Kouken Gurentai

by Noelani

This story is about a girl who has been named the new Spirit Detective. Like Yusuke she loves a good fight & she has demon heritage, but can she control it long enough to conquer it? With the help of 2 street kids & fellow youkai, we'll just have to see.

10. Part 10

Part 10

I awoke early the next morning and saw the Spirit Beasts still snoozing away. I sat up quietly and laid them down on the couch. I watched as they all curled up together and then I looked over at Hiei. He was sleeping, but I figured he hadn't been for long. I smiled as I left the room and walked down the hall. I left the hotel and continued until I arrived outside of the arena. I looked around, making sure no one was around, and then I jumped up and onto the roof. I walked until the bleacher covers ended and jumped down, landing on the arena floor. I sighed as I saw the imprint of where my body had been smashed down underneath Okado's massive weight.

"It's pretty bad, isn't it?"

I turned and saw Shanie, the referee, standing there. I nodded, "Yeah, I guess so. I still can't believe I fell for such a pitiful counter. I guess my peers are right, I am getting to cocky."

She laughed, "I wouldn't say that. I've never seen anyone take a beating like that and then return the next morning, looking in better shape than before."

"Thanks," I smiled.

"No problem, so are you going to be competing today?"

"I'm not sure, but probably not. I'm going to let my other teammates take them out for us."

Shanie walked off the stage, "Well, I wish your team the best of luck, and I hope you make it to the semi-finals. Those matches are set to start in two days, so if you win today, you'll be off for the rest of the day and tomorrow."

"A day and a half off? Sounds nice."

"I have to go, see you later today, Stephanie," Shanie said as she waived and walked off.

"Bye," I replied as I watched her leave. I turned and looked up towards the sky and watched the sun peak over the arena wall, "I guess I'd better get back for breakfast, otherwise they'll start to worry about me..."

Hiei awoke to see the Spirit Beasts sleeping peacefully, and alone. He stood up and looked around, noticing nothing was out of place, so there wasn't a struggle. "Where in the hell is she? I was only asleep for an hour!" he thought.

I laughed as I hung down from the roof above our room and stared through the window, "Worried about me, Hiei?"

He turned towards the window and saw me hanging upside down. I saw him sigh as he walked over and opened the window. I grabbed the window sill and released my foot hold. I then flipped into the room and landed beside Hiei. He closed the window as the guys' bedroom door opened and Keishou walked out.

"Good morning," he smiled to us.

"Morning," I smiled back. Gouka, Puu, and Kamikaze woke up from their sleep and stretched. They all looked over at me and I grinned brightly, "Go wake up everyone, I'm going to breakfast."

The three of them jumped up from the couch as I walked to the girls' room and opened the door for them. After that Hiei, Keishou, and I all headed downstairs to the buffet room. When we entered we were greeted by a worker at the hotel, "Welcome, Team Kouken Gurentai. I hope you had a good night's rest."

I nodded, "Yes, we did." The worker nodded and left us. We went over and took what we wanted from the buffet and sat down to eat. Eventually our friends and teammates joined us, along with the beasts. After everyone had eaten their fill, we got a notice that our bout was going to start in a little while, so we all got up and headed over to the arena. Outside we were met by Koenma and Ogre, just like the day before.

"Good morning, team. I wish you all luck today. If you win this round, you won't have another battle for two days because you will have advanced to the semi-finals."

"A break sounds good," Tiffany yawned as we all headed inside.

Once inside we split off from our friends as we headed to the check-in. The same guards were standing there. "Kouken Gurentai, who will be your opening team for the bout today?" the guard on the computer asked.

I looked at my team, "Who ever is going to fight, step forward, I'm not going to this round." Five of my friends came forward and I turned to the guard, "Our team is Keishou, the Elemental Youkai; Touya, the Ice Master; Jin, the Wind Master; Kurama, the Fox Youkai; and Rinku, the Basic Youkai." The guard nodded as he imputed the information and we continued on to the field.

"Hello, tournament fans! I am Shanie, the referee for this year's Dark Tournament elimination rounds! Our first team is none other than Team Kouken Gurentai!" Shanie announced as our group walked out onto the field. Our reserve fighters stopped and the five fighters walked forward. They nodded and the rest of us jumped into the stands and took our seats next to our friends. We watched as our teammates continued on and joined Shanie in the ring.

