DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH much to my dismay :pouts:
a/n: well the good news is that I didn't have a lot of homework this weekend so I'm getting a head start on the next chapter! (not to mention the fact that I'm unbelievably bored out of my mine, LoL)
Cookies to my reviewers! (haha, that's something new)
Dolphingirl32173: LoL, well this is as soon as I could have started, but here you go!
Umeko Saito: Aw man, that's a bummer (but I'm glad you took the time and effort to write a review!) But lucky for you, this is the last chapter for fighting (at least for another two or three chapters)
Daylight Dancer: the idea sounds really interesting (it really does!) but with all that I'm going to do with Mai, it'll just be too complicated to add another character. But no, I don't think I have (nor do I want to—kitkat doesn't like scary movies, nuh uh).
XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: ME TOO! Lol, I'm glad you liked the chapter—and here's your update!
Enjoy! (and please check out 'What Life Brings'!)
PLUS I STILL NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SPIRIT BEAST THING!
With Every Drop of Blood
:Kuwabara's Fight for Love:
Team Masho's leader smirked when he caught sight of the near-horrified expressions on the Urameshi team's face. He folded his arms over his chest calmly and with an air of satisfaction. Turning towards Koto, he said, "Just give us the win, already; their team is basically disqualified anyway…" he said casually.
The fox-demon puffed out her cheeks; like team Urameshi, she wasn't all too pleased with the ruling either, "I so did not delay that count," she muttered under her breath, "But I'm afraid that unless the Urameshi team willingly hands over the match, you still have to fight one of them…"
He snorted, "Like who? That red-haired lump that's too weak to stand?"
"Hey, I heard that!" Kazuma shouted and almost started to crawl towards the stadium, but Botan stopped him.
Anger burned in Yusuke's eyes and his fists clenched tighter, causing his nails to dig into his palm. Without saying a word, he suddenly leapt off the ring and charged across the sidelines. He slammed his fists into the out wall, causing several of the demons above to scurry away from the crumbling concrete. He gritted his teeth furiously as he swore darkly under his breath.
Meekly, Mai struggled to her feet and staggered towards him.
The detective's head hung low as his fist stayed planted in the wall, "Dammit," he growled, "DAMMIT!"
The guardian stumbled next to him, but paused a moment before she gently placed her hand on his shoulder, "Yusuke—?"
She was cut off when he suddenly struck at her hand. Hurt, she backed off a step or two and stared down at the ground. Urameshi froze when he saw the pain in her eyes. With a sigh, he shook his head, "Sorry…" he muttered, "It's just that these bastards are really pissing me off…"
Glancing between him and the ring, the guardian managed a weak smile, "We've showed them once…we'll think of something…"
He sighed again, "Mai, what are we going to do? It's illegal for Hiei or the masked fighter to fight, we've both lost, Kurama's spirit energy is toast, and Kuwabara can't even stand! Tell me, what the hell are we going to do? We might as well hand them the win like he said!"
Mai looked at him for another moment before she stared off at the ground, "I…I don't know yet," she admitted quietly.
"Risho!" Touya grunted as he struggled towards the ring and used the platform for support, "You're mocking the sacrifices of our team! By cheating you're making a mockery of their deaths!"
He snorted and wouldn't look at him, "Gama and Bakken fought for the light…and now we're going to enjoy it."
The ice apparition gritted his teeth, "Risho—!"
But the team leader had suddenly curled his fist into a ball. In a flash, Risho had sent Touya flying across the arena with one hit. In unison, the Urameshi team turned heads as the ice apparition's battered body tumbled over the sidelines.
"What was that for?" Mai suddenly demanded and staggered a few paces towards the ring, "You just attacked your own teammate!"
Risho turned towards her with an icy glare, "It's none of your business what I do within my team, is it?" he dared, "And I'd watch that tongue of yours if I were you; you don't know where it will end up…" he added with a lecherous grin.
The guardian flushed a fiery red and glowered furiously, "Bite me—!" and despite her lack of strength and energy, she nearly started to charge towards the ring in her fury. But Yusuke held her back.
"Mai, stop it," he ordered gravely, "If you try to attack him, you'll only end up getting hurt…"
"As long as I took him down with me, it wouldn't matter, would it?" she growled and tugged against the detective's grip, "Dammit, let me go, Yusuke!"
