(To Starling) I write quizzes now?

Starling: News to me.

Sillylittlenothing: Sorry, couldn't resist poking a bit of fun. Gods only know I have to find fun where I can now that working in a department store consumes large chunks of my life. I've come across an excellent series of YYH fanfictions on private website; as soon as I have my computer back--working on a laptop right now--I'll put it up here if I can. As for Kurama and Hiei's relationship, it's easy when you're pretty non-hormonal yourself to focus on the affection and little things rather than the drooling. Though Kurama's still one of my top three glompable bishies.

Nura: Wow, two new reviewers in a row! I feel loved! And thanks, it's kinda hard to get Hiei to show any kind of affection towards someone besides 'the snowflake' and 'the fox'.

Kitsune Kit: Woot indeed. n,.,n

Chapter 13

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The remaining members of Team Toya--Akaimizu the fish-demon, Michiru the disturbingly-pretty spider demoness, Goku the fox, and Buru the dog demon--eye their opponents with wary anticipation as they stand on the ring floor.

"I thought teams couldn't compete in the Final Round unless they had at least five members." Yusuke shrugs in answer to Kohaku's uncertain statement while staring Akaimizu down, his usually warm chocolate eyes cold and angry. He had not enjoyed the sight of the fish-demon rending his last opponent limb from limb.

"That was the last ruling I heard," Aislin confirms, glaring daggers at Michiru for some reason beyond the wolf's understanding. "It's also a rule that's been in the books for as long as the Tournament has been run. If they change it now they are going to have a problem. I can think of over two dozen demons from past Tournaments who would have won had that particular rule not been in existence. And nearly all of them are in the audience."

They turn their attention to Koto and Juri whispering over in the announcer's booth, a piece of paper between them and frowns marring both pretty faces. Eventually Koto straightens up with an even bigger frown and picks up a microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, it disturbs me to announce that after centuries of long-standing, a rule is being absolved. And not just any rule. While part of me rejoices at the thought of more bloodshed, the rest of me cries out at the violation of these important laws. Ladies and gentlemen, the match between Team Toya and Team Urameshi will be held despite the lack of the critical fifth member for the fully-demonic team."

It's as if a storm made entirely of discontented howls comes to roost in the stadium, a large portion of it from the very unhappy wolf demons taking up a fifth of the stadium seats. Even non-fans are extremely angered by the announcement, including those previous Tournament Teams Aislin had mentioned.

"This ain't gonna be pretty," Kuwabara mutters, moving closer to Kohaku with the misguided thought of protecting her if things turn even uglier.

"People, people!" Koto shouts into her microphone, "This is not my idea, and at the risk of my job, I disagree with the ruling just as much as you! Please calm down and we can get this over with!"

"Gee, I feel loved." Yusuke shifts his weight to his other foot, hands jammed deep into his jeans pockets. "Either way, that scale-face is going down. I don't have your nose, little candy-wolf, but that guy stinks of bad karma."

"Sugar wolf," the girl corrects absently, rubbing the back of her neck. "So I guess we're really going through with this."

Her group makes varying sounds of unwilling agreement, none of them happy that they will be fighting yet again. Koto, every inch the reluctant announcer, takes her place at the center of the ring. "Will the first fighters please step forward?" Hiei, always ready to remove another fool from the world, takes a step forward only to have a tanned hand block his path. He looks into the face of Kohaku, to find her utterly serious and without her signature earbuds and disc player.

"No, Hiei. Let me. For some reason I'm just itching to fight this guy." 'This guy' is Buru, stocky with an unruly thatch of metallic gold flopping into golden eyes. The wolf-girl's eyes are bronzed over already, tail out and curled upward in dominance.

"Come on, puppy," Buru calls, voice mocking. "Come and try my strength. I'll send you yapping back to your mother."

Resigned, Hiei watches as Kohaku leaps into the ring and starts circling with the sun-hued male, hackles raised on both necks. The other wolves are howling cheers at her, fists pumping into the air to the uncanny rhythmic ululation of their voices. It almost sounds like music. Music? The garnet-eyed male brings all of his attention to focus on the two combatants, and finds that Kohaku is swaying slightly to the cheers, seemingly unaware that she's doing so. He still hasn't heard Koto or Juri officially start the match. Right now, he doubts they need to.

"Such a cute little puppy," Buru croons with venom, both of them shifting downward into their canine forms until there is a golden retriever-type dog and a chocolate-brindle wolf stalking around and around in the limited confines of the ring. "It's going to be so much fun to teach you how you should act. Strutting around like some pack-leader? A lesson in humility is needed."

