hiei and smirked. "You're late, you know. The next fight just started." The tiny demon swore and sped ahead of his roommate to reach the ring.
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"What do you mean you started without me?!" Hiei shouted at Yuske from the sidelines. The spirit detective expertly tossed Suichiro over his shoulder and managed to continue his argument at the same time. "Had to Hiei . . . We waited for ten minutes, but Justin said he would hack into the school files and flunk us if we didn't beat these guys to a pulp. And you know how Kurama feels about his grades . . ." Yuske dodged Suichiro's wild punch and kicked the opposing demon in the face. Suichiro quickly recovered and tripped a dizzy Jin into Yuske.
"OW! Huh? Jin, are you okay?" Yuske pushed the deadweight off him and noticed that blood was gushing from the shinobi's elven ears. Little Satoshi leaped and eagerly clutched onto Yuske's face much like an alien Face-hugger (Note to self: improve metaphors.). Hiei smirked and settled down in a folding chair. "Serves you right, baka. I hope that little brat tears out that greasy junk you call hair."
"You little twit! Get off!" Yuske tore Satoshi off of his head and flung him way out of the ring and into the stands. Kurama had Suichiro and Gomo pinned down and tangled in a thorn bush. "I don't see how these boys could ever win a tournament. They can't even fight without ganging up on you."
"Probably cheated their way in. Do you want to do the honors, Kurama?"
"No, I'm quite alright. You go right on ahead, Yuske." The fox looked down at the struggling demons and regally walked away, as if his opponents were nothing more than insects.
"Well, okay. Spirit Gun!" Yuske fired his attack at the pile of limbs and thorns, blasting it a good hundred feet into the air, where it plummeted down into a stack of hay a few yards away. "Hm . . . I thought they would've gone farther. Pity they didn't get stuck in a tree." Yuske waved over to the commentator's booth. "Oy! Lyonell! Would you snap out of it? And someone get a medic . . . Jin doesn't look too good."
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The first thing Jin saw when he finally opened his eyes was Holly. The witch was leaning over him and blocked his vision while she looked through some papers and junk from a shelf above his bed. After a second or two of rummaging around for the scribbled-on sheets, Holly had a strange feeling someone was watching her. Cautiously, she glanced down at the redheaded demon below and furiously blushed when she noticed what he was staring at. "Perv! You're almost as bad as Yuske!" Holly turned a bright red and her eyes narrowed. She quickly stood up straight and smacked Jin on the cheek, but not hard enough to hurt him. Before the wind master could reply, she stomped up the stairs and slammed the basement door. "W-what'd I do?" Jin sat in his bed, bewildered at Holly's temper tantrum.
"Holly, what's wrong? Boy problems?" Kyuro stretched and yawned before trotting over to his companion. The fourteen year-old witch groaned and flopped down on her bed. She snatched a pillow right from under the small cat and buried her face in it. "Nothing is wrong, furball. Now go leave me alone." She waved her hand at Kyuro as if shooing a fly and the familiar sniffed. "Fine. You try to be kind . . ." Kyuro hopped down and stalked out of the shared bedroom in search of a more feline-friendly room to nap in. Halfway through the door, he turned. "You know, if you ever want to talk, come to me. I'm not allowed to tell anyone anyways, it's one of the joys of being a familiar. Ooh! Better hurry! Don't want to miss those last few sunrays! Later."
Jin stared at his bedroom ceiling, not quite awake. Whatever painkillers or meds they had put him on for Satoshi's ear-splitting shriek, they sure as hell hadn't worn off yet. He fumbled around for the small clock he kept on the shelf above his bed. "Cripes. Nine o'clock . . . What a lousy day." A loud thud distracted him from wallowing in his medicine-induced stupor. He struggled with the tangled sheets for a minute before stumbling over to the tiny basement window. On the yellowish-gold grass lay a small finch, whose wingtips were a vibrant yellow tipped with black, panting heavily. Tied to its fragile leg was a tiny slip of paper.
The wind master stretched his arm out and gently scooped the tiny bird up in his rough hand. Keeping the shivering avian close to his chest, Jin carefully shut and locked the window before placing the fragile bird on his mussed bed. The demon unplugged Rogerik's gooseneck desk lamp and set it up so that the bright light warmed the shivering finch. He flipped the switch to ON and carefully untied the short note from the leg of its equally small carrier. It was another note from Rishio, this time about forgetting his promise to keep the use of his powers to a minimum. "Damn Rishio . . ." The demon muttered over the neat, script handwriting.
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Lyra tip-toed across her room to Salvatore's white wire cage. She gently unpried the sleeping lovebird from her shoulder and let him securely clutch his clawed feet onto a wooden perch before quietly closing the cage door. Still ever so quietly, she stuffed her shell-flute, an ancient looking tome, and a tiny incense burner crafted out of silver and a small Nautilus shell into her messenger bag. She unlatched the French doors to her balcony and jumped over the rail. Lyra skidded down the slate-covered roof and hopped onto the plum tree out front. Sliding down the trunk, she made a quick energy scan to make sure no one in the house was watching and ran towards the towering forest.