"I would listen to him, onna," Hiei told her casually from a few feet away where he still sat beneath the observation tent, "You don't have enough energy to take him down; try to attack him and you will most likely die," he hooded his eyes as the duo turned towards him, "There is only one rule to this damn tournament; the strongest man prevails. You do not have enough strength to take on Risho alone, I however would be happy to show this stadium a new definition of victory."
Even as he was speaking, the apparition clenched his fist. The area around his body nearly exploded in the amount of energy that pulsated through him. An aura of a deep purple hue swayed eerily around him as he smirked.
Kurama smirked also, but only in his amusement, "I guess Hiei got his energy back then…" he concluded calmly.
Next to her, Mai suddenly sensed Urameshi's spirit energy beginning to rise swiftly. He let her go and instead clenched his fists at his side in anticipation. Both the detective and Hiei were ready to take on every demon in the stadium to release the anger that built within them.
-:-
Shizuru glanced to the side unexpectedly. As she and Keiko were heading back towards their seats (or what remained of them) the older girl spotted someone amidst the crowd of demons standing outside the stadium. She frowned when she caught sight of the short, blue-haired girl standing alone.
In an instant, she was able to make a connection. By the way Kazuma had always been babbling about her, Shizuru was able to match his disturbingly accurate details with the girl who stood outside of the arena.
Gesturing to Keiko, the two girls headed off of their course towards her.
But before either of them could introduce themselves, she quickly spotted them and turned, "Oh! Um, you wouldn't happen to know if I would still be able to get in, would you? I'm afraid I didn't realize that we had to buy a ticket beforehand…"
Yup, this was her; her politeness was a dead giveaway, "You wouldn't happen to be looking for Kuwabara?" the older girl asked.
Her bright red eyes lit up, "Oh! Are you Kazuma's sister?" she asked almost with excitement and performed a quick bow, "My name is Yukina!"
Just as I thought…Shizuru turned towards the brunette next to her, "Hey, Keiko, could you go get Botan for me?" she asked.
She nodded quickly, "Yeah sure, I'll be back in just a sec!"
-:-
Koto glanced uncertainly between the two teams before she quickly checked the time. Raising her microphone to her lips, she announced, "Time is running out; if team Urameshi cannot find a team member to fight, they will have to forfeit the match to team Masho—"
Only an instant too late, Mai felt Urameshi snap. The detective unexpectedly made a furious dash towards the arena where team Masho's leader stood waiting—
"Urameshi! We still have one more fighter!" Kuwabara suddenly called. Yusuke slowed suddenly and turned towards the redhead in both confusion and irritability. He carefully raised himself off of the ground with much difficulty, "I'll fight Risho."
Stumbling along the way, Kazuma made his way onto the platform in the center of the stadium. His teammates found themselves wincing with the dull cracking of his bones.
He clutched his arm as he went to meet the team leader in the center of the ring, "I'm still eligible to fight, remember…?" he grunted past his pain.
Beneath the tent, Hiei snorted, "He can hardly stand, let alone take on the leader of any team."
The guardian bit her lip as Kuwabara suddenly doubled over and let out a groan of pain. She hated to admit it, but he was right; if Kazuma tried to take on Risho, he might not survive…
"Kuwabara get your ass out of there!" Yusuke ordered, "You can hardly stand—you'll die out there, you idiot—!"
"If you want to stop me, Urameshi…" he wheezed, "You'll have to kill me."
Urameshi froze, stunned. Mai was also taken aback by the seriousness of his tone about taking on the fight. Despite the fact that he could barely hold himself up, he was willing to take on the final fight for his team. Inwardly, she couldn't help but smile; Kuwabara really did have a heart of gold…no matter how stupid he was sometimes.
The redhead straightened himself slowly and gritted back the pain, "It's not like I don't know what the committee is up to; I know you two are angry and what will happen if we lose…" he winced, "…But if you and Hiei destroy everything, you'll be just as bad as them—I'd prefer it if we win it like men…"
Once more, Hiei snorted from beneath the tent, "Was the including yourself?" he asked ironically.
