DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH but Mai and all my original characters are mine—NO STEALING! GRRR!
A/N: I HATE SCHOOL!&&#&(#! DAMMIT, AND I DON'T WANNA GO TO HIGH SCHOOL! I'll never be able to finish this fic if I do…
ANYway! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update (even as I'm writing, I haven't even finished half the chapter so I'm going to have to wing that part of it…ah well…) But thank you all for being so patient with me—but because I haven't really had time to work on this chapter, a lot of it won't be very original…Then again a lot of it may be pretty violent because I have some major anger to vent right now (I REALLY need to get a punching-bag)
Heh-Heh, but I guess the link for my pictures didn't come up…ah well. If you guys really want to see them e-mail me and I'll send you the link, kk?
Thanks to my reviewers (I finally have over 100 reviews!)!
Butterfly Girl Sarah: Of course you can use the question for LQ (we're all dying to know anyway, LoL) but thanks for updating TPwPS! Haha, I can't wait for the next chapter it sounds hilarious!
Umeko Saito: I hope you got the link I emailed to you, if not I'll try again later, kk? Yeah, but I was kind of hyper when I wrote that chapter (even though for this one it's almost just the opposite :nervous laugh: )
Little Sakura 87: TT thank you so much! I'm so glad you think so and that you're enjoying this story! I just hope it continues to remain as good as you think it is now.
Daylight Dancer: Oh! I love your new Penname! Haha, don't worry, I don't kill people for their ideas—I'm actually really glad about your feedback!
Witelighter-Death: the only reason I didn't let you read it was because you already knew about it—you seriously don't have to know everything I'm going to write about—hell Sarah doesn't know everything I'm writing about either so deal with it. And I know you're going to say: 'I'm not trying to know everything you're writing about' but that's sure as hell what it seems like to me.
XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: Yeah, it was kind of short, wasn't it? Luckily, I'm trying to force about three episodes into one for this one—so don't worry; it's going to be pretty long. But you'll just have to see who Mai fights in the end.
XxXRoseVixenXxX: I'm glad you liked them both! Haha, I spent a little too much time with the bathroom scene though, but o well…
Black Spell: okay, okay, I'll try and update as soon as I can, but there's just been a lot going on lately and I haven't had much time to do much writing. But I'll check into your stories whenever I have the time, I promise!
Thoughts
With Every Drop of Blood
:Jin the Wind Master:
As Yusuke crawled back onto the arena, Jin happily stood up from his seat along the wall. In only a few strides, the demon had already made his way onto the ring. Both fighters squared off at the center of the arena. Jin looked glad enough to be able to fight, while the detective had an air of determination about him.
The red-haired demon placed his hands on his hips and leaned down to Yusuke's eye level, "Sorry about your girlfriend there, Urameshi…" he apologized cheerfully, "Bakken was always a bit of an ass…"
"Yeah—wait, my what?" he choked out—obviously not paying much attention.
"Your girlfriend," Jin repeated and craned his neck over the detective shoulder, "The wee red-haired lass over there," he said and pointed.
He blinked, "Mai? She's not my girlfriend! She's my guardian!" he protested.
Jin winked and waggled his finger, "Either way…They both start with the same letter!"
"What? That has nothing to do with it!" he argued, but the demon chuckled and shook his head.
"Jest jokin, Urameshi…" he assured him with a jovial grin. Yusuke glowered from his embarrassment, but Jin laughed and folded his arms over his chest—obviously he was in a good mood about the fight.
Hiei snorted as he suddenly caught wind of the detective's emotions. Amusing…he muttered mentally as he sat on the observation table. He smirked inwardly and would have laughed had there not been people there to hear him. The only time he had found the detective so flustered over something was…never.
Jin grinned showing his slightly pointed teeth, "I must say though, that fight you had with Bakken—wasn't that a show!" he laughed, "Never liked that bastard anyway," he added with a casual shrug.
Urameshi now found himself smirking along with the apparition, "He had it coming to him."
The demon chuckled, "But there yeh were! Givin em one punch after the other—jest like this!" he said and mimicked Yusuke's fight, "That ol' baka didn't know what hit em!"
Mai watched the two fighters with a small smile. She hadn't seen him so happy about a fight for awhile; it was almost refreshing to see him laughing with Jin.