Shanie turned to the other doorway, "And their opponents in this round are famous for their manipulative powers and fast wins, Team Datean! This team is made up of demons who do everything from mimicking an opponents moves to transforming into a person or demon's worst nightmare!" The opposing team walked out onto the field and joined our friends on the stage. The leaders of both teams stepped forward. "You know our rules, the team that wins three out of five of the battles shall win the match. Now each of you pick your own conditions."

Keishou smirked, "No ring outs."

The other leader smiled as well, "I'd like to scratch your official rule and make this a winner takes all. The team has to win five out of five battles to move on."

Shanie looked a bit surprised, as did my teammates, "I'm not sure about that one... Wait, I've just received a message from the tournament committee and they said that your rule will be put into play!"

Both teams nodded and left the stage as they figured out who would be fighting first. On our side, Touya jumped onto the stage. Finally, one of the guys on the opposing team joined him. "Alright, the first bout is between Team Kouken Gurentai's Touya and Team Datean's Ceran! Alright, let the bloodshed begin!"

Touya instantly drew out his ice sword and went to attack Ceran. When he slashed at him, to my whole team's surprise, he clashed with an ice sword. Touya jumped back and ran around the ring, but Ceran followed his every move identically. "What are you doing!" Touya yelled at him.

"Fighting, what are you doing?" Ceran asked as he lashed out and broke Touya's ice sword, sending Touya flying off the arena stage.

Touya jumped up, "Blizzard Bullets!"

"Shards of Winter!"

"There's no way a Shards of Winter can harm Touya, it's no where near as strong as his Blizzard Bullets..." Jin said as the two attacks clashed.

Keishou shook his head, "Don't be so sure." At that moment, Touya's attack was once again destroyed, and Ceran's attack sent him flying backwards into the arena wall in front of us.

After watching Ceran closely, I had finally realized his flaw, "He's slower than Touya is. He can mimic his moves alright, but he's one hundredth of a second slower. If Touya can figure that out, he can defeat him."

Touya grinned, hearing what I had said, "Thanks."

I nodded as he ran back up onto the stage. "Ice Stor--"

"Ice Storm!" Ceran exclaimed as he charged up the more powerful move.

Touya didn't lose a second as he took this opportunity to draw out his ice sword, "Gotcha!" Ceran's eyes grew wide as Touya came down upon him, sending his sword right into the heart of Ceran.

"Yes!" Rinku exclaimed.

Shanie walked over to Ceran, "After only ten minutes of battle, Touya is the winner! Will our next combatants please enter the stage!"

Suddenly, a young woman appeared on the arena floor next to the opposing team, "It seems as if my team has an opening. I will sit and enjoy the rest of the round from here." Touya left the stage as Jin entered it, ready to fight, and win. A young looking girl joined him and Shanie prepared for the next bout to start.

"Next up is the all-seeing master, Hallaia, and the master of wind, Jin! Fight!"

Before everyone in the arena, Hallaia's eyes began to glow a bright white color, "Second Sight!" Her eyes dimmed, but nothing happened. She then closed her eyes and stood in place, not once moving. Jin wasn't going to wait for her to make her move, so he made his. He flew around her back and swung at her. Instantly, Hallaia turned around and blocked his attack, then countered with a punch to his stomach.

Jin flew backwards a bit as he stared at her, "How did she do that? Her eyes are closed, but she countered my attack..."

Up in the stands, Hiei was the first to know how her powers worked. "She's using a type of artificial Jagan, meaning she doesn't have the eye but she can use the abilities. She can see what her teammates are seeing, and even send them images. As long as she is connected to them and they can see the battle, Jin can't surprise attack her at all."

Jin's ears tweaked as he grinned happily, "You know what's great about havin' ears like mine, Hallaia?"

"What, Wind Master?"

"I can hear things from far away."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, just like you can use your Second Sight to see through the eyes of your allies. A very powerful skill, but not good enough, I hope you know."

"Wha!" she asked, wondering how in the hell he knew about her technique.

Jin pointed up at us, "Ya see them up there, the one in all black is the one who figured your power out. He's a smart one, ignorant, but smart."

Hiei growled next to me and I laughed, "Calm down, he's just playing around. Besides, it's the truth." Hiei glared at me and I smiled innocently.

Jin flew to the center of the ring and grinned his 'I've gotchu now' grin, "Wind Explosion!"

From Jin's body, wind exploded out of him and into the arena. It swirled around and around like a tornado, but it was controlled perfectly. Dust began to swirl around the outside of the ring, and finally, our sight of him went completely when the dust became too thick.