Kurama stood inside the living room, staring out of the large bay window and sipping a glass of ice water. Tonight was a full moon, and although Youko wasn't exactly raring to go out and hunt on such a dismal night, controlling the demon fox's urge to get out wasn't easy either. Suddenly, a pale figure, black hair tied back in a long, thick braid ran into the misty forest. Kurama felt his worst side's thoughts bubble up from the depths of his brain. The reflection of Youko smugly sneered at Kurama. "Well, little fox . . . Lyra, alone, and at night. The stupid girl has absolutely no common sense whatsoever. Want to see how a real man gets a woman?"
"No! Stop it! What are you doing?! Youko!" Kurama helplessly pleaded with the albino fox even while the demon took over his body. His red hair turned a brilliant white and his ears moved to the top of his skull, turning into the silky canine ears of a fox. Kurama's jeans and sweater were replaced with the flowing silken robes that Youko preferred and his spine lengthened into a flowing, furred tail.
The change fully complete, Youko crushed the water glass in his clawed hands. Opening his hand, he let the crystalline powder sift through his fingers. Blood poured from the lacerations on his palm, and Youko gingerly licked it off with the tip of his tongue, savoring the bitter taste. Tonight he would hunt, and there was no way he would let his prey escape.
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Holly could sense his spirit energy before he even knocked on the door. Grumbling, she got up from her bed and stalked over to the oak door. Standing outside was a surprised Jin, cradling a small bundle in his arms. "What do you want, Jin?"
"Eh? What do I want? Nothing! Nothing at all. Actually, I was just wondering if maybe you know what's wrong with this lil' guy." The redhead unwrapped the tiny bundle to reveal a shivering Goldfinch. Holly quickly snagged the bundle with the sick little bird and set it on her bed. She then fished around in her nightstand and triumphantly revealed a brass key. "Here." She said, placing the key in Jin's palm. "Take this and go into Lyra's room. There should be a box of animal-care medicine in her bathroom; she has it in case any of the familiars gets sick. Inside the case is a small glass bottle labeled "Ashen Wing". Bring it back down here along with an eyedropper and a small cup of milk from the kitchen. I'll take care of the rest."
Jin hesitated for a moment, but soon hurried up the stairs leading to Lyra's bedroom on the third floor. As soon as he entered the elder girl's room, he felt the sudden change in energy. It flowed through the wooden beams overhead, inside the wire bars of Salvatore's cage, and formed a twisted knot in the keyhole of her balcony door. The stream of energy was a confusing maze of locks that spread throughout the entirety of her bedroom.
The wind master wandered around, taking in the dark blue walls and hand- painted mural of the night sky. The window was slightly open, and a light breeze blew in, making the tiny paper cranes swirl and dance on their strings attached to the ceiling. Snapping back to reality, Jin made his way past the many bookcases and the cluttered mahogany computer desk into a tiny bathroom. Swinging open the medicine cabinet door, he quickly found the wooden box and brought it out to Lyra's bed. Opening it, he shuffled through the many bottles of pills and liquids, reading each label in turn. "Glimroot . . . nope. Let's see . . . Cat's claw, powdered unicorn's horn, phoenix pinfeathers . . ." Jin tossed the rejected bottles out onto the bed and continued his search. "Dragon's blood and manticore tail-spikes? How'd the heck did she get those? Probably on the black-market . . . Ah! Here we go! Ashen Wing!" Jin stuffed the amber-colored bottle into his pocket and carefully put the other bottles with their strange contents back into the wooden medicine chest.
"Jin, what took you so long? This poor finch has been through quite a bit and you're taking your sweet time?!" Holly stamped her foot and pointed a finger at her demon roommate. "Now wait a sec. It took a while to find the right bottle, all of 'em look the same!"
"But you *did* get the "Ashen Wing", right?"
"Yeah! Here you go, along with all the other junk." Jin shoved the glass bottle and eyedropper into her hands and placed the cup of milk on her nightstand. Holly sheepishly apologized and got right to work, mixing the fine powder with the milk and adding a handful of ground bran inside of a small wooden bowl.
Once the mixture had gained a thick, grainy texture, she sucked some into the eyedropper and tried to get the shivering bird to swallow some. After three failed attempts, she turned to Jin. "Hey, maybe could you try? I think the poor thing is afraid of me." The redhead sighed, but begrudgingly took the eyedropper in one hand and the Goldfinch in the other. He carefully forced the eyedropper into the bird's tightly closed beak, careful not to injure it anymore with his sharp fingernails. The sick Goldfinch struggled and tried to move its tiny head out of Jin's firm grasp, but the demon's grip was firm, if not gentle. "Darn little bugger . . .Ow! He bit me!" Jin turned to Holly. "That bird bit me!"
"Yep. He sure did. But at least you got him to take the medicine. I'd say twice a day for four days, and he'll be fine in no time. Salvatore came down with the same thing, and he's bigger so he needed more time for the mixture to take effect." Holly had been busy lining a shoebox with tissue and hand towels. She positioned the makeshift nest on the small table under a desk lamp. Holly gently took the drowsy bird from Jin and placed it in its new nest. "That should do it. Here, let me help you out with that bite."
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Lyra trudged through the forest, bag slung over her shoulder and compass out. The compass wasn't one that worked with the earth's magnetic field, instead it picked up readings from locations with high energy readings. The little crystal swung on its string for a moment before pointing due East. Lyra tucked the compass in her pocket and continued on her way. It wasn't often she roamed these woods; and although she had a pretty good sense of direction, she didn't want to chance getting lost out here in the woods, especially with that thing chasing her. Whatever it was, it was following her at such a distance that she couldn't pin point its exact location.