"Humility?" Kohaku snorts, lips peeling back to show her ivory fangs. "In my world, there's no such thing."

"How about I show you a new world?" Snarling, Buru slams into Kohaku and sends the both of them tumbling end-over-end across the stone floor, snapping and clawing at each other in a blur of rage. The part of Hiei's mind and soul that hold the guardianship bond stirs and floods him with the need to stop the fight, to step in and beat the arrogant dog demon to a bloody pulp for daring to lay a tooth on his ward. Yusuke looks over in time to see Hiei bite through his lower lip as he exerts his considerable will to keep himself in one place, huddled in on himself with his hands locked on his elbows.

A yelp of pain yanks the boy's attention back to the ring, where Kohaku is shaking off a hard blow to the head with her feet spread wide. Her head comes up in time to see Buru bull-rushing her. A wicked grin replaces the snarl as she compacts herself into as small a shape as possible before throwing herself forward. Buru yips in dismay as she impacts with his speeding legs, sending him sprawling across the ring and right off the edge onto the grass.

Heartbeats later he's back in the ring, panting and furious that this so-called puppy has managed to best him even this much. He throws himself once again into the fray, and again the two become nothing more but colored blurs writhing in melee combat.

"This is Kohaku's test, ryu-kun," Kurama whispers to his soul-sibling, and the spiky-haired male realizes that his hand has been stroking the hilt of his katana for the past several seconds. "We must give her the chance to prove herself." Kohaku's defiant howl draws them back to the sight of Buru stumbling back with a bloody ruin for an eye.

"Damn, you shouldn't be this strong!" Buru shakes his head to clear the blood away enough for him to see from his remaining eye, a faint quiver of tension making his long fur shimmer under the floodlights. "Who are you??"

"I am the daughter of Mei Blade-arm and Benjamin Blood Moon, niece to the Thief-king and a fighter in my own right. I am a member of Team Urameshi, ward to Hiei Jaganshi, and a practitioner of rhythmic martial arts. Above all else, I am a force to be reckoned with." With every word, Kohaku's reiki had pulsed higher until she stands in a huge bubble of purple and green streamers, eyes no longer bronze but luminescent purple. Another defiant howl sends that energy soaring upwards into a ghostly canid shape that sweeps straight for the frozen Buru.

A brilliant flash explodes outwards upon impact, blinding everyone for a few brief moments. Blinking away the spots from their eyes, the entire audience is shocked at the sight before them. Unaffected by her own energy, Kohaku has taken the opening and now stands at the edge of the ring, hackles and bared fangs daring Buru to retake the ring. The dog demon lies sprawled on the grass, unconscious and bleeding from several new slashes. After a few seconds with her ears cocked towards Koto, the wolf demon glances over and barks once.

"O-oh! Oh, right! One! Two! Three!" And so on through the ten-count, winning Kohaku her match. Tail and ears up, fur fluffed on end, Kohaku limps happily off the stage and over to Hiei, tongue lolling with excitement. Hiei kneels down as she approaches, not even hearing the wild cheers behind him as the ookami clans burst into exuberant celebration. Kohaku's grin just gets wider when Hiei's hand comes to rest between her ears, a proud smile lighting his face--the sun breaking through clouds.

"Good job, Kohaku. I think you've earned your freedom." Somewhere inside the both of them, the ward-link stretches and then dissolves away, leaving mutual respect and pride behind.

"And a visit to the healers," Aislin breaks in with a concerned frown. "Kohaku, you might not have noticed, but Buru managed to slice you up in a few places. Can you even use that foot?" Startled, the two celebrants look down to find Kohaku's left front paw is almost mangled, bone showing through in places.

"Damn, I didn't even feel that," Kohaku says in awe. "I don't even feel it now...uh, that's a bad thing, isn't it?"

"Baka ookami," Hiei tells her in exasperation, scooping her up and carrying her to her family to be patched up. He wants to stay until they've finished putting her back together, but he's drawn back down when Kurama takes the ring with Goku. Old habits, especially ones a few centuries in the making, die hard.

--

"So the two handsome foxes get to lead the next merry dance, eh?" Goku beams at Kurama, fire-orange ears perked forward in interest over equally-bright hair. "Oh, this'll be a real kick! I've always wanted to try myself against the legendary Yoko! If I'm still alive after the battle, can I have your autograph??"