"Shut it, shrimp!" the redhead bellowed. Kurama had a hard time concealing a small smile; to think that they might be in-laws one day…wasn't that a scary thought…
"Botan? Botan!"
The ferry-girl quickly turned to find Keiko hurrying down the tunnel towards them. She went to meet her as she came to the archway, panting.
"Keiko is something wrong?" she asked urgently, but the brunette shook her head.
"No…no but Shizuru wanted me to come and get you…" she explained as she regained her regular breathing pattern, "You can come away for a little bit, can't you?"
She nodded, and almost immediately, Keiko hurried back down the tunnel with the ferry-girl following after her. In only a matter of minutes, the two girls found themselves outside of the arena where Shizuru and Yukina stood waiting for them.
The ice-apparition looked up swiftly as they approached, "Botan, it's you!"
She smiled in return, "Hi! But what brings you here?" she wanted to know and glanced at the older girl beside her as if that would give her a hint, "Did you come to cheer on Kuwabara and the others?"
Yukina nodded, "And…well, this may sound a bit silly, but I also came looking for my brother—"
"Wh-What?" the ferry-girl stammered. She can't possibly know about Hiei, can she? She nearly screeched inside of her mind.
But she was able to breathe a sigh of relief when the ice-apparition continued, "Well, you see, I heard that he was a very good fighter…I thought that I might be able to find him here."
"Don't worry, kid," Shizuru said as she placed her hands in her pocket, "We'll help you find your brother…" as the girl smiled in her gratitude, the older girl leaned over towards Botan and whispered, "Just play along, alright?"
The ferry-girl frowned, How does she…? Oh…that's right…she kept forgetting that Shizuru had been there when they had first watched Koenma's tape on Tarukane and his mansion. It made sense that she had been able to see the tape too, now that she thought about it; Kazuma always had a knack for spiritual awareness…she guessed it ran in the family. Speaking of family…how many is that now who know about Hiei and Yukina now? She thought to herself, well certainly not Kuwabara, he was to ecstatic to wait until the end of the video—but then there was Yusuke and Mai…and Kurama probably knew as well…
She glanced towards Keiko who had been talking with the ice-apparition cheerfully. For a second she thought that maybe she could risk telling her…
Until Hiei's voice popped into her head.
Go ahead and tell her, he dared venomously; I'll enjoy torturing you to death if you do…
Botan paled, "Well it doesn't help that I'm a blabbermouth and he's a telepath!" she shouted suddenly. The other three girls stared at her oddly.
"What was that, Botan?" Keiko wondered uncertainly.
The ferry-girl blinked, "Wha? Oh…eh-heh—nothing! It was nothing!" she insisted, suddenly frantic as she waved her hands as if to brush away the thought.
Yukina found herself staring over the crowd when her eyes suddenly caught sight of the screen plastered along the arena walls. She murmured something under her breath when she saw Kuwabara's face along the giant television. Quickly, she made her way through the hoard of demons, but found that she couldn't get any closer. The three girls behind her saw her stuck, and instantly, Shizuru stepped next to her.
For a moment, the older girl stared down at the ice-apparition. Judging by the look on her face, Shizuru guessed that she really did care for her baby brother…no matter how stupid he was at times. She smiled briefly before she turned quickly towards the group of demons.
"MOVE!" she barked sharply at the crowd. The demons scurried instantaneously off to the sides as they were abruptly terrified. Satisfied, the older girl gestured for Yukina and the others that the space was now open. They blinked in surprise and in unison.
Shizuru sure could be scary sometimes…
-:-
"What the hell are we going to do?" Yusuke muttered to Kurama, "He can't even make it to the center of the ring—and if he dies, we're all screwed!"
The redhead shook his head sadly, "Unfortunately, Kuwabara really doesn't stand much of a chance; but at least this fight might buy us some time to consider our options. Maybe I might have recovered some of my spirit energy by the time it's over…"
From the center of the ring, Risho folded his arms over his chest and smirked in amusement, "Do you need one of you teammates to help you?" he taunted, "I'm sure I'll enjoy it just as much if I get to kill two of you pathetic fools."
Kazuma gritted his teeth and forced himself to straighten his stance, "Shut up…" he growled.
The team leader smirked, "Why don't you just forfeit now and save yourself the pain?" he offered mockingly, which caused the redhead to swell with even more fury.
