Blinded by Flames

--Chapter Four: Life Spent in a Room I—

"You can't leave until after the tournament is over!" The demon behind the desk choked.

"And why is that?"

"Because of the shield," the answer came in short, suffocating breaths, "it won't let you through if your spirit energy is high enough to compete in the tournament," he gasped.

"Great," Rahn growled, "leave it to The Ten to come up with something that stupid to take place of the elimination rounds. What kind of person wants to keep people in and not out?"

Thoroughly disgusted, the blind ex-guide let loose her stranglehold on the poor demon and stood tapping her foot in thought. Her clouded eyes rolled around, unaware of where would be the most humane place to put them.

"Actually, it's really very clever if you think about it. This way, no one can turn chicken and run out on them in the middle of the tournament," the desk clerk said, rubbing his sore neck.

"What did you say?"

"N-nothing!" the demon cowered, "ab-absolutely nothing!"

"I thought so,"

Rahn sighed and walked out of the line a few steps, opening up space for the gruesome ogre behind her. She muttered incoherently for a few moments before snapping at the disgruntled clerk, "Well, move on! There's a line there you know!" and delivered a quick kick to the shins.

The clerk yelped before complying hastily and motioned for the ogre to step through his mini-barrier. Like all others before him, he succeeded in marching through, as he should, but when requested to step back the other way…

He failed. Miserably so. Not only did he walk right on through, but there was even the illusion that the barrier shoved him forward.

He ran into his team members and in a perfect demonstration of the domino effect and all its' glory the line came tumbling down. Toward the middle of the line, there finally came someone with enough sense to jump aside, but they then landed on the team behind them, hence, starting the entire collapse all over again.

Rahn listened with amusement at the groans and pains of the tournament competitors as they struggled to their feet.

With a smirk she asked, "How long will the tournament last?"

"Today, the teams will fight until there are eight teams left. Tomorrow the remaining eight teams compete in one round each. The following day is the semi-finals and three days following are the finals."

Rahn glared. "I believe I asked for a specific amount of time. Do you really expect for me to add all that up?"

"S-se-seven days,"

"Same rules as last year?" She inquired.

The demon nodded, "Have you competed before?"

Rahn contemplated answering the question before declining the right to answer. Seven days… that's too long. I can't stake out here and wait for the shield to go down for seven days. How long is it until I…? Three days. It happens in three days.

"Rahn," Hiei snapped her out of her reverie.

"Hello boys, having a good time?"

"Actually," Yusuke replied, "we were having a crappy time until you turned up,"

"Oh? And why is that? Do you need me to navigate you through the mansion too?"

"Funny. Very funny. But no. We're short one fighter in the tournament and it doesn't look like we're going to be able to reach the Ten without competing."

"Is that so?" She raised a brow, mocking surprise.

"Koenma is sending us someone as we speak, but it will take them at least a day to show up." Kurama informed her.

"And this would interest me… why?" She asked, knowing full well the answer.

"Rahn… stop playing around. Will you enter with us, or what? You can't get out of here anyway."

"Hmm… good point. But I have some business to attend to."

"Meaning…?"

"Meaning you shouldn't expect me to show up the day of the semi-finals."

"The day of the semi-finals? You want to ditch us the day of the semi-finals? Plan on telling us why?" Yusuke was ecstatic.

"If you shut your mouth I'll consider it," Rahn snapped, then, at the receptionist, "I'll be trying out as Team Urameshi's fifth fighter,"

"I'm sorry, you'll have to go to the end of the li—"

"I'll have to what?" She asked casually.

"You'll have to go right ahead," The demon hurried, learning quickly.

Rahn nodded and walked briskly through the barrier and turned heel to walk back into an invisible wall. She was repelled backward but stopped herself from slamming into Kuwabara with the talent of a person very familiar with being thrown against their will.

"Name," the demon receptionist seemed more at-home with Rahn's new routine.

"Jas Elle Ignalishu," the name was spoken monotonously and without emotion. Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara raised their eyebrows at the name but the clerk merely wrote the name down beneath the title for Team Urameshi. He then tore off a small slip of paper and handed it to Kurama.

"Team Urameshi will be competing in the third round against Team Namu. Your campsite is number 6," he passed to them a yellow form with "6" in bold at the top, "the site is located at the corner of the north and eastern walls," he pointed to a tent behind a large oak tree. "A member from the House will drop by half an hour before your scheduled fighting time. So be sure to meet her or you'll miss your fight." He waved them off, silently praising that he was now rid of the temper-ready Rahn.

