Yume o Dakishimete

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Many of the characters in this story were made up by yours truly or by my friends; any resemblance to other characters is strictly coincidence unless stated otherwise. Basis of the storyline is influenced by Magic Knight Rayearth, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, and Soul Calibur II. Contains characters from Naruto, Soul Calibur II, Magic Knight Rayearth, DN Angel and InuYasha. All of which I do not own!

The first round of bouts seemed to be a disaster. The six friends stood in a straight line watching the fights with a blank expression. They watched men and women be tossed out of the ring and brought near death in defeat. They all simultaneously nodded their heads while observing their opponents' tactics. Riya and Sun were showing each other what they could do with their newfound magic; however Sun didn't seem to really have the hang of it as much as Riya did. She pointed and laughed maniacally at his poor attempts of casting spells while Aley and Kagen prepared themselves for battle. Aley would go first and then Kagen, Riya and Sun followed, and Hiroshi and Yume would be the last to enter the ring.

"Hm, so a ring out counts as a win?" Yume asked while clinging onto Hiroshi's arm. He smiled and threw his arms around her shoulders and began to nuzzle her.

"That's easy enough. All you do is just make sure you toss 'em out the ring!" Aley said with a firm nod.

"What if you're fighting a big ugly man who weighs a thousand pounds!" Kagen debated.

"Then you beat him up." Sun explained.

"HELLO! I said a BIG UGLY MAN! He could squish me! The horror!"

"What a waste of human flesh..." Sun shook his head and walked over to Riya, who was adjusting her outfit. He then pointed and laughed. "I SAW YOUR STOMACH! You want me, don't you?"

"Haha... silly." The sound of Riya cracking Sun over the head with her staff was all that was heard before she walked off to get a closer look at the competition. "Aley's next!"

"Go Aley-Oxen!" Kagen cheered.

"Hurray!" Yume threw an arm up in cheer while still being nuzzled by Hiroshi.

Aley gave them a serious look with a nod and then scurried on over into the ring. She watched as Ivy, who was familiar with the fighting arena, stepped into the ring. Aley blinked a few times before shaking her head, thinking 'Put some clothes on, woman!' Not even ten seconds into the bout did the group of friends watch Aley run from one side of the ring to the other from the aged woman. Ivy seemed to laugh at Aley's futile efforts in running away, but was impressed that she was able to avoid the majority of attacks. Aley then abruptly stopped and thought to herself, 'Wait a minute... I have magic and she doesn't! I should kick her butt! KYAH!' She turned on the heel of her foot and then slammed down her stave over the woman's head. With the end of her weapon engulfed in flames, Aley drove it into Ivy's midsection and shoved her out of the ring. A quick and easy victory of sheer luck, of course. But, unfortunately, Aley didn't realize it and began to celebrate her strength as she left the ring. She was greeted with a group hug with Riya, Kagen and Yume.

"Take that, ya old hag!" Kagen called with violently waving her fist at the woman.

"Your turn, Kagen! Good luck!" Yume pat her on the head and Aley gave her a thumbs up.

Kagen set foot into the ring and glanced around at all the people who were in the stands. She then took a readied stance as Talim entered the ring and prepared herself. 'Teehee, she's as tall as Aley!' she thought as she watched her opponent. Kagen was surprised to find that not only was Talim fast, but powerful as well. It was easy to see Kagen wouldn't leave the ring with a few bruises like Aley, as she was already gaining cuts and scratches from the battle. Talim was getting bruised from the rod of Kagen's naginata, but she was too close for Kagen to strike her. As Kagen became cornered at the edge of the ring she began to panic once she saw Talim running toward her. Kagen then dropped her weapon and held her hands out with her palms facing Talim. Large gusts of wind formed within the arena and forced Talim back toward the center of the ring. Kagen looked at her hands confusingly and then toward Talim, who was getting to her feet after being thrown. She had a shocked expression as she gazed up at Kagen who was now walking toward her.

"You can manipulate wind?" Talim asked.

"I can do more than that... Too bad you won't be able to see!"

Kagen then placed a hand on her hip and snapped her fingers with a wry smile. From a distance, it seemed as though nothing was happening. From Talim's view all she felt was a breeze and then noticed a burning sensation on her arms, face and legs. Though all she felt was a breeze, she was getting multiple cuts all over-- almost like a bunch of paper cuts. Feeling faint, Talim then dropped to the ground with a bit of a thud and Kagen was declared the winner.

"Hurray, I did it!" Kagen cried out as she walked out the ring.

"Yay!" Riya and Yume said together.

"But I got lots of ouchies! Ah!" Kagen looked at the two of them with eyes filled with tears.

"Oh no!" They both answered together... again.

Kagen then sat down beside Aley who was snacking on cotton candy that she stole from some innocent kid who could be heard crying in the stands. Riya then bestowed upon herself the title of doctor and went to treat Kagen's wounds by placing band-aids with Elmo on them. While Riya tended to Kagen, Hiroshi seized this opportunity to spend time with Yume. He came up from beside her, took hold of her hand and simply smiled. She glanced over at him, looking him over suspiciously as he kissed her forehead and then went to take a seat on the ground. She then went over and sat in his lap and watched as Riya prepared herself for battle. Lucky for her, there was another battle going on between when Kagen and Riya would fight so it gave her a chance to calm herself before her fight. Riya paced back and forth to get her head straight and stopped when she saw Sun in front of her. She shot him her 'don't start with me' glare and he held his hands up in surrender. Riya hesitantly set foot inside the ring and watched as Cassandra entered.

" 'Sup?" Riya greeted the girl.

"Excuse me?" Cassandra replied.

"Oh, you're excused... I guess." Riya nodded a little confused.

Without giving Riya a chance to collect herself, Cassandra ran toward her to attack. Her close ranged weapon proved to be somewhat useless. Every time Cassandra tried to get close enough to attack, Riya would create a thick wall by summoning up the earth while using her powers over earth to also throw rocks at the fighter. Becoming frustrated and feeling weak, Riya then chose to end the battle quickly by letting down her defensive wall to increase the speed at which the rocks were being thrown. Riya then watched as the girl fell over in defeat and kind of laughed at her luck. As she walked out the ring, she felt faint and began to stumble a bit before finally collapsing to the ground. Sun was just preparing to enter the ring when Riya literally fell into his arms.

"Wasted all your energy on spells, didn't you?" He asked with a sigh.

"I guess so."

"Stupid... idiot." He then carried her over to where Kagen was sitting while snacking on a box of cookies. He flicked Riya in the forehead, stole a cookie from Kagen and then made his way back to the arena.

"HEY! That's mine! Thief!" Kagen then threw a pebble which managed to hit him in the head, but not as hard as she would've liked.

"Augh! Just wait until I get back!" He threatened as he entered the ring.

"You wish!"

"Don't have to!"

"Idiot!"

"Fool!"

"Jerk!"

"AHH!" Sun was then kicked in the gut by his opponent and felt the coldness of a shield slam against his head just before he hit the ground...

Meanwhile, outside the ring the group of friends were greeted by a pair of cloaked figures. Yume's eyes narrowed as she gazed up at them from Hiroshi's lap and the darkened figures reflected in her eyes...