The black-haired girl paused and peered into the misty pine branches. She was pretty sure that she had seen something move up there, but the fog and moonlight could have been playing tricks on her eyes, as it had disappeared as soon as it had appeared. A silky white creature, one that gracefully bounded through the tall trees at impressive speeds. "Cripes, I really am seeing things . . . Nothing that big lives in this part of the woods. Argh . . . lost track of the trail again. Stupid fog, as if it isn't hard enough to make it to the spring on a clear night . . ." Lyra sighed and once again pulled out the tiny crystal pendulum, focused her energy and continued in the direction it pointed.
Kurama watched with mild intrest while Lyra navigated her way through the dense forest, always keeping the unsuspecting girl in view whilst he leaped among the branches. Sure, the city had some good haunts around, but nothing, in his own opinion, could compare to finally stretching his legs out to their full extent in such a place. The treetops seemed to host their own little world where bats and various pixies flitted about catching their dinner, and an entire horde of Mist Spirits floated around eerily lighting up the branches.
Kurama crouched down on his haunches and lazily snagged a passing pixie, thoughtfully gnawing on it while Lyra once again pulled out her crystal pendulum. "How often does she need to check that thing? For Crissakes, why not just get a map? Be a whole heckuva lot easier . . ." The youkai batted away another pixie that had zoomed over to avenge his eaten comrade, and yawned. At this rate, it would take *forever* for that stupid girl to reach this spring she kept talking about. Youko stood up, ready to go check out the terrain ahead, but accidentally knocked a small bunch of pinecones of the branch. The demon fox cursed and reached to grab them before his prey would notice, but his clawed hands slipped and the heavy cones crashed down no Lyra's head. Lyra angrily swore and rubbed her head where the pinecones had impacted, all the while glaring up at the many branches. Youko snickered, despite himself, and bounded ahead before she could notice his lithe form.
Two or so minutes later, the albino fox came to a large clearing. A bright blue pond reflected the moonlight on its surface, in the center and a cozy, but abandoned, house was tucked away by the pond's edge. Youko sniffed around for a few seconds before he caught the scent of his prey, Lyra. He quickly jumped up into the many branches before the girl could sense him. It wasn't long he had to wait; however, as Lyra came up the path not five minutes later. His prey flopped down on a large boulder jutting out into the surprisingly blue water and cupped in a hand to take a drink.
She started emptying her messenger bag when Youko had a twisted idea. Reaching deep into the corners of his mind, he awakened the silent human Kurama inside. His younger self was surprised to be conscious at such a time, and still not in control of his own body. "Watch, little kit. I said I would show you, so . . ."
"What?! Youko, you're insane! What if Koenma finds out?"
"'What if Koenma finds out' what? She's not human, even I know that much."
"Um . . .well, of course. Nut she's still a student here! Search parties will probably be sent out if she goes missing-"
"-And the culprit won't be around. Youko will have gone back into the reaches of your mind before they could point a finger." The demon had the younger boy stuck between a rock and a hard place and the kit didn't like that, Youko knew. "Now be quiet and watch. And don't you even dare try to sink back into our subconscious. The fox goes in for the kill . . ."
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Hiei waited outside for the arguing to cease. Rogerik and Lark had been going at it for over an hour now, way too long for the time it took to clean up after dinner. Kayko opened the door to the guest house and looked up at the fire demon. "Hiei, why don't you come in? I'm sure those two will be winding down sooner or later. Hiei? An answer, please."
"Hn."
"Okay then. I'll just leave the door unlocked." Kayko turned around and was about to go back inside to the inviting house when she noticed Hiei stiffen. The jaganshi hopped down and ushered her in the door. "No. Lock it. Something's not right around here."
"Wha? Whats wrong, Hiei?"
"I . . .don't really know. But something with tremendous energy is surfacing. Tell Yuske to be on guard tonight. I'm sure even Kuwabara can sense it by now-" Almost immediately, a second floor window was shoved open and the human boy stuck his head out. "Hey, Shorty! You got any idea what's giving off all that energy?"
"No. Just stay inside for now." Hiei was surprised to see Kuwabara nod his head in agreement before slamming the window shut and locking it. Yuske came to the door, pushing Kayko inside. "What is going on?"
"For the last time, I don't know! Just stay alert and try to figure out where its coming from." Yuske was about to complain, but Lark shoved him out of the doorway. "It can't be! What could have possibly angered the spirit that much?"
"Spirit?" Yuske shoved the younger girl back, but received two slaps, one each from Kayko and Lark. "The spring spirit, idiot! It's usually dormant, but . . ."
"But?"
"I've just never seen it this upset before, alright Hiei? God, I'd hate to be up at Aria Spring now. That much I can tell you . . ."
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KKC: Sorry it took so long, folks! Goddamn homework for both academic and Ag classes. Anywho, today's "random rambling" session will be cut short. Tiger of the Fire has been wanting me to torture Kuwabara as an apology for accidentally dissing her, but I just can't figure out where to put it in the story. So, in order to get this over with (I don't particularly like to bash Kuwabara . . . the poor guy needs a break every once in a while from all of the fanfic writers that do hate him.), I'll let Tiger of the Fire do the dirty deed.