Botan smiled, "Jin's got this one in the bag all because of Hiei's evaluation."

"Yeah, thanks," Hiei replied as we continued watching the swirling dust, waiting for it to settle down.

Inside of the dust storm, Hallaia's Second Sight had been rendered completely harmless. She growled as she stepped forward, "All-Seeing Sight!"

Her eyes went black as she began to see through Jin's own eyes. She dodged his attack and smiled, "Because of this barrier, your friends in the bleachers can't help you. Too bad, now you're going to lose, and I'm going to have the privilege to see the rest of your team die by our hands. Then we'll take care of the others, just to clean up the leftover trash!"

"You talk too much!" Jin yelled as he punched her in the cheek, sending her into the dust barrier. She was sucked into it and suffocated from the quickly moving dust and wind. Jin dropped the barrier and she fell down behind her teammates in the grass. Jin grinned, "So, who's next?"

Shanie looked over at Hallaia and decided there was no point to counting her out since she could feel her life energy was gone, "Jin is the winner! That makes Team Kouken Gurentai two for two!" A boy that looked around fifteen got onto the stage. "Next up for Team Datean is Trikoy! Fight!"

Trikoy put his fingers to his lips and let out a high-pitched whistle. Jin winced from the sound of it, as did many other demons and apparitions at the concert. Suddenly a stone block flew out of nowhere and hit Jin across the arena and into the wall below our section of the stadium. Jin stood up and shook it off, "That was cheap!"

"All's fair!" Trikoy laughed at Jin tried to fly right towards him, but ran into an invisible wall.

On the arena floor, Kurama's eyes grew wide, "An invisible wall..."

Keishou grinned, "Who would have thought that the team we're fighting today was made up of the demons who tried to kill our leader last night..."

"So, you finally figured it out," Matraien laughed, "Too bad we didn't get to either, it would have been beautiful to see her bleed to death."

Kurama growled at him, "You'll regret ever saying that!"

Rinku glared at the remaining two fighters on the team, "I want whichever one used the thin wires on Stephanie. I'll show them what it means to play with wire when I use my yo-yos on them." Keishou, Kurama, and Touya all nodded, agreeing that Rinku could take on whichever had harmed me.

Touya looked over at Jin who was wandering through some type of invisible labyrinth that Trikoy had created. "It's an invisible labyrinth, moron! Labyrinths don't have ceilings!"

Jin stopped and looked up, "Why didn't I think of that?" He flew up into the air and over above Trikoy, "Now the only trick you have is that ability to move things with your mind!"

"I can move more than just objects..." Trikoy grinned as he flicked his hand to the side and Jin went flying across the arena floor and into the wall below us again.

I looked over the edge at him, "You must really like that wall or something..."

"Hahaha, very funny," he retorted.

"His mind is very powerful, but you can overcome it. He can't move things if a stronger wind's moving it already; use his powers against him."

"Good point," Jin nodded as he went to return to the arena.

"One moment," I smiled as I looked at Kamikaze, "Turn yourself into wind and combine with Jin's powers." He nodded as he disappeared and began to swirl around Jin. The Wind Master returned to the ring and grinned at Trikoy.

Trikoy sent stone blocks flying at Jin, but the stone blocks stopped and turned on Trikoy, himself. I laughed as he began to dodge the stone blocks, dancing around the arena floor, trying not to be smashed. Finally Jin was tired of playing with him and went for the finisher, "Tornado Fists!" Jin crashed down and hit Trikoy all over his body multiple times, powered by not only his own power of wind, but by Kamikaze's as well.

Finally, the battle against Trikoy was over when the object-moving demon fell to the ground, his life energy gone. "And Jin is once again the winner! Moving on, Team Datean has two remaining fighters. Who will fight against the unstoppable Team Kouken Gurentai next? Matraien, their leader, or Jamena, the wire queen?"

Rinku smirked, finally knowing who it was he was going to fight. Jin went and jumped off the stage and sat down next to where Touya stood as Kamikaze appeared next to him and plopped on the ground as well. "Haha!" Kamikaze laughed, happy about the win.

After a few minutes of no one entering the stage, Jamena entered the arena, and Rinku happily took his place, opposite of her. "Jamena and Rinku have stepped up onto the stage to fight in the fourth bout of this round of the Dark Tournament!" Shanie exclaimed over her microphone, "Now, fight!"