"Hey Urameshi,"

"Yeah Kuwabara?"

"Why is it that you're always the team captain, huh? Can't we have the team named after one of us for a change?"

"No,"

"Why?"

"Because that's dumb, I'm the Spirit Detective,"

"You know what Yusuke? Kuwabara's right." Rahn smiled, and swerved back around to the desk.

She tapped the demon clerk on the shoulder. When he looked behind him to see a grinning Rahn, the demon's eyes grew wide and he literally leaped from his chair, pulling hair out from his roots.

"I give up! Give up! Up! Up! Up! It's over with! Nothing is worth this torture!" He screamed and ran helter-skelter from the desk and rounded the corner, shrieking all the while that he quit.

Rahn only shrugged and waited patiently for someone to send out a second clerk.

"I can't believe you actually went and…"

"What in our history together makes you think that I wouldn't?" Rahn laughed at the high school punk.

"I'm the leader, it's my team!"

"Not without me it isn't," She smiled cockily and Yusuke was reminded for an instant of the incident with the "elves". He watched solemnly as Rahn waved the new sheet of paper with "Team Ignalishu" printed in bold letters across the top. Yusuke glared at the offending paper and slid down beneath the tree that sat in the middle of their pre-positioned campsite.

"Why'd you lie about your name, anyway? Or is Jas your real name and 'Rahn' just something you made up?"

"Nope, Rahn is my real name."

"Then what was that bologna back there? 'Jas Elle Ignalishu'?"

"I'm not stupid enough to give them my real name,"

"Are you implying that we're stupid?"

"I'm going to assume that was a rhetorical question," Rahn flopped down on a tree branch and closed her eyes.

She would need rest as she neared the day. For some reason she always felt a mix of emotions approaching that time. The one half of her that was to be set "free" became wild and more restless than usual, giddy-like and it was hard for her to control herself. She found herself speaking aloud often. Her other more natural half told her that it was a time to be dreaded and became tense. Either way, the day was approaching and she would have to be careful around the others. At least Rekkone made for an interesting conversation.

"Who's Rekkone?"

Rahn cursed. Hadn't she just reminded her that she talked to herself? And here she was…

"She's… just…"

When Rahn seemed to be unable to provide an answer, Hiei shoved it aside to ask instead why she must be careful.

This answer seemed to escape her just as much as the previous one had, but she managed to stutter out a couple words.

"I'm… a little more… anxious. A little… I'm… less of myself and more of… more of… more of someone who is less of me..."

"…?"

"…"

"…?"

"…yeah."

"…sure."

Her steps were brisk and in perfect rhythm. 1… 2… right… left… 1… left… right… 2… on and on and on, a march in complete synchronization with itself.

"Team Ignalishu?" she barked, her diminutive stature as in most cases, a false indicator of her true nature.

Yusuke looked up to see a very young, very short mouse-like demon. She was wearing a military-type uniform, and apparently worked for the Ten Household. "Yeah, we're here,"

She looked down (or rather, up) her nose at Yusuke, "you're the team captain, I presume?"

"You'd think so wouldn't you," Yusuke mumbled.

"Hush! I have no time for inner-team arguments. Where is your captain?"

"Up there," he lifted his eyes to the tree where Rahn lay, dozing off on a branch, her head slowly nodding in an invisible conversation.

"YOU!" Rahn stumbled awake, nearly losing her balance on her limb. She "looked" lazily down to the being that dared disturb her slumber, the humanoid mouse demon.

"What do you want?" She growled in much the same tone the demon had used to speak to Yusuke.

"I am Cat, here to inform you that in thirty minutes' time your team will be competing against Team Namu in the ring. Team Namu's captain, Makare, has requested a one-on-one fighting campaign until a team reaches four wins. That team will be announced the winner. Both teams can play the same fighter as many times as they like. Do you agree?" These words were shot out at a machine gun pace. Cat raised a brow, awaiting the answer.

"Tell this Makare that I will not agree under such conditions. I want the winning to team to have three wins. The quicker the better. I also do not want any player to fight more than once."

Cat glared. "Now listen here, Captain! If you want to change the rules that means I've got to go back to Team Namu and make sure they agree to it. So just accept the challenge and be done with it!"

This didn't go over too well with Rahn. No one told Rahn what to do.