TotF (Tiger of the Fire): Dirty? Excuuuuuuuuse me! It's about time Kuwabara- baka got put in his place.
KKC: *shrugs* Whatever. Tiger of the Fire, will you please spin the wheel? *points to a giant 'wheel of fortune' thingamajig. Emblazoned in red paint on the wheel is the title "Wheel of Torture"*
TotF: *grins* Yay! *spins the wheel* Wheel of Torture: *swirls in a dizzying array of colors before finally landing on "Tar and Feathers"*
KKC: Ooh . . . a good one.
TotF: Tar and feather Kuwabaka? *Shrugs and grabs the pot of bubbling tar and a sack full of goose feathers* Sounds a bit primitive, but . . .
Kuwabara: Hey! What are you doing? *Notices TotF advancing towards him with a murderous glint in her eyes and starts running*
KKC: Please excuse them for a moment. *Pulls down a sign that says 'Cannot be shown due to graphic violence' and watches the whole incident with mild intrest*
TotF: Done! Hah! He looks like a chicken . . .and an ugly one at that.
KKC: *nods in agreement* Er . . .yeah, he does. I almost feel sorry for him . . .
TotF: *holds bucket of tar in front of KKC's face threateningly* You aren't a Kuwabara-sympathizer, ARE YOU?
KKC: Nope. But he is. *points to her step-brother, Chris*
Chris: *dazedly* Huh? No, wait! Not me! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! *runs away from TotF, who is trying to pour hot tar over his head*
KKC: That was close . . . *notices Kuwabara tied to a tree, covered in feathers* Poor guy never stood a chance against her . . . See you guys in the next chapter. Oh, and don't forget to review. If I reach fifteen reviews before I put up chapter twelve, I might pick another reviewer to play "Wheel of Torture" *walks off, leaving her brother to deal with TotF*
Quote: "You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses."
KKC: Well . . . that quote is oddly Kurama-related . . .
Yuske: Um . . .yeah.
KKC: Yep . . . Orchids are prettier than roses, though . . .
Yuske: Don't matter to me. They're all weeds as far as I'm concerned.
KKC: -_-;; Of course, Yuske . . . Nothing matters to you, does it?
Yuske: That's not true!
KKC: You really need a hobby . . . you know that, right?
Yuske: *grumbles* Shut up and write the fic.
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Chapter 11: The tournament begins pt.2
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When we last left our Heroines . . .
The red cloth fell to the ground, signaling the beginning of the match. The three girls split up, hoping to loop around their opponents and attack from all sides. George Smith, leader of the Smith team (um . . .duh . . ?), raced at Lyra, who brought up a powerful defensive shield. As he pounded away at her shield, Lark ran in and grabbed him by the back of the collar, and delivered a swift knee-jab to the spine. Holly, meanwhile, was circling around the ring on her broom, warning her teammates and sometimes taking a swipe at her opponents. Lyonell's voice was heard on the mic throughout the entirety of the fight. "And the Admarant team starts with a pretty good defense. Better than last year, I'll admit. Ooh! And Jason Gilbert just took a bad blow to the head from Holly's broom. Let me tell ya, I've been on the receiving end of that thing and it hurts! Lark just reversed George's headlock . . . THAT CAN'T BE LEGAL!!!"
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Kurama watched the girls fight it out from the safety of the stands. Lyonell was doing a pretty good job, he had to admit . . . but Farida just creeped him out. Chuckling as Holly tossed another unsuspecting student out of the ring, his attention was suddenly caught as he heard a group of girls try to sneak up behind him. Slowly turning around, he was presented with the most of his on-campus fan club. At its head was the nefarious Helen, a top-honors student in love-potions. He did the only thing a fox trapped by a horde of females would do, he ran. He ran and never looked back at the fan girls, who were quickly gaining on him. God, it was scary how fast and determined those girls were. He thought he would never lose them, and never would have if it hadn't been for Koenma.
"Oh, hello Kurama. How are you do- HOLY SHIT!" Koenma stood in his teenage form, stunned as the fox hid behind him. The prince looked over Kurama's fan girls in awe, and the pacifier dropped from his mouth. "Gotten a bit popular, Kurama?"
"Yeah . . . can you get rid of them?"
"I suppose . . ." Koenma replied, although he looked quite dubious about the task set before him.
"Thanks, Koenma." Kurama nodded his head in respect before running off again.
Helen stomped over to the Rekai prince, curious as to where her bishie went. "Do you know what direction Kurama went? He's about this tall, long silky red hair, and beautiful green eyes."
"He went thataway." Koenma cleaned his pacifier off with his cape and pointed in a random direction away from the arena stands. "Thank you. C'mon girls! This way!" Helen and her mob stampeded in the direction Koenma had pointed. "How come I don't have fan-clubs. . ?" He sadly mumbled as soon as the girls were out of earshot.
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"And the Admarant team scores a second victory! Two fights in a row, and they don't even look that worn down . . .makes you wonder if maybe they were just playing around." Lark straightened up and shot the cat-demon a death glare. Not quite as lethal as Hiei's, but pretty scary nonetheless. Lyonell cringed and hastily tried to backpedal. "-Of course, it doesn't take much effort to take down those guys. Nope . . . none at all . . ." Lyonell sighed and turned the mic over to Farida (A/N: I accidentally called her Raven first in chapter ten, decided that the name Farida fit her better, and forgot to change all the Raven's to Farida before I updated. Oops!), who proceeded to give a sermon about her favorite topic (I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count).
