Ani had spent most of his time sleeping on the boat, and he felt mentally exhausted. So, he decided to go out and explore the island before opening ceremonies began. It was something to wake him up and get his mind off of his brother's coarse behavior. His back hurt and his shoulders were bruised from Otouto's actions—what could he do about it?

When he was finally a good distance away from the hotel, he found a clearing and decided to practice his fighting style. Who in their right mind would come after him out here?

After two hours into his practice, he started working on his flesh craft again. First, he stabbed the tree with all five of his finger pikes, then he swatted it a few times with his paddle hand, and then, he made the claws extend from his knuckles. Finally, he turned his hands into blades in mere seconds and swung twice at the tree before him. If only he could work with some other parts of his body... Maybe, then he could have been useful.

"Not bad," a voice from behind said. Ani turned around to see Mr. Mayakashi watching him. He formed his hands back to normal and looked to the old man. He closed his eyes and sighed softly. "What's wrong, Aniki?"

The fighter shook his head as he opened his eyes again; his gaze slowly sank to the ground. He then barely uttered, "Everyone tells me that, yet I still have yet to prove my worth to this team."

"Says who? If this is about Otouto—!"

"Forget about him!" hissed Ani, which startled Mr. Mayakashi.

"Akuma told Genkai and me that he hurt you. Is this true?"

Ani curled his hand into a fist and closed his eyes tightly as he thought back to what happened on the boat. He then responded, "No. He didn't do anything wrong. Just forget about it."

"Opening ceremonies are beginning in two hours. They're announcing the first fights then. Don't be late, okay?"

"Okay."

"By the way, Akuma's looking for you. Should I tell him where you are?"

"No, I'll just come back to the hotel. It would probably be safer that way." Ani looked to Mr. Mayakashi. "You wouldn't mind escorting me back, would you?"

"Of course not. Just follow me."

The two walked out of the forest together. It was a quiet walk, but it was enjoyable. At least Ani wasn't too angry about what happened on the boat. When they got out of the woods, they saw two strange looking people talking to each other. A tall demon with horns and wavy green hair said, "I heard one of the teams is made of mostly humans."

"Same here," his partner said. "I hope they know what they're doing."

"Who cares! It might be easy pray for you."

"I care! I want a good challenge! If the humans were good enough to get here in the first place, I say they must be a worthy challenge."

"Yeah, but I heard one of them could only make his flesh into random objects."

It was then Ani stopped. He didn't make eye contact as he stated, "You say that as if it's an absolutely useless ability..."

Both of them looked at him and Mr. Mayakashi. Ani had begun to craft his fingers into pikes. The old man grabbed his wrist and sternly commanded, "Don't do it, Aniki. You're here to fight in the ring, not cause trouble outside."

"Aniki?" the green haired demon asked. "As in Aniki Toguro? You're that psychic, aren't you?"

"What of it?" asked Mr. Mayakashi. "He wants to be left alone."

"Mr. Mayakashi, if you haven't noticed, I can fight my own battles! I know when to draw the line!" hissed the psychic, annoyed. The two demons were caught off guard by his outburst. His cat-like eyes turned to the green haired demon. "Now, what problem do you have with my team and especially me?"

"You actually made it to the first round of the tournament?" asked the green haired demon. Mr. Mayakashi took a step back as the demon approached. The demon took Ani's wrist, lifted his arm, and examined him. "You're so small!"

"Is this man part of a team?" asked Ani to the black haired demon. He shook his head to say "No." Ani smirked and uttered, "Good." He turned his hand into a sword and stabbed the demon straight through the stomach. The demon slouched so Ani could now speak directly into his ear. He half whispered, half hissed, "Never underestimate me again! If you survive, that is..." He pulled his hand out of the stranger and licked the blood from his skin.

"Aniki! What in God's name are you doing?!"

"Teaching that scoundrel a lesson!"

"A lesson I will also tell my team," the black haired demon noted aloud. Mr. Mayakashi dragged him back to the room after that. It wouldn't be good if Ani caused anymore trouble before the tournament actually started.