"Well he seems to be having fun…" Kurama remarked as if reading her thoughts. The guardian nodded weakly and stared back up at the ring. He did seem happy. Despite both her and Keiko's objections, Mai knew that…that this was where his heart belonged…
Jin stretched towards the sky and grinned, "So yeh ready, Urameshi?" he asked.
With a smirk, the detective nodded and readied his stance, "Yeah I am."
After seeing the two fighters ready, Koto stepped up with her microphone excitedly, "Well it appears as though our fighters are ready to fight!" she announced, "So without further ado, I give you the next fight between Jin from Team Masho and Yusuke from team Urameshi—BEGIN!"
:-
"Koenma, sir?" a soft voice came from the door. Quickly the toddler turned and gestured for Jorge to answer it. As the ogre lifted the latch and opened the door, a young woman clad in a dark purple kimono and ebony black hair quickly stepped into the room.
The demigod frowned, "Ayame? I thought I said that I would take all paperwork after the tournament was over…"
She nodded, "I know sir…" she said while handling a small stack of papers, "But I don't think that this could have waited. You might want to take a look at these," she continued and handed him the papers.
Koenma briefly scanned over them but paused with a start. He blinked and glanced up at the girl, "You're sure?"
With a small nod, she went on, "She arrived not two days ago, but we haven't had anywhere to place her…Perhaps you could figure out something? Ayame suggested.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and glanced down into the sidelines. After a moment, he answered, "I'll take care of it tonight; just keep her close at hand, alright?"
"Yes sir," she replied courteously, "But may I inform you that she only has so much time left after…the last time." She blinked and shook her head, "I'm sorry…we'll be expecting you tonight, sir, I'll try and make sure no one bothers you then."
With that she turned and softly closed the door behind her.
Jorge, who had taken the liberty of looking over the papers from Koenma's shoulder, also blinked in surprise, "Sir, but…but I thought…"
The demigod cut him off with the shaking of his head, "So did I, ogre," he admitted while he let out a short, hollow laugh, "But she's proven me wrong once again…"
:-
Yusuke squinted through the whirling wind that howled around the arena. Despite this, both the detective and Jin were grinning in anticipation. The wind master hovered a few feet off the ground as the gale around him picked up the dust along the arena floor. But in an abrupt instant, the wind suddenly stopped. Jin took in a deep breath and stretched again.
"Hah, jest a little warm-up!" he said brightly as he took a few steps closer towards the detective, pointing to his ears cheerfully, "See, they're all pointy up and wiggalin unlike they were before. It shows I'm happy or excited and I haven't been either for a long time! Saw biggy flyin up all the way high and past! Woo almost lost it! I'm talkin about the way ya sent Bakken on a first class ride on your fists! I never really did like that guy, the wind round his pores was pretty stinky," he chuckled, "I'm actually kind of glad you licked em. Oh! Don' tell Risho about that!" he said with a wink.
Urameshi grinned and shook his head as one of the demon's ears twitched.
Jin laughed, "Woo! That's a wiggle!" he said and started to hover in the air, "But let's say we get this fight goin shall we?"
The detective nodded, still grinning and changed his stance while Jin continued to hover off the ground. The wind demon smirked as a sudden tumult of wind suddenly whipped around the arena. Without missing a beat, Yusuke charged immediately through the storm with his fist raised to his head. Jin saw him coming, however and quickly shot to the sky, out of Urameshi's reach. But he didn't stop at the top of the stadium, but instead continued until he was nearly through the clouds.
"So this is what the wind in the big bright an open feels like, huh?" he pondered to himself as he lounged back in the air contently. He glanced down at the stadium beneath him and shielded his eyes with his hand to get a better look, "Might be worth having the old Shinobi job with a place like this…" he added as he observed the island below.
"Ah…where did he go?" Mai asked as she stared into the sky—only to be blinded by the sun. She blinked and then glanced up at Kurama, "He wouldn't leave the fight, would he?"
The redhead covered his eyes with his free hand, "I doubt it, he looked too excited about fighting Yusuke to leave now."