"Cool, We're up after this fight." Yuske flipped through Kayko's packet. The tournament rosters were printed on it, and Yuske could barely read the script lettering among the scribbled out names. "Really? I thought it would take much longer." Kurama peered over his friend's shoulder (Apparently he had outran his fangirls) and pointed out the asterisk next to their opponent's name. "It says here that our opponents are the reigning champs."
"Well that won't last long!" Yuske gleefully shouted. Kuwabara scratched his head.
"How do you get the idea that they're good because of a little star next to their names, Kurama?"
"Footnotes, Kuwabara, footnotes."
"Oh . . . Hey! I know those guys! They were beating on Rogerik earlier!" Kuwabara pointed to the trio of sniggering demons down near the vending machine. Botan's pink eyes clouded with anger. "How dare they!? Picking on such a sweet and well-mannered boy! (A/N: -_-* ) What did poor Rogerik ever do to them?"
"Botan, I'm sure that Rogerik deserved it. He isn't as nice as you think . . ." Yuske grumbled and nibbled on his last Chili Cheese Fry, savoring the taste for as long as he could. Botan was about to summon her oar and whack Yuske over the head with it, but Shizumuru stopped her. " Stop it, I'm sure he's just joking. Aren't you Yuske?" Shizumuru gave Yuske an odd look that he took as a clue to apologize before the ferry girl beat the stuffing out of him. "Uh, sure! It was a joke! Yep. Just a joke." Yuske roughly elbowed the fox in the ribs. "Back me up here, Kurama!"
"I'm sure you can handle it on your own, Yuske. I have to go thank Koenma for getting those girls of my trail. So if you will please excuse me . . ." Kurama gracefully made his way down the crowded stands, leaving Yuske with the girls and Kuwabara for company.
"Some friend you are, Kurama! Just you wait! I'll sic Kuwabara's skeleton on you!" Kazuma yanked Yuske back into his seat. "Get down, Urameshi. Quick, before someone recognizes you."
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Rogerik sat under the branches of a large Maple, one of the few trees that hadn't lost all of its leaves yet. Moodily, he sipped his can of Dr Pepper and thought. He thought about his past roommates, his life, his father and sister, how Lark had looked at him with so much pity, anything that crossed his mind, really. Something shifted in the leafy branches above him, and Rogerik tossed his now empty soda can up at it. The aluminum can fell back down, neatly sliced into two halves. "Hiei, will you go sit in some other tree? I'm trying to mope down here." Rogerik leaned back against the worn bark, listening for the Jaganshi's customary "Hn". It seemed that Hiei was in one of his rare talkative moods today.
"Moping, Rogerik? What good is that going to do?"
"Nothing. Except maybe earn a little pity . . . "
"From who?" The psychic glared up at the tree, hopefully where Hiei was hiding, and chucked a pebble at the shadowy form. As much as he hated to admit it, the demon was right. Who would pity him? The same perverted boy who lied, stole, and shamelessly flirted? Not many, that much was true. Rogerik got to his feet, bent down to pick up the can halves, and walked towards the stands; but not before he turned to Hiei and smirked. "You're late, you know. The next fight just started." The tiny demon swore and sped ahead of his roommate to reach the ring.
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"What do you mean you started without me?!" Hiei shouted at Yuske from the sidelines. The spirit detective expertly tossed Suichiro over his shoulder and managed to continue his argument at the same time. "Had to Hiei . . . We waited for ten minutes, but Justin said he would hack into the school files and flunk us if we didn't beat these guys to a pulp. And you know how Kurama feels about his grades . . ." Yuske dodged Suichiro's wild punch and kicked the opposing demon in the face. Suichiro quickly recovered and tripped a dizzy Jin into Yuske.
"OW! Huh? Jin, are you okay?" Yuske pushed the deadweight off him and noticed that blood was gushing from the shinobi's elven ears. Little Satoshi leaped and eagerly clutched onto Yuske's face much like an alien Face-hugger (Note to self: improve metaphors.). Hiei smirked and settled down in a folding chair. "Serves you right, baka. I hope that little brat tears out that greasy junk you call hair."
"You little twit! Get off!" Yuske tore Satoshi off of his head and flung him way out of the ring and into the stands. Kurama had Suichiro and Gomo pinned down and tangled in a thorn bush. "I don't see how these boys could ever win a tournament. They can't even fight without ganging up on you."
"Probably cheated their way in. Do you want to do the honors, Kurama?"
"No, I'm quite alright. You go right on ahead, Yuske." The fox looked down at the struggling demons and regally walked away, as if his opponents were nothing more than insects.
"Well, okay. Spirit Gun!" Yuske fired his attack at the pile of limbs and thorns, blasting it a good hundred feet into the air, where it plummeted down into a stack of hay a few yards away. "Hm . . . I thought they would've gone farther. Pity they didn't get stuck in a tree." Yuske waved over to the commentator's booth. "Oy! Lyonell! Would you snap out of it? And someone get a medic . . . Jin doesn't look too good."