Before he could do anything drastic, Koto quickly stepped up to the center of the ring, "So it's decided! The next match of the Dark Tournament is Risho from team Masho and Kuwabara from team Urameshi! Fighters ready? BEGIN!"
Immediately, Kazuma raised his hand out in front of him, trying to summon his spirit sword. But to his horror, the only thing that remained of his sword was a small fizzle of energy that quickly died away.
"Aw, shit—" he muttered, but was suddenly cut off as Risho charged towards him and slammed him straight into the arena floor.
-:-
Sakyo closed his eyes calmly as he abruptly stood. The gambler made his way up the staircase to where Toguro stood beneath the arch of one of the tunnels. As he passed him, the demon followed after him without so much as a word.
"You wouldn't mind doing something for me, would you?" Sakyo asked pleasantly, but the demon didn't answer. In turn, the gambler took that as a 'yes'.
-:-
"What do you mean you can't let us in?" Botan demanded of the guard, "We only came out for a minute!"
He shrugged, "It's not my fault you don't have a ticket," he told them simply.
Yukina stared down at the ground, "This is my fault, isn't it?"
The older brunette shook her head, "Don't worry about it; we'll get in somehow—"
"Not without a ticket," the guard cut in as he began to smirk deviously, "But I'm sure we could figure something out…just as long as one of you pretty ladies comes with me—"
Out of the blue, Keiko's hand suddenly reached out and slapped the demon across the cheek. And before he could recover, Shizuru quickly kicked him in the stomach. The four girls quickly moved past him and into the entrance beyond, but it wasn't long until they heard the footfalls of the other guards hurrying after them.
-:-
With a sickening thud, Kuwabara's body crashed into the arena floor. A trail of blood could be seen where his body had traveled. It took all that he could to raise himself to his feet once again, even though his shoulders were hunched from the strain he was putting on his body.
"It's a miracle he's still standing," Kurama noted quietly to his other teammates. Both Yusuke and Mai agreed grimly, but said nothing; it was bad enough Kuwabara couldn't conjure up his spirit sword…they were lucky to have him standing at this point.
Ruka's head suddenly snapped to the side when she unexpectedly felt Hiei's spirit energy exploding around him. Her eyes grew wide in horror when she saw the eerie purple aura pulsating through his body. The masked fighter glanced up calmly at the apparition before turning her attention back towards the arena where the redhead continued to be beaten to a pulp.
"You're planning on making your move if Kuwabara loses, aren't you?" she inquired casually.
He clenched his fists threateningly, "What if I am? Get in my way and I swear I'll kill you along with the rest of this damn stadium," his eyes flashed dangerously, "I'm not leaving without a war."
Kazuma's body tumbled across the tiled floor suddenly. After a moment, the redhead shakily raised himself to his hands as knees while Risho stepped in front of him; waiting to make his next move.
"Dammit, why can't I use my spirit sword?" he demanded of himself, only to hear the team leader snort in amusement.
"Your body is using it as a last defense to keep you alive," he informed him just as a glint flashed over his eyes, "If it even spared enough for you to make a knife, you would simply collapse—" The apparition instantly landed the redhead with a powerful punch to the gut; sending him flying across the arena, "Like now!"
-:-
Sakyo peered around the room in dry amusement as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. Lighting it, he stared down at the floor that had been drenched in crimson blood. Toguro stood only a few feet away, observing the blood that now stained his fingers. Absently, the demon flicked it off with little interest.
As the gambler looked at all the bloodied bodies, he noticed Butajiri's not too far away. He calmly walked towards it and nudged his limp head with a foot. His glazed eyes stared up blankly at the ceiling as the wound along his forehead reopened thanks to the movement.
"Well now that that's taken care of…" Sakyo mused as he moved closer towards the window and glanced down into the arena, "Maybe Urameshi may be able to win this match."
Toguro placed his hands in his pockets, "…If they couldn't have pulled this off, they wouldn't have been worth fighting anyway…"
-:-
"Six!" Koto shouted, but paused suddenly as the redhead began to stir. His teammates winced as the sickening crack of his bones echoed through the crowd.