"You go back there," her words came through clenched teeth, "and tell Makare that we're fighting in three. I don't care if you want to do it or not, you're going to."

Cat didn't budge.

"NOW!" A wind swept toward Cat and threatened to knock her off her feet before she scurried away to the Namu campsite to continue negotiations between the two captains. I hate these stubborn captain types. It'll take them all day to agree on something!

Indeed, it threatened to last all day. Word of the conflict between the two captains spread across the grounds like a virus, every five minutes or so someone would run into their camp with the latest news.

"Makare just threw a fireball at Cat, she said that if Jas didn't agree to her conditions she'd come over and do the same to Jas. 'Screw the rulebook' she says."

"Well, I doubt she'll do it, Makare has really wanted to get her team in a competition ever since they lost in the Toriyama Tournament this spring. She won't throw it all away just because some stubborn newbie captain won't cooperate."

It was at this point that Cat scurried past, her mouse-tail and ears singed, confirming the most recent statement of the Ignalishu-Namu affairs. Other messengers for the Ten House laughed as she went by. There was always one team negotiation that didn't go very well at the tournaments, but this year it was really beginning to heat up, the messengers always pitied the one caught up in the team altercations.

"It's okay Cat! It had to happen to somebody!" they jeered.

"Shut up would you?"

Approaching Ignalishu Camp, Cat saw Yusuke glowering at Rahn. "Why can't you just accept her conditions?"

"Yes, why can't you?" Cat panted.

"She's the one who making this so hard on you guys. I can't give up now. I'll look like a fool."

"Well too bad!" Yusuke raged, "This is taking forever! It's just plain stupid!"

Rahn smirked. "Tell you what Yusuke, I've got an idea that should end this fairly quickly," then, turning to Cat she tossed her a coin, "give this to Makare. Tell her I'll challenge her in a game of fate."

Cat looked down at the coin in her paw, back to Rahn, and down at the coin again. She rolled her eyes and sighed before setting off in a trot to Namu Camp.

Yusuke was giving a similar reaction, fate? He echoed to himself, entirely nonplussed by it all. "Why…?"

"I happen to know Makare Ishtal, though I doubt she remembers me. She'll take it, she's a firm believer in fate, coming from Erufu no Shima herself."

"Erufu no—?"

"Shima. Trust me, and don't ask."

It seemed Rahn did know Makare, as the once stern now worn Cat announced, "Makare agreed. The coin was tossed pant and you win. We go to three wins,"

Rahn smirked and hopped down from her branch. "Well, I do believe it's time. Let's head out the ring. Show us the way our dear Cat,"

Cat gave a tired glare at Rahn (or Jas, as she believed that she was called) I can't believe all it took for them to settle that was a coin toss! That was the most ridiculous thing I think I've ever done in my entire life. But she led them to the ring nonetheless…

The stadium roared as Team Ignalishu entered through the gates and the announcer for the tournament called out: "At last! We have our two teams! If the first fighters for each team would please step forward, we can get this thing underway."

"Where is that voice coming from?" Kuwabara looked wildly around the stadium, "it sounds like it's coming from the center of the ring, but I don't see anything."

"How would I know?" Hiei scowled, "I haven't been here any longer than you have."

"It's Sir Charles," Rahn yawned, "he's former champion himself. You can't see him because he's a fly."

"A fly?" eyebrows were raised.

"Yes Yusuke, a fly."

"You know what Rahn, you seem to know an awful lot about this place,"

"I should, I lived here."

"You what?!"

Rahn froze.

"I lived near here. You think I don't know my own neighbors? These people only live in the middle of my forest. I keep a close watch."

"Uh huh," Yusuke eyed Rahn carefully.

"I suggest you stop that if you don't want me blowing your brains out," she growled. And then, as if an after-thought, "and don't think I won't."

"Okay, we have Taiki for Team Namu," Sir Charles announced after receiving the information from Makare, "who do we have for Ignalishu?"

"Well…"

"Well what?" Yusuke snapped back at Rahn.

"Who's going?"

"You decide. You're the one who wanted to be team captain."

"Fine, Kuwabara, go."

"WHAT?! Kuwabara can't—"

"I'm captain and I decide," She smirked, "you said so yourself."

"For Team Ignalishu," Yusuke flinched at the team name, "Kuwabara; For Team Namu, Taiki. Please step forward and let the fighting begin!"