My whole team noticed as invisible wires erupted from Jamena's body. She smirked as Rinku was lifted off the ground and her wires began to tighten around him. Rinku laughed, "You'll have to do better than this, Jamena... Around the World!"

His yo-yos shot out from his hands and their wires rapped around hers, cutting straight through them. He fell to the ground and rushed at her, hitting her in the face. Jamena flew backwards, but landed on her feet with grace, "Demon Wires!" Large wires appeared from her, ones of which everyone could see. They flew at Rinku who dodged every one of them quickly and effortlessly.

He appeared behind her back, "Anaconda Paralysis!" This attack, like the Cobra Strike, had a snake which came from his body, this time, of course, it being an anaconda. The overly large and even longer snake wrapped around her and kept squeezing her. "You tried to kill our leader and my friend, I cannot forgive you for that... Boa Constriction!"

This attack was used earlier in the tournament against Saikio and helped him win the battle, and it seemed as if it was going to this round as well. The anaconda removed itself from Jamena, revealing her completely wrapped in his yo-yo's strings, of which were tightening around her at a tremendous rate. Blood began to drip down her body as everyone watched gashes appear all over her.

She smiled and closed her eyes, "I never thought I'd be killed by a person who can control wires like I can. I give you props, kid, you're powerful."

Rinku shrugged off her complement and threw his hands apart, causing the strings to slice completely through her. Her body fell to the ground in multiple pieces as blood flooded the arena. Cheers erupted from the arena at the sign of some real bloodshed from our team. Rinku walked off the stage and looked up at me. I looked away from him as I stood up and left my place in the stands.

I walked down the hall and past the guards. "Hey, are you alright?" one of them asked me. I nodded and kept going in silence. I walked outside and looked around, finally getting a good sense on what it was I had felt when I was still inside of the arena right after Rinku's victory. I laughed and jumped onto the top of the arena stands cover and laid down to watch the rest of my team's fight.

They had just finished cleaning off the stadium floor of blood and body parts, so Shanie reentered the ring, "Rinku was the winner of that round, leaving just one team member on Team Datean, Matraien; please enter the ring!"

The young guy that looked around eighteen took the stage immediately as my team's five fighters looked at one another. "So, who want to fight this one?" Jin asked.

"I will," Rinku grinned.

"No, Rinku, I'll fight him," Kurama replied, "You shouldn't fight again for awhile, you used a lot of your power to defeat her, and you were angry. You know what I mean."

Rinku looked at the ground and nodded as Kurama entered the ring. Shanie smiled, "Alright, this is the last round, if Team Kouken Gurentai can pull off another victory, they will advance to the semi-finals!"

"Go get 'em, Kurama..." I trailed off.

I saw Jin's ears tweak when he heard my comment. He turned and looked up at me, smiling, "He'll win, he's the fox after all."

"Who are you talking to?" Touya asked him.

"Nobody," Jin replied, turning back to the fight.

"Fight!" Shanie yelled as Kurama and Matraien attacked one another head on at an alarming rate. Kurama pulled out a rose and transformed it into a rose whip, lashing it at Matraien. The leader of Team Datean dodged the whip and landed across the arena floor.

"You'll have to do better than that, Kurama," he smirked.

"I haven't forgotten what you said about our leader, and I will keep my promise. You will regret making that comment..."

"You have to hit me first," Matraien laughed as he closed his eyes. Instantly, I noticed his spirit energy was skyrocketing. Matraien's eyes burst open, "Nightmare Realism!"

Before any normal demon, his attack did nothing, but before my whole team and any one who was at least a class B demon could easily see him transform into another being. I didn't know who it was he had become, but it was only a kid.

"I do not look like that anymore..."

"Wha...?" I asked hearing that. I looked down and noticed a person in a cloak, standing at the top of the bleachers, "Who is that?" I shrugged it off after a few seconds and went back to watching the fight. Kurama wasn't moving, and the kid was running circles around him.

"What in the hell does he think he's doing? It's just Matraien," Hiei retorted seeing our teammate not fighting back.

"I don't know..." Botan replied, "But I hope he's alright."

I stood up and created a lightning sword, hurling it towards the arena floor. It turned back into a mere lightning bolt and crashed down in front of Matraien. He stopped dead in his tracks and peered up towards me. I smiled and waived. I could tell he was pissed off, but it was just the moment that Kurama had been looking for.

He wasn't scared of Matraien, or of his transformation, "Rose Cannon!"