But the detective did not appear discouraged and continued to watch the sky about the stadium; waiting for when the wind demon would plummet back towards him. Without pointing it out to Kurama, the guardian strained her sight until she was able to see the demon as a tiny speck. Damn, those senses of hers had improved lately; it was almost nerve-wracking to see and hear so much at one time. Sometimes it even made her eye twitch—
She suddenly caught a flash of light above her. With a start she realized that Jin was charging back towards the stadium.
"Yusuke—!"
"I see him, Mai!" he shouted almost irritably as he squinted through the glaring rays of sunlight, but the guardian could tell he was unable to clearly make out the apparition heading quickly towards him. Mai noticed this too late when Jin suddenly appeared inside the stadium once again. She flinched in anticipation of the collision, but realized that she didn't have to when the demon veered sharply to the side milliseconds before he was ready to crash into the detective.
He began circling the ring, causing a whirlwind to pick up around them. Yusuke watched his pattern for only a moment, before he cut into Jin's cyclone. He attempted to stop him there and then, but Jin suddenly countered with a punch to the detective's face. Urameshi staggered, but almost immediately returned with a kick towards the wind apparition. But Jin narrowly avoided it and pushed Yusuke back.
The apparition chuckled through the wind, "You're a crazy one, ain't yeh, Urameshi?" he asked almost casually, "Next thing yeh know ye'll be blowing bombs up in yer face! Though, that does sound like something yeh would do!"
Mai winced as she attempted to raise herself from Kurama's lap. A stab of pain shot through her arm and she clutched it dearly while the redhead tried to help and support her. Only a few feet away, Kuwabara was attempting to do the same (but having a much easier time after having time to heal). Yet, he too grimaced through his pain as he turned his attention to the fight.
"It's almost amazing…" he grunted while he nurtured one of his wounds.
"What was that, Kazuma?" the guardian asked through her heavy breathing after the shock of her pain. Droplets of sweat formed along her brow, but she quickly wiped them away with her free hand.
The redhead continued, "I don't think I've ever seen him this happy about a fight; but I guess that could partially be because of Jin. Those two are a lot alike…"
She stared at him for a moment before she blinked and turned her head back towards the ring. You know, he was actually right about that, the guardian decided. Both fighters had appeared to put nearly their entire lives into fighting…and enjoyed every minute of it. In retrospect, they really were alike in most ways.
Jin set down on the arena floor and rolled his shoulders a bit, "Heh, but then again, it may be a wee bit harder to win if yeh keep doin crazy stuff like that!" he laughed, "So, Urameshi, ye'll have the honor of seein my personal favorite!"
The apparition switched his stance and stretched his right arm away from him and started to rotate it. Little by little, the speed of his arm sped up until it was almost going too fast for anyone to keep track of. But as his arm continued to spin, a gust of wind began to whip through the stadium. Koto held up an arm to block out the dust that was being thrown into the air just as a miniature tornado began to circle around Jin's arm.
Yusuke took a step backwards, "Oh shit—!" But before he could even finish, the wind master began to hover in the air a few feet off the ground. And only an instant later, Jin suddenly launched himself at the detective with his tornado fist raised out in front of him.
He hardly had any time to react in the instant it took for Jin to cross the ring. Frantically, the detective, dove out of the way at the last possible moment, but the force of the wind surrounding the apparition's arm sent him flying backwards nonetheless. His teammates watched as Urameshi nearly crashed into the wall at the edge of the stadium floor, but gripped onto the top of the wall and stop himself. He shook his head and glanced back towards the ring, only to find Jin charging towards him once again.
And instead of colliding with Urameshi, the wind master's fist smashed into the audience as Yusuke hurriedly leapt out of the way.
:-
"Heh, those damn punks don't even know I scammed the fight," Butajiri laughed smugly and turned to the man beside him, "But what about you, Sakyo? Have you made your bet?"
Letting a puff of smoke rise into the air, the gambler calmly took his cigarette from his mouth, "I don't gamble, Butajiri—I really do hate taking chances…" a smirk curled at his lips, "I'm just well informed, you could say…"
:-
Jin landed back into the center of the ring with ease and folded his arms over his chest. And despite already being bruised in several places, Yusuke still appeared as though he had plenty of energy to spare.
"Yeh were lucky that time, Urameshi," the apparition informed him, "An attack like that and yer girlfriend there would have been pickin up pieces of yeh outside this 'ere stadium!"