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The first thing Jin saw when he finally opened his eyes was Holly. The witch was leaning over him and blocked his vision while she looked through some papers and junk from a shelf above his bed. After a second or two of rummaging around for the scribbled-on sheets, Holly had a strange feeling someone was watching her. Cautiously, she glanced down at the redheaded demon below and furiously blushed when she noticed what he was staring at. "Perv! You're almost as bad as Yuske!" Holly turned a bright red and her eyes narrowed. She quickly stood up straight and smacked Jin on the cheek, but not hard enough to hurt him. Before the wind master could reply, she stomped up the stairs and slammed the basement door. "W-what'd I do?" Jin sat in his bed, bewildered at Holly's temper tantrum.
"Holly, what's wrong? Boy problems?" Kyuro stretched and yawned before trotting over to his companion. The fourteen year-old witch groaned and flopped down on her bed. She snatched a pillow right from under the small cat and buried her face in it. "Nothing is wrong, furball. Now go leave me alone." She waved her hand at Kyuro as if shooing a fly and the familiar sniffed. "Fine. You try to be kind . . ." Kyuro hopped down and stalked out of the shared bedroom in search of a more feline-friendly room to nap in. Halfway through the door, he turned. "You know, if you ever want to talk, come to me. I'm not allowed to tell anyone anyways, it's one of the joys of being a familiar. Ooh! Better hurry! Don't want to miss those last few sunrays! Later."
Jin stared at his bedroom ceiling, not quite awake. Whatever painkillers or meds they had put him on for Satoshi's ear-splitting shriek, they sure as hell hadn't worn off yet. He fumbled around for the small clock he kept on the shelf above his bed. "Cripes. Nine o'clock . . . What a lousy day." A loud thud distracted him from wallowing in his medicine-induced stupor. He struggled with the tangled sheets for a minute before stumbling over to the tiny basement window. On the yellowish-gold grass lay a small finch, whose wingtips were a vibrant yellow tipped with black, panting heavily. Tied to its fragile leg was a tiny slip of paper.
The wind master stretched his arm out and gently scooped the tiny bird up in his rough hand. Keeping the shivering avian close to his chest, Jin carefully shut and locked the window before placing the fragile bird on his mussed bed. The demon unplugged Rogerik's gooseneck desk lamp and set it up so that the bright light warmed the shivering finch. He flipped the switch to ON and carefully untied the short note from the leg of its equally small carrier. It was another note from Rishio, this time about forgetting his promise to keep the use of his powers to a minimum. "Damn Rishio . . ." The demon muttered over the neat, script handwriting.
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Lyra tip-toed across her room to Salvatore's white wire cage. She gently unpried the sleeping lovebird from her shoulder and let him securely clutch his clawed feet onto a wooden perch before quietly closing the cage door. Still ever so quietly, she stuffed her shell-flute, an ancient looking tome, and a tiny incense burner crafted out of silver and a small Nautilus shell into her messenger bag. She unlatched the French doors to her balcony and jumped over the rail. Lyra skidded down the slate-covered roof and hopped onto the plum tree out front. Sliding down the trunk, she made a quick energy scan to make sure no one in the house was watching and ran towards the towering forest.
Kurama stood inside the living room, staring out of the large bay window and sipping a glass of ice water. Tonight was a full moon, and although Youko wasn't exactly raring to go out and hunt on such a dismal night, controlling the demon fox's urge to get out wasn't easy either. Suddenly, a pale figure, black hair tied back in a long, thick braid ran into the misty forest. Kurama felt his worst side's thoughts bubble up from the depths of his brain. The reflection of Youko smugly sneered at Kurama. "Well, little fox . . . Lyra, alone, and at night. The stupid girl has absolutely no common sense whatsoever. Want to see how a real man gets a woman?"
"No! Stop it! What are you doing?! Youko!" Kurama helplessly pleaded with the albino fox even while the demon took over his body. His red hair turned a brilliant white and his ears moved to the top of his skull, turning into the silky canine ears of a fox. Kurama's jeans and sweater were replaced with the flowing silken robes that Youko preferred and his spine lengthened into a flowing, furred tail.
The change fully complete, Youko crushed the water glass in his clawed hands. Opening his hand, he let the crystalline powder sift through his fingers. Blood poured from the lacerations on his palm, and Youko gingerly licked it off with the tip of his tongue, savoring the bitter taste. Tonight he would hunt, and there was no way he would let his prey escape.
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Holly could sense his spirit energy before he even knocked on the door. Grumbling, she got up from her bed and stalked over to the oak door. Standing outside was a surprised Jin, cradling a small bundle in his arms. "What do you want, Jin?"
"Eh? What do I want? Nothing! Nothing at all. Actually, I was just wondering if maybe you know what's wrong with this lil' guy." The redhead unwrapped the tiny bundle to reveal a shivering Goldfinch. Holly quickly snagged the bundle with the sick little bird and set it on her bed. She then fished around in her nightstand and triumphantly revealed a brass key. "Here." She said, placing the key in Jin's palm. "Take this and go into Lyra's room. There should be a box of animal-care medicine in her bathroom; she has it in case any of the familiars gets sick. Inside the case is a small glass bottle labeled "Ashen Wing". Bring it back down here along with an eyedropper and a small cup of milk from the kitchen. I'll take care of the rest."