Dozens of roses came flying out of nowhere and their stems grew longer as they went flying straight into Matraien's body. I laughed, this had to be the second shortest round that we'd been in. Matraien fell to the ground, his life energy gone. Ms. Lucia, their owner, turned and was going to walk away, but she happened to be face to face with Keishou.

"You're the one who had your team attack our leader. I've heard about what your team has been doing, this is the first real battle your team has actually gone up in. You may have been able to disqualify opposing teams by taking out their leaders before, but you underestimated our leader..." he scowled, "You will not be harming any one else..."

Before everyone's eyes, Ms. Lucia's body dropped to the ground, her life force drained completely. I knew that he had done to Ms. Lucia, what he had done to Marianu. Shanie walked over to Kurama and smiled, "I'd like to say, give a huge round of applause to Team Kouken Gurentai for making it to the semi-finals! I'd like to invite their whole team down here!"

I saw Hiei, Goukaryuu, Tyler, and Tiffany jump down from the stands, followed by Yukina and Botan. When they all gathered on the stage, Kurama looked over at Hiei, "Where'd Stephanie go?"

Hiei shrugged, "She walked out after Rinku's win."

Rinku looked out into the stands and I could tell he was looking for me. He had a look of sadness in his eyes, so I had to go see him. I jumped down from the top of the arena and landed on the grass. I ran over and joined my team on the stage and instantly went over to Rinku. "Stephanie...I'm sorry..."

"For what? Your victory was done in pure hatred, but I didn't walk out because of that, I felt a weird energy so I went to see what it was. I didn't walk out because I was mad at you, Rinku."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you did actually very well, and I'm glad she got what she deserved. She tried to kill me and you avenged me, you all did. Thanks, and now let's go and enjoy our day and a half break from fighting!" I exclaimed.

Shanie smiled, "Alright, faithful tournament fans, stick around because another bout is coming up real soon!"

My whole team left the stage and walked out of the arena. As soon as we were outside we were met by Koenma and Ogre. Koenma smiled when he saw us walk up, "Congratulations, team, you have done very well. I'm happy to say that my father is also pleased with today's performance after the incident yesterday with Team Sukido. Take your day and enjoy it like Stephanie said. If you want to, you may come tomorrow with me to watch the last rounds to see what your competition will be for the semi-finals. The team that you will be fighting will be in the first bout tomorrow."

Tyler shook his head, "Nah, I think we'll be fine. We haven't had to scope out any of the previous teams, so why worry now? We're quick to adapt to new opponents and the semi-finals aren't going to be any different. They may be harder opponents, but it'll be fine."

"I agree with him," I replied putting my arms behind my head. I turned and looked away from my group to see the person in the cloak, "I...uh, just remembered I forgot to do something! I'll be back later! See ya at dinner!" And, with that, I ran off. My whole team looked at one another, wondering where in the hell I was running off too.

"I've learned not to ask..." Tiffany sighed, shaking her head.

The cloaked figure realized I had been following them and finally stopped out in the woods, "Why are you following me...?"

"You made a comment during the battle between Kurama and Matraien when he had transformed into a kid. You said 'I don't look like that anymore'. Well, I know that Matraien had the power to turn into a worst nightmare of an opponent, so who are you? Kurama must know you for Matraien to transform into you."

The person sighed and turned to me, removing the cloak, "My name is Amanuma, I am also known as the Gamemaster."

"You're thee Gamemaster? I heard that you disappeared five years ago after Koenma brought you back to life."

"I did, but I heard about the Dark Tournament and who was entering it. I was disappointed to find out that Yusuke and Genkai were not going to be here, but as soon as I heard Kurama's name on a team, I knew I had to come see."

I started to laugh, "Well, I hope you're satisfied with what you've seen so far. So, Amanuma, are you going to stick around for the rest of the tournament? I think everyone who knew you would be happy to know you're okay."

"Wait, who are you?"

"I'm the leader of Kouken Gurentai, Stephanie Jiano."

"Ah, I see, you're the one who threw that lightning sword into the arena," he replied with a grin.

"Yep, that was me," I smiled.

He looked around, "You know what, I think I will take you up on your offer to stay for the rest of the tournament. Are you sure you have room for me?"

"You can have Hiei's bed, he probably would prefer the couch anyway."

"Hiei...?"

"Yeah, he's here too," I nodded as Amanuma put the cloak back on and we headed back to the hotel.