The detective's eye began to twitch, "I told you, she's not my girlfriend! She's my guardian!" he yelled.
Across from him, Jin grinned, "Aw, don't tell me yeh couldn't like a cutie like her! Heh, I saw how yeh were all flustered after her fight with Touya," he laughed again and shrugged, "An if yeh ask me, you seem to be doin a bit more guardin than she is…" he added with a wink.
Urameshi flushed a bright red and clenched his fists at his side while the apparition continued to laugh happily. When his laughter eventually died down, the wind master stretched for a third time and grew (semi) serious once again.
"Well it looks as though I might have to try a wee bit harder to beat yeh, Urameshi!" he said as he stretched out his arm again, "Get ready for another tornado fist—!"
But before he could even begin to rotate his arm, Yusuke suddenly charged at the demon. Caught off guard, Jin staggered backwards as the detective threw punch after punch at his face. The wind master held up his hands defensively against Urameshi's blows. But he continued to punch at the demon as if there were no tomorrow.
Botan blinked, "Jeeze, his hands are moving so fast, it's like he doesn't even have fists anymore!"
"Yeah, I know…" Kazuma grunted from her lap, "I can hardly see them," he said and squinted as if that would help in following the two fighters' moves.
Yusuke suddenly hurled a thrust to the demon's stomach and sent him stumbling back. The detective raised his fist above his head for a final blow, but Jin unexpectedly recovered and immediately shot into the air above the stadium. Urameshi tripped as his own punch threw him off balance, and appeared rather pissed.
Jin didn't look to happy either as he sat cross-legged in the air with his arms folded across his chest. The apparition pouted after having the tables turned in Yusuke's favor. Absently, he stared above him and up into the clouds in a dream-like state. Hey, it wasn't as though the detective would be able to fight him while he was so far up in the air.
"Hey!" Botan suddenly shouted at Koto, "Why aren't you counting? If you haven't noticed, Jin's been up in the air before a lot longer than ten seconds!"
The fox demon turned to her, "As long as a fighter is using their spirit energy, flying is perfectly legal," she stated matter-of-factly while the ferry-girl frowned unhappily.
On the ground, Urameshi stared up at Jin with a smirk curling at his lips. Without even warning the demon, he raised his hand in front of him with his index finger pointing up towards the wind master.
"Ready or not," he said to himself as a ball of blue light formed at his fingertips.
The apparition turned his head back towards the ring after becoming somewhat bored. He suddenly began to panic when he noticed Yusuke's spirit gun charging at him. But before the detective's attack could come in contact with the demon, Jin quickly raised a shield of wind in front of him that closely resembled a tornado. As the attack came in contact with the barrier, it bounced off of it harmlessly and headed off into the air to someplace else.
Mai blinked, "He…blocked it," she said in quiet shock, but that was soon replaced with anger, "How the hell did he block that? That attack should have gone right to him!" she glowered furiously while Kurama tried to calm her down as best he could.
"He did raise that barrier rather quickly…" the redhead said thoughtfully ("You're not helping, Kurama," Mai muttered).
Jin laughed, "Don't be gettin all big eyed, any attack has to travel through the air to get to me right? I control the air, so yeh might as well hand em over and say 'Do whatever you want with em, Jin!'"
The masked fighter crossed her arms over her chest, "Yusuke's spirit gun will work…" she informed Hiei casually, "…The only problem is that he'll have to put himself at great risk to make it happen."
He snorted and glanced absently off into the stands, "Risking his life is the only strategy that detective constantly uses," he reassured her while trying to sound as though he didn't care. But already up in the air, the wind master was already beginning to summon another tornado fist as his arm began to swirl rapidly around and around.
It was almost as though the detective had read the masked fighter and Hiei's mind because when Jin began to plummet towards the ring and towards Yusuke, he wasn't backing down.
Mai noticed this and nearly shot off the ground in her frantic haste, "What the hell do you think you're doing, Yusuke!" she demanded—and would have ran up to the side of the ring had Kurama not insisted that she stay down. It appeared as though the rest of the team was in the same astonishment that the guardian was and stared gape-mouthed as Urameshi calmly watched Jin approach him.