Jin hesitated for a moment, but soon hurried up the stairs leading to Lyra's bedroom on the third floor. As soon as he entered the elder girl's room, he felt the sudden change in energy. It flowed through the wooden beams overhead, inside the wire bars of Salvatore's cage, and formed a twisted knot in the keyhole of her balcony door. The stream of energy was a confusing maze of locks that spread throughout the entirety of her bedroom.
The wind master wandered around, taking in the dark blue walls and hand- painted mural of the night sky. The window was slightly open, and a light breeze blew in, making the tiny paper cranes swirl and dance on their strings attached to the ceiling. Snapping back to reality, Jin made his way past the many bookcases and the cluttered mahogany computer desk into a tiny bathroom. Swinging open the medicine cabinet door, he quickly found the wooden box and brought it out to Lyra's bed. Opening it, he shuffled through the many bottles of pills and liquids, reading each label in turn. "Glimroot . . . nope. Let's see . . . Cat's claw, powdered unicorn's horn, phoenix pinfeathers . . ." Jin tossed the rejected bottles out onto the bed and continued his search. "Dragon's blood and manticore tail-spikes? How'd the heck did she get those? Probably on the black-market . . . Ah! Here we go! Ashen Wing!" Jin stuffed the amber-colored bottle into his pocket and carefully put the other bottles with their strange contents back into the wooden medicine chest.
"Jin, what took you so long? This poor finch has been through quite a bit and you're taking your sweet time?!" Holly stamped her foot and pointed a finger at her demon roommate. "Now wait a sec. It took a while to find the right bottle, all of 'em look the same!"
"But you *did* get the "Ashen Wing", right?"
"Yeah! Here you go, along with all the other junk." Jin shoved the glass bottle and eyedropper into her hands and placed the cup of milk on her nightstand. Holly sheepishly apologized and got right to work, mixing the fine powder with the milk and adding a handful of ground bran inside of a small wooden bowl.
Once the mixture had gained a thick, grainy texture, she sucked some into the eyedropper and tried to get the shivering bird to swallow some. After three failed attempts, she turned to Jin. "Hey, maybe could you try? I think the poor thing is afraid of me." The redhead sighed, but begrudgingly took the eyedropper in one hand and the Goldfinch in the other. He carefully forced the eyedropper into the bird's tightly closed beak, careful not to injure it anymore with his sharp fingernails. The sick Goldfinch struggled and tried to move its tiny head out of Jin's firm grasp, but the demon's grip was firm, if not gentle. "Darn little bugger . . .Ow! He bit me!" Jin turned to Holly. "That bird bit me!"
"Yep. He sure did. But at least you got him to take the medicine. I'd say twice a day for four days, and he'll be fine in no time. Salvatore came down with the same thing, and he's bigger so he needed more time for the mixture to take effect." Holly had been busy lining a shoebox with tissue and hand towels. She positioned the makeshift nest on the small table under a desk lamp. Holly gently took the drowsy bird from Jin and placed it in its new nest. "That should do it. Here, let me help you out with that bite."
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Lyra trudged through the forest, bag slung over her shoulder and compass out. The compass wasn't one that worked with the earth's magnetic field, instead it picked up readings from locations with high energy readings. The little crystal swung on its string for a moment before pointing due East. Lyra tucked the compass in her pocket and continued on her way. It wasn't often she roamed these woods; and although she had a pretty good sense of direction, she didn't want to chance getting lost out here in the woods, especially with that thing chasing her. Whatever it was, it was following her at such a distance that she couldn't pin point its exact location.
The black-haired girl paused and peered into the misty pine branches. She was pretty sure that she had seen something move up there, but the fog and moonlight could have been playing tricks on her eyes, as it had disappeared as soon as it had appeared. A silky white creature, one that gracefully bounded through the tall trees at impressive speeds. "Cripes, I really am seeing things . . . Nothing that big lives in this part of the woods. Argh . . . lost track of the trail again. Stupid fog, as if it isn't hard enough to make it to the spring on a clear night . . ." Lyra sighed and once again pulled out the tiny crystal pendulum, focused her energy and continued in the direction it pointed.
Kurama watched with mild intrest while Lyra navigated her way through the dense forest, always keeping the unsuspecting girl in view whilst he leaped among the branches. Sure, the city had some good haunts around, but nothing, in his own opinion, could compare to finally stretching his legs out to their full extent in such a place. The treetops seemed to host their own little world where bats and various pixies flitted about catching their dinner, and an entire horde of Mist Spirits floated around eerily lighting up the branches.
Kurama crouched down on his haunches and lazily snagged a passing pixie, thoughtfully gnawing on it while Lyra once again pulled out her crystal pendulum. "How often does she need to check that thing? For Crissakes, why not just get a map? Be a whole heckuva lot easier . . ." The youkai batted away another pixie that had zoomed over to avenge his eaten comrade, and yawned. At this rate, it would take *forever* for that stupid girl to reach this spring she kept talking about. Youko stood up, ready to go check out the terrain ahead, but accidentally knocked a small bunch of pinecones of the branch. The demon fox cursed and reached to grab them before his prey would notice, but his clawed hands slipped and the heavy cones crashed down no Lyra's head. Lyra angrily swore and rubbed her head where the pinecones had impacted, all the while glaring up at the many branches. Youko snickered, despite himself, and bounded ahead before she could notice his lithe form.