When they got back to the room, Mr. Mayakashi firmly sat Ani down on the bed. Akuma jumped from his chair when he saw that the human was upset. The demon boy looked to Ani and lipped, "What happened?"

Ani just shook his head. Mr. Mayakashi stormed out of the room, slamming the door on his way out. Akuma approached Ani and looked at his hand, which was still had a bit of blood on it. "Did you get hurt?"

"No. Don't worry about it, Akuma." He stood up and went into the bathroom. He turned on the warm water. "So, you talked to the old man while I was out?"

"Yeah! I was worried about what happened on the way here."

"Brother's just being a bit irritable, I suppose. It's because of the attack on the dojo, so I really don't blame him for his actions."

"Ani... that's not exactly healthy. You shouldn't just brush off that kind of behavior like it's not a big deal," Akuma stated as Ani turned off the water. He came out and looked at the demon.

"Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Yes! Ani... He. Hurt. You. I don't know how to make that anymore clear. He was VIOLENT towards you without a justifiable reason."

"So, I was violent towards a demon that was underestimating my team. Really, it's no—ah!" He was startled when Akuma grabbed his bruised shoulders.

"YOU WHAT?!" shrieked Akuma. "Ani, why did you go and attack a stranger? What if he overpowered you?"

"Let go!" Ani used longhand strikes to the demon's wrists to brush away his hands. "He didn't overpower me, and I'm sure he'll recover. Now, drop the subject."

The demon shook his head and tried to bring his focus back to the real subject. The Brothers had been acting short-tempered all day. It had to stop.

"Ani, when we get out of this thing, I'm taking you to the best therapist I can afford and we're going to work through these issues together. You'll never have to fight again." He took the psychic's hand gently. "I'll take care of you, and we can settle down away from people."

Ani's cat-like eyes stared almost blankly at the demon. He hesitantly asked, "I-is that what you really want to do?"

"Yes." The psychic pulled his hand free and turned away. "Ani, why can't you accept it? I care about you."

"No one ever cares. Not even Brother."

"Why do you assume that just because your brother doesn't like you that the rest of the world can't? I'm not Otouto. Besides, you shouldn't be after your own brother. It's a little wrong."

Ani twitched inside. It was true that he loved Otouto, just not in the normal brotherly way. What Ani felt for Otouto was just barely past hero-worship; Otouto was always the one to protect him and take care of him since he could remember. He never actually stopped to think it was strange. Then again, the students at the dojo and Otouto were the extent of his human contact until Genkai, Mr. Mayakashi, and Akuma came into his life. He had all ready lost the students, and he sure as hell didn't want to loose Otouto, too.

But perhaps it is best that I let him go... thought Ani. He stood up and went to the door. "Come with me, Akuma. We should probably meet up with the others before the ceremonies begin."

"Damn you, Ani. I wish you wouldn't change the subject on me all the time. I'm not going to forget about this. Not until you at least get over Otouto."

He's stubborn, noted Ani mentally. That should prove helpful when we begin fighting.

The opening ceremonies were rather dull. The speakers went over regulations and emergency procedures, and it was stressed that death was allowed in the fights. Weapons were perfectly legal, and the team captains decided the rules before every match. The committee had the final say in everything. The thing that caught Ani's attention most in all the boring talk about the way things were run was the fact that only two people on the medical staff could treat humans. That wasn't exactly a reassuring statement.

Once the match-ups were announced, everyone left back to they're rooms. Otouto and Genkai met up with the rest of the team in Mr. Mayakashi's room. Everyone was seated ready to listen to their sponsor.

"You'll be happy to know, that man you attacked will make a full recovery, thanks to his youki," explained Mr. Mayakashi. "That's what I wanted to talk to you guys about."

"What man?" asked Otouto.

"Aniki here got into a fight with a by-stander." Otouto shot his brother a warning glance. "So, I feel it important to remind you all NOT to cause trouble while we're here. The others may say some rude things, but you'll just have to endure. Does everyone understand?"

Everyone gave an answer that was equivalent to "Yes" and fell silent again. Ani kicked himself mentally for giving in to his anger. Oh well. At least the tournament was starting soon, so then he could take his anger out on an opponent who would at least be expecting to be hit.