When the wind master became level with the ground and started to charge straight-on towards him, a smirk calmly formed along the detective's mouth. By the time Jin was hardly ten yards away, Yusuke raised his hands in front of him and aimed directly towards the demon. The wind master started in shock when he realized what he was doing, but by now, it was too late for him to pull out of his attack.
At the last possible moment, Urameshi furrowed his brow in determination and roared, "SPIRIT GUN!"
The blast shot out directly in between both himself and Jin and immediately enveloped the stadium in a bright blue light. Mixed with the demon's wind attack, Yusuke's spirit gun spiraled around the two fighters in a furious gale. It was only a moment later when the blast dispersed and rattled the stadium.
By the time the smoke and dust had cleared neither Urameshi nor Jin were visible within the ring. This time, Mai forced herself to sit up off the ground despite her pain as she searched desperately through the stadium for either fighter. When her eyes finally found the detective against the stadium wall, she clumsily stood to her feet.
Staggering towards him she cried out, "Yusuke, you dumbass! What the hell was that? You could have died!" There were shocks of pain that shot up her legs, but she ignored them; Yusuke needed a serious beating for being such an idiot. Near the ring, she could hear Koto beginning the count-down.
As she came upon the detective, there was a shout that came from above them. Looking up, Jin was visible above the stadium looking rather shaken from the blast.
"You're crazy, Urameshi!" he yelled down at him, "What the hell was that? You don't make bombs go boom in yer face!"
The guardian crumpled to her knees beside him just as Yusuke started to come around, "Damn…no one died after that? What a waste…"
"Jin used the wind to send the majority of the attack upwards after he noticed what you were doing, detective," Hiei informed him from the tent nearby. He stared at the boy curiously, "Do you have any more of your brilliant ideas that we should know about?"
He grinned weakly, "Not a one," he admitted, "But one will come around eventually, right Mai?" he asked the girl next to him. The guardian muttered something under her breath, but didn't quite reply. But he continued to smile as he lifted himself to his feet and headed back towards the ring. Jin watched from above as the detective climbed back into the arena.
The wind master seemed to admire Yusuke's determination, but that didn't seem to stop him. He suddenly raised both arms on either side of his body and both began to rotate at an incredible speed. In a matter of moments, a pair of tornados formed around either arm. The apparition grinned only half-apologetically, "Sorry Urameshi, but I'm taking the prize!" he shouted to him.
Urameshi gritted his teeth, Damn, he thought to himself as he watched the two tornados, the only thing that could block both attacks would be my shotgun. Dammit but that's not enough to finish him off…the detective stared down at his hands briefly thinking, I guess there's only one chance I have...even if I don't know how to use it…
He abruptly changed his stance so that his body shifted to the side and both his hands hovered above one another as if he was holding an imaginary ball. A shiver raced down the spines of the audience as an eerie aura began to surround Urameshi and cause his body to glow a strange blue color.
Mai's eyes grew wide, "He's…he's going to use it…" she breathed in disbelief. But he had never mastered the technique! Sure, he had used the basics of it during training, but he had never actually used the attack in a fight—!
The move can compete with Jin's came Genkai's voice, but it could also destroy his body from within.
Well isn't that ironic, the guardian replied with a hint of cynicism, careful so that Hiei wasn't listening to them (which—she was sure he was anyway. He always had that knack for prying into other people's business sometimes…)
:-
Koenma blinked. What the hell? Yusuke had said himself that he had never learned Genkai's Spirit Wave technique…and yet he was taking the exact stance that was needed to complete the attack! If he had been telling the truth, how the hell did he think he was going to pull this one off!
:-
Up in the air, Jin grinned when he sensed the power emitting from the detective. He even had to shake his head a bit to keep his ears from wiggling too much. As his excitement grew, the wind master suddenly charged down towards the stadium with both his tornado fists stretched out in front of him.
It's been fun, Urameshi, but it's time to end this.
:-
Toguro leaned up against the wall of the entryway as he stared down into the ring. The power radiating from Yusuke was almost overpowering, but he didn't care…
It only meant their fight would be that much sweeter.
:-
Swiftly, the apparition began to pick up speed as his drew closer towards the ring. Both his fists were continuously held out in front of him in his anticipation. However, before even the wind could send him back, Yusuke suddenly gripped one of Jin's hands and held it firm. He smirked up into the wind master's face before he threw the attack aside, causing the tornado to rupture and disperse.