The others look like they've bitten into lemons. Sweet lemons. A fanboy will be Kurama's last opponent in the most deadly competition of the three worlds?? Aislin just sighs and rests her forehead on a hand, shaking her head slowly as if in utter disappointment. Kurama doesn't even bat an eye, rather, he looks disgusted. "You need to hone your performance skills, Goku-san. Your acting is terrible."

The red fox beams at the ningen-fox with pleasure, "You knew I was faking! How nice! Most people think I'm serious."

Kurama is not impressed. "Anyone with half a mind should be able to see through such a shoddy performance. No offense, Yusuke, Kuwabara." The two human boys glare at their friend--of all people, he's usually the one that tries to avoid insulting their intelligence.

"Guess that says quite a bit about the people I meet, doesn't it?" Goku looks over at Koto and winks in outrageous flirtation. "Hey, pretty vixen, want to get our match started so I can go out on a date with you sooner?"

"Sorry, I've already got a boyfriend," Koto tells him scornfully. "Fighters, get ready! Get set! Go!"

In an instant the Rose Whip is out and licking a deadly path towards the place Goku had been standing a millisecond before. A plant with broad leaves wraps itself around Kurama's arm in time to ward off a blow from Goku and his sword-fern.

Hiei startles at a calm voice speaking up beside him. "Kurama's a ranged specialist while Goku seems to prefer melee. Who's got the better odds?" He glances over to find Kohaku with the back of her newly-healed hand to her mouth, licking at the tender flesh in subconscious reflex.

"It all depends," Hiei replies, voice steady. He refuses to betray how much Kurama fighting as a human still makes him nervous. "Depends on whether or not Goku is as good as his act is bad. If he's even half as good, Kurama might have to actually fight."

"What?" Kohaku stares at her now-ex-guardian. "You mean Kurama's not even trying??"

A snort. "I believe the phrase you use is, 'duh'? It's Kurama, hands down."

Up on the stage, the sharp-eared foxes catch every word as they 'dance' their way around the ring in a pattern as intricate as Kohaku's fastest routine. Goku smirks, bringing his sword-fern down in a vicious chop. "Your friends are pretty cocky, hanyou. Oh, wait, you're not really a half-blood, are you? You're a freak."

"You will have to come up with something more creative in order to upset me," his opponent informs him, blocking the sword with his leaf-shield and lashing at the fleet-footed red with his whip. "Aislin called me so much worse before I won her over."

"That," Hiei speaks from experience, "would be an understatement."

"Oh, piss off, porcupine head."

"Stop calling me that, you damned snowflake!"

"People!" The two elementals stare at the wolf with expressions of annoyance. "Your soul-mate is fighting for his life over there. Pay attention!"

"No need, Kohaku," Kurama tells her evenly as his Rose Whip wraps itself around Goku's throat and digs its thorns in. "I do believe this match is mine. Yield, and I'll consider sparing your life." A rude gesture is the captive fox's response and Kurama sighs. "So be it." Kohaku makes a face at Goku's head rolling across the ring floor.

"Eww, messy."

"Yes, but effective," Kurama tells her as he joins their small group. The whip has already been returned to rose form and tucked into his long mane. "And I did give him a chance to keep his life."

The wolf shrugs. "Hey, one less stupid person to taint the gene-pool. Like I give a damn. Who's up next?"

"Me," Aislin snaps as Michiru takes the ring, overriding Hiei's complaint that this is his turn and springing into place. Her ice blades already gleam in her hands, the koorime not even bothering to use her usual gestures to create them. "I have a score to settle."

"Okay, Aislin has taken the ring in Hiei's place!" Koto declares into her microphone, green-blue eyes wide with anticipation. "This switch will last for the rest of the round and is not reversible! Aislin versus Michiru! Begin!"

Ripping loose with a blood-chilling warcry Aislin leaps forward, bringing her katanas down in a vicious downward sweep designed to take an enemy's head in a second. She's blocked with a thick rope of spider-silk strung between the spider youkai's two 'hands' glowing sickly green. Aislin drops her blades as they steam at the contact and melt away, bringing out a glittering set of shuriken arranged between her fingers.

Those are sent on a whistling course straight at a smirking Michiru and are caught in another rope of web. "Silly little pale-flesh. You should remember that those don't work on me."