Two or so minutes later, the albino fox came to a large clearing. A bright blue pond reflected the moonlight on its surface, in the center and a cozy, but abandoned, house was tucked away by the pond's edge. Youko sniffed around for a few seconds before he caught the scent of his prey, Lyra. He quickly jumped up into the many branches before the girl could sense him. It wasn't long he had to wait; however, as Lyra came up the path not five minutes later. His prey flopped down on a large boulder jutting out into the surprisingly blue water and cupped in a hand to take a drink.
She started emptying her messenger bag when Youko had a twisted idea. Reaching deep into the corners of his mind, he awakened the silent human Kurama inside. His younger self was surprised to be conscious at such a time, and still not in control of his own body. "Watch, little kit. I said I would show you, so . . ."
"What?! Youko, you're insane! What if Koenma finds out?"
"'What if Koenma finds out' what? She's not human, even I know that much."
"Um . . .well, of course. Nut she's still a student here! Search parties will probably be sent out if she goes missing-"
"-And the culprit won't be around. Youko will have gone back into the reaches of your mind before they could point a finger." The demon had the younger boy stuck between a rock and a hard place and the kit didn't like that, Youko knew. "Now be quiet and watch. And don't you even dare try to sink back into our subconscious. The fox goes in for the kill . . ."
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Hiei waited outside for the arguing to cease. Rogerik and Lark had been going at it for over an hour now, way too long for the time it took to clean up after dinner. Kayko opened the door to the guest house and looked up at the fire demon. "Hiei, why don't you come in? I'm sure those two will be winding down sooner or later. Hiei? An answer, please."
"Hn."
"Okay then. I'll just leave the door unlocked." Kayko turned around and was about to go back inside to the inviting house when she noticed Hiei stiffen. The jaganshi hopped down and ushered her in the door. "No. Lock it. Something's not right around here."
"Wha? Whats wrong, Hiei?"
"I . . .don't really know. But something with tremendous energy is surfacing. Tell Yuske to be on guard tonight. I'm sure even Kuwabara can sense it by now-" Almost immediately, a second floor window was shoved open and the human boy stuck his head out. "Hey, Shorty! You got any idea what's giving off all that energy?"
"No. Just stay inside for now." Hiei was surprised to see Kuwabara nod his head in agreement before slamming the window shut and locking it. Yuske came to the door, pushing Kayko inside. "What is going on?"
"For the last time, I don't know! Just stay alert and try to figure out where its coming from." Yuske was about to complain, but Lark shoved him out of the doorway. "It can't be! What could have possibly angered the spirit that much?"
"Spirit?" Yuske shoved the younger girl back, but received two slaps, one each from Kayko and Lark. "The spring spirit, idiot! It's usually dormant, but . . ."
"But?"
"I've just never seen it this upset before, alright Hiei? God, I'd hate to be up at Aria Spring now. That much I can tell you . . ."
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KKC: Sorry it took so long, folks! Goddamn homework for both academic and Ag classes. Anywho, today's "random rambling" session will be cut short. Tiger of the Fire has been wanting me to torture Kuwabara as an apology for accidentally dissing her, but I just can't figure out where to put it in the story. So, in order to get this over with (I don't particularly like to bash Kuwabara . . . the poor guy needs a break every once in a while from all of the fanfic writers that do hate him.), I'll let Tiger of the Fire do the dirty deed.
TotF (Tiger of the Fire): Dirty? Excuuuuuuuuse me! It's about time Kuwabara- baka got put in his place.
KKC: *shrugs* Whatever. Tiger of the Fire, will you please spin the wheel? *points to a giant 'wheel of fortune' thingamajig. Emblazoned in red paint on the wheel is the title "Wheel of Torture"*
TotF: *grins* Yay! *spins the wheel* Wheel of Torture: *swirls in a dizzying array of colors before finally landing on "Tar and Feathers"*
KKC: Ooh . . . a good one.
TotF: Tar and feather Kuwabaka? *Shrugs and grabs the pot of bubbling tar and a sack full of goose feathers* Sounds a bit primitive, but . . .
Kuwabara: Hey! What are you doing? *Notices TotF advancing towards him with a murderous glint in her eyes and starts running*
KKC: Please excuse them for a moment. *Pulls down a sign that says 'Cannot be shown due to graphic violence' and watches the whole incident with mild intrest*
TotF: Done! Hah! He looks like a chicken . . .and an ugly one at that.
KKC: *nods in agreement* Er . . .yeah, he does. I almost feel sorry for him . . .
TotF: *holds bucket of tar in front of KKC's face threateningly* You aren't a Kuwabara-sympathizer, ARE YOU?
KKC: Nope. But he is. *points to her step-brother, Chris*
Chris: *dazedly* Huh? No, wait! Not me! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! *runs away from TotF, who is trying to pour hot tar over his head*
KKC: That was close . . . *notices Kuwabara tied to a tree, covered in feathers* Poor guy never stood a chance against her . . . See you guys in the next chapter. Oh, and don't forget to review. If I reach fifteen reviews before I put up chapter twelve, I might pick another reviewer to play "Wheel of Torture" *walks off, leaving her brother to deal with TotF*