Jin's eyes grew wide in both fear and surprise, but then attempted to throw his second hand at his opponent. Urameshi immediately countered with a kick as if he had anticipated this move from him. With both tornado fists gone, the wind master was left defenseless while Yusuke gripped him by the collar. The detective's free hand began to emit a strong energy and started to glow the same blue color as his aura.
An instant later, Urameshi's fist found its way into the apparition's stomach and sent him flying through the air and out of view for the audience. Mai could only stare in astonishment as the wind demon disappeared into the air…how…how could he…?
:-
Shizuru looked up from her cigarette abruptly, "I think we should go stand somewhere else," she told Keiko.
The brunette blinked, "Huh? Uh, okay…" she agreed uncertainly and stood along with Kazuma's sister. The two girls calmly made their way up the stairs towards the landing above as the audience continued to stare up into the sky, waiting for Jin's return.
As if on cue, a dotted figure suddenly appeared above the stands hundreds of feet over the stadium. Only a few moments later, the wind master's body came crashing into the crowds, creating a giant crater in its wake.
Hiei smirked, "So that's Genkai's spirit wave…" he mused, "It might be interesting to fight her one of these days."
Mai overheard this and sensed the masked fighter rolling her eyes as she replied, "Yusuke did well with his attack. It's similar to his shotgun technique; using a larger area making it harder for an opponent to dodge. However, it's not as powerful as the spirit gun," she watched the detective for a moment, "The true power of the spirit wave come when it is shot point blank from a punch or a kick as he used it."
The apparition had landed in almost the exact place Keiko and Shizuru and moved from moments earlier. Shakily, he rose and looked as though he was going to say something to the detective, but he was suddenly overcome with fatigue and swept into unconsciousness.
In the ring Koto quickly made her way to the center of the ring and held up her microphone, "One!...Two!...Three!..."
:-
Butajiri paled considerably and on instinct, began to back up the stairs. It couldn't be…his team couldn't lose! He had bet all of his money on them! Those damn apparitions couldn't lose now, not after all the investment he had put into them! He turned quickly on his heal and headed up towards the committee box.
The gambler who had been sitting next to him leisurely let a puff of smoke drift into the air just as the fox demon ended her count and announced Urameshi the winner. He smirked through his cigarette; very little else gave him more pleasure than to see men like him squirm because of their own arrogance.
:-
Outside, the blue-haired apparition stared up at the giant screen in front of her. She bit her lip and as she looked around, she spied two demons standing nearby.
"Excuse me? Do you know where I could get a ticket?" she asked politely.
One of the demons frowned, "A ticket? Look, chickie, there haven't been any tickets for months! Why the hell do you think we're all standing out here like this?"
Yukina bowed her head, "Oh…I-I'm sorry, I was just wondering…" she apologized and glanced back up at the T.V. screen just as Koto announced the beginning of the last fight.
:-
Across from the Urameshi team, the last and final fighter stepped to the ring and threw off their cloak. Beneath, was a man with short black hair and skin as pale as ice. He stared at Yusuke's team with his cold, hard eyes and with an air of superiority. From what Jin had told him, the detective was able to gather that this was probably the Risho he had been talking about.
Urameshi gritted back his pain as he made his way to the center of the ring once again. The two leaders squared off and Koto checked and made sure that they were both ready.
"Well, before this stadium turns into a riot, let's get on with the final f—!"
"Attention…" the monotonous voice announced over the speakers, "In lieu of the previous fight, it has come to the committee's attention that the referee delayed the count during the first ring-out. The fight between Jin from team Masho and Yusuke from team Urameshi is ruled a double knockout."
The Urameshi team could only gape at one another
This really sucked.
:-
a/n: wow, that ending was worst than the last one…o well; it's getting late and I have to go. Sorry that it took so long for me to update; once again I have to stress that I've been really busy lately, so I hope all of you can bear with me on this one…
I'll try as best as I can to update soon, but I can't make any promises.
HEY! BUT WHAT ABOUT A SPIRIT BEAST?:nervous laugh: there really hasn't been much talk about thatbut I still need your feedback! (I'll have to decide in only two chapters or so!)
Please Read and Review!