/What are you doing, snowflake??/

/She killed people under my protection, porcupine head. Those farmers that I got arrested for that once. Shredded their bodies and ruined their land, turned it into a cesspit that stunk up our territory for years. I'm not going to let her get away with it./ The fire apparition winces as her mental walls come slamming down almost on top of him, not because Michiru screams in fear. The handicaps that the Committee had placed on Aislin are clinking to the ring floor, the usually-invisible scarves of restraint crystallizing into visibility thanks to Aislin's cold rage.

The entire audience stares as Aislin decides overkill is the better part of vengeance and lets her power roar outwards, kicking up huge clouds of platinum dust that whirl possessively around the ice demon who is tapping into a part of her bloodline rarely seen. When the dust settles, a massive dragon of ice stands over the stunned Michiru, grinning jaw showing rows of serrated, translucent fangs. Aislin is nowhere to be seen.

"Hiei, did you know she could do that?" Kohaku peeps, eyes wide but standing her ground despite the incredible cold radiating off the shimmering scales.

"No." Michiru screams and tries to run away, cowardice being the better part of valor as well as the wiser, only to be slammed down before she gets more than a few steps away.

"I wasn't so strong then, little black widow," the dragon hisses in Aislin's voice, head lowered to the terrified youkai's level so that the female can stare into the sapphire Jagan blazing on the dragon's forehead. "But this time is different. Say goodbye to your soul!"

Michiru's face goes slack, and the dragon throws her body to Akaimizu with a contemptuous snort. "What did you do?" the fish-demon demands.

More dust appears and engulfs Aislin, fading away to reveal her once more in her human form. "I sent her soul to one of the nastier parts of the Void. It's something I learned to do in the last few years, and I decided she should be it's first, oh-so-deserving victim. It's no worse than what she did to people under my protection." Koto is too busy doing the ten-count to comment, though her excitement has been replaced by a little fear.

"Dude, lemme just say again that a mad Aislin is a scary Aislin," Kuwabara mutters to Yusuke, who fervently nods in agreement.

"Remind me not to get on her really bad side," is the other boy's rejoinder before he moves into place in the ring as Aislin exits it, looking extremely satisfied--if a little tired. "Nice job, Aislin-san. And your dragon form kicks ass."

"Hn. Thanks, kid. Don't let it be waste."

"Gotcha." It is an Akaimizu trembling with rage that takes his place before Yusuke with fists clenched at his sides.

"Your team-mate would have done better to kill her."

"Speaking from experience, bodies without souls don't last long, so I'd say just give it time," the Spirit Detective replies calmly, settling into his beginning stance. "Ready when you are, Koto."

Koto, pleased that someone is finally treating her as a person and not just a part of the scenery or something to flirt with, nods and raises her microphone to her lips. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the match you've been waiting for! Akaimizu from Team Toya and Yusuke from Team Urameshi! Begin!"

"You've got no hope of winning," Yusuke says in a quiet voice while watching the fish-demon circle around him in a predatory fashion. "You're the only one left, and even if by some miracle you do beat me, you've still got Kuwabara to deal with. He'll wear you out while you beat on him, and then move in for the kill. And I'm sure Hiei's itching to fight someone now that Aislin switched him out."

Block, block, counter-strike that hits home and sends Akaimizu skidding across the ring. Long talons suddenly sprout from the tips of the youkai's fingers, dripping with venom that eats holes in the stone of the floor. Yusuke's team watches as he sways away from the renewed attacks, neatly avoiding the splattering acid-venom and the razor claws excreting it.

Dodge, dodge, block, cross-arm strike with the human's tanned hand locked on Akaimizu's wrist, preventing the clawed hand from completing his side of the attack. Yusuke throws the demon across the stadium with frightening ease, just standing there as Akaimizu staggers to his feet, a look of disappointment in his honey-brown eyes.

"How did you even get so far in the Tournament, Akaimizu? You're nothing compared to the weakest of Toguro's Team. Every one of my people has beaten yours without breaking a sweat." The demon roars in anger and sprints for the ring, claws out and ready to slash. Yusuke slowly levers his fist up, index finger and thumb out to shape his hand into a gun. His eyes are calm, face otherwise expressionless. Akaimizu just keeps coming, no longer thinking in his rage. "Bye, stupid. Do some good in your next life." Koto holds her breath in anticipation. "Spirit Gun!!"

An enormous bullet of reiki bursts from his fingertip, speeding with deadly accuracy right through the berserking fish demon. His heartless body stumbles and sprawls in midstep, making Yusuke the winner of the match. Team Urameshi has won the Dark Tournament. Again.

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Come on, people, do you really think I'm going to let it be that easy?