Disclaimer: Don't own YYH.
Thanks to my reviewers:
ShatteredSoul56- Glad you like it!! :-) Here's the next chapter!
kurama and hieis girlfriend- Glad you like it!! For some reason I can't find your fic :-( Next time leave a signed review so I can click on the link, okay? Looking forward to reading the next chapters!!
((If I never said this before, I'm saying it now. This fic IS NOT yaoi. Hiei and Kurama are JUST best friends.
Please review and tell me what you think!!))
Kurama slowly opened his eyes. He saw a pair of familiar ruby red eyes staring into his own. "Hello, Hiei," he whispered as he pulled his mouth into a grin. "Long time, no see." The corners of Hiei's mouth twitched as he gave a quick smile. Then his face became solemn. Kurama sighed and looked away. "There's no keeping it from you. Your senses are correct, as usual. I'm dying."
The wolf leapt at Kuwabara again. It was now blind, but it could still smell the teen's fear. Kuwabara jumped up, but not in time to avoid the wolf's powerful jaws. They closed around his left arm. Kuwabara yelped in pain and franticly tried to shake the wild dog off.
The eagle swooped down for another assault, just as Kuwabara swung his arm around in an attempt to hit the wolf. Instead, he hit the bird, and it dropped to the ring. Then Kuwabara formed his Spirit Sword and slashed at the beast still clinging to his arm. The wolf yelped in pain and let go, falling to the ground. Kuwabara looked at the two animals, and sure enough, they were both dead.
"You hurt my pets," Lola snarled. "You will pay dearly for that. Ssca ma hesha. Ssa he she meth," she said, switching over to the dialect of snakes. Her black and red speckled snake hissed viciously and began to slither toward Kuwabara.
"In my snake's fangs is a deadly poison with no antidote. One prick and you're as good as dead," Lola said. Kuwabara began to back away. "And as for me..." Lola began. "Like I said earlier, I can do more than simply control beasts."
Her eyes flashed and began to glow. Her ears moved up on her head and rounded. Her face distorted. Her arms and legs began to shrink. She dropped to all fours. Then black fur sprouted all over her body. She grew a tail. Her fingers and toes shrank and rounded into paws. Her teeth grew and sharpened.
Finally her transformation was complete. In the place of the black haired woman, there now stood a midnight black panther with glowing red eyes. It roared and began to creep toward Kuwabara, powerful muscles rippling.
"Uh, ni-nice kitty," Kuwabara stuttered, moving backward. Then he heard a snake hiss, and realized that the snake was still after him. Soon Kuwabara reached the end of the ring. He couldn't back up any farther or else he'd fall off and, in doing so, lose the match.
The panther roared and leapt at the terrified fighter, and the snake did the same from the opposite direction. Kuwabara was able to dodge Lola in her panther form, but the snake was another story. It bit his right ankle. Kuwabara cried out in pain. Immediately he could feel the poison's effects.
"KUWABARA!" Yusuke yelled.
The snake, having done its job, vanished, leaving only the panther for Kuwabara to deal with. Slowly she circled Kuwabara, stalking him, waiting for the poison to sink in, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Kuwabara began getting dizzy. He felt a numb pain shooting up his leg. His head was clouded. His vision blurred. He couldn't focus. Feebly he extended his Spirit Sword and waved it around, unsure of where the next attack would come from.
Suddenly Lola leapt. "NOW!" Yusuke yelled. Kuwabara put everything he had behind that blow. And he succeeded in thrusting his sword right through Lola's stomach. The panther's face distorted in pain. It turned back into the woman fighter, who dropped to the ground, clutching her abdomen.
"After an amazing fight, Lola is down, and she doesn't seem to be making any effort to stand. Kuwabara wins!" Koto announced.
The poison finally took its hold, and Kuwabara slumped to the ring floor, unconscious.
Hiei closed his eyes and bowed his head. "It's my fault. I was too weak to take care of myself." "The fault is not yours. The only one I have to blame is myself. I could have easily won the fight. But I didn't." "Because of me! You should have just ended his miserable life, Kurama!" "But then you would have been killed as well. As you so nicely put it, I'm "too kind-hearted to let a friend die," remember?"
Hiei took in a sharp breath. This was too much. Now Kurama, who was literally on his deathbed, was quoting him! Words he said in the heat of anger and pain. Words that were never meant to be said.
Kurama could tell he was upset. He put a comforting hand on the fire demon's arm. Hiei jerked away. "Stop it Kurama! Just stop! You've let the humans toy with your mind!! In this world there can be no friendship!! There is no loyalty!! It's just not possible! You want to know why?!? Because then this world would be drowned in waste! It would be another Ningenkai, where nothing makes sense! Where nothing matters but companionship! We don't need that here! It's not a necessary part of life and everyone would be better off without it!! Ryton was right! You are just another human brat who would foolishly give his own life for the sake of another!!!!"
Kurama lowered his eyes. Hiei then realized what he had just said. He blinked and fell into a stunned silence. "I-I'm sorry," he murmured after a moment. "I-I didn't mean..." He was interrupted by a soft voice. "It's all right." Kurama again placed a hand on his arm, and this time he didn't pull away. "I know you're upset, Hiei. But you have to understand why I did what I did." Hiei closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I do."
Kurama's grip on his friend's arm tightened. "I'm sorry. My time is growing short." Hiei's eyes opened wide. He snapped his head around to face his friend. "No..." "Thank you for understanding. And thank you for waking me so that I can say goodbye." Kurama let his hand fall by his side. "No!"
Yusuke ran over to Kuwabara. "Come on, you can't die on me now," he muttered. "Urameshi," Lola gasped, "Your teammate has won. As his prize, I'll give you the antidote." Yusuke whirled around. "Antidote? You said there wasn't any antidote."
"I lied," Lola confessed. "The antidote is my blood. A few drops on the bite will do." The Detective narrowed his eyes. "How do I know you're not lying again?"
"She wouldn't lie, not about such serious a matter." Yusuke turned and saw a young woman with shoulder-length, dark blue hair and ocean blue eyes standing next to him. Reti Avorai, the team leader.
"Even if she had won, and he was still breathing, she would have given him the antidote. We are not evil. We're just trying to make our way in this Tournament, same as you," Reti said.
Yusuke knew there wasn't much time to consider. He knew it couldn't get any worse than this, and for some strange reason, he had to believe Reti. So he nodded.
"Bring him here," Lola said. Yusuke dragged him over the the Master of Beasts, still lying wounded on the ring floor. Lola drew her hand to her mouth again and cut a deep gash with her fang. Then she extended her palm over the unconscious fighter's right leg, where the snake bite oozed, and let a few drops of blood fall on it.
Instantly, the wound began to heal. Within seconds, it was completely gone, and Kuwabara's breathing returned to normal. "He'll be unconscious for a while, but he'll live," Lola said. Then she, too, fell unconscious.
Reti grinned. "I guess it's up to me, now," she said as she picked her teammate up and set her down on the sidelines with the rest of her wounded team. Yusuke did the same with Kuwabara. Then the two team captains met in the center of the ring.
"Good luck, Urameshi. And no hard feelings when I win," Reti said. Yusuke grinned. He knew this was going to be fun. "I was just about to say the same thing, except I think you'll be needing the luck more than I will." Reti smiled. "We'll see when the time comes. But for now, let's have some fun." Yusuke nodded.
"Match five and for the win, Team Urameshi's Yusuke Urameshi, versus Team Avorai's Reti Avorai! Begin!" Koto yelled.