"Somebody's got to stop him," Mai said quietly, "He'll kill himself if he keeps this up—!" but even as she was speaking, Risho seemed to be thinking exactly the same thing as he purposely stepped down from the platform.
The demon smirked malevolently, "You have more endurance than I thought…I guess that means you'll have the honor of witnessing my personal technique before you die!"
Suddenly, the earth began to quake violently. Without enough energy to support herself, Mai collapsed onto her knees only to have Yusuke and Kurama quickly follow after her (but whether or not it was on accident was questionable). Each of them were surprised to find Kuwabara still standing in the center of the ring despite the shuddering of the ground. But then the earth around Risho almost seemed to explode as towers of dirt and gravel rose up around him.
The wall of earth blocked the apparition from their view. That is until the dirt settled back into the ground to reveal Risho covered in a stone-like armor acquired from the ground. Spikes protruded from the body armor that covered his chest and even his head. And from beneath his helmet, the leader smirked.
Without even giving Kazuma a warning, he suddenly leapt into the air above the ring while large clumps of dirt flew up with him.
Only an instant later, Risho, dove swiftly towards the earth and straight towards Kuwabara. The redhead shifted his stance to try and endure the attack. But with the demon and the bullets of earth charging at him, he soon found himself thrown backwards by the force.
His body crashed into the tiled flooring causing a crater to form. It took longer this time, but eventually he was able to rise shakily off the ground and back onto his feet.
Despite this, it was clear that he wouldn't be able to stand another attack.
-:-
"Well this is a problem," Botan said under her breath to the older girl beside her. Surrounding them were, at a very minimum, a dozen or so guards. But without answering her, Shizuru suddenly lashed out with her fist at the nearest demon, causing him to stumble backwards.
"Run, dammit!" she ordered just as she went after another one of the guards. It took a moment before the other three girls nodded swiftly and hurried down the hall as Kazuma's sister held off their pursuers.
As they raced down the corridor and turned a corner, they suddenly found themselves stopping in place. Yukina nearly felt her heart stop as she took an involuntary step backwards.
Toguro's eyes flashed briefly over the girls before he merely side-stepped them all, "I'd run along, if I were you," was all he said to them. They could only stare after him as he disappeared down the hallway, but the ice-apparition couldn't help but remember everything that happened at Tarukane's mansion…it sent a shiver down her spine, but she quickly shook it off as Keiko and Botan started back down the corridor towards the raging crowds.
Sakyo quirked an eyebrow slightly when he turned the corner towards the commotion. Casually, he placed his hands in his pockets and approached the guards holding back the tall brunette.
"You can let her go," he told them, "She's with me."
The guards glanced uncertainly at one another before shrugging and walking back towards their posts. Shizuru straightened her vest and muttered something under her breath before turning towards the handsome gambler. Not even saying a word to her, he fished out another cigarette from his pocket and handed it to her.
She took it warily and let him light it, "Thanks…"
-:-
Risho clenched his fists at his side, "Dammit, why the hell won't you give up already?" he demanded furiously at the redhead who continued to stand.
His breath came out ragged, but yet he was still able to hold his stance, "Because…" he heaved, "We only need one more fight to move on…"
The apparition smirked now, "You're using up all your life energy you know; you're going to die in just this next attack…"
Kuwabara gritted his teeth, "Well as long as I take you down with me, it won't matter," he growled. He found himself straining to gather the last remaining ounces of energy from his body just so that he could conjure up an attack. Even so, he felt himself draining quickly of his strength before there was nearly enough.
Damn…he thought, and instinctively found himself glancing over his teammates grimly. Despite himself, he let out a hollow chuckle; at least if he was going down, he'd go down in style…
His eyes met with each of his team members and he sighed, Hiei, you're a little punk, and you always said mean stuff to me but I know underneath all that junk you're a good guy. Kurama, you taught me a lot with the things you've said, there's nobody more caring than you, he paused and glanced towards the tent again, Woman fighter person you saved those guys from Dr. Ichigaki and that means a lot, you didn't say much but somehow I really feel like I know you. Mai, well, you've just been a great friend in general… And Urameshi...Urameshi, take care of the rest of the tournament for me…
In front of him, Risho suddenly jumped into the air again and began to gather up the clumps of rock and dirt around him. Kazuma clenched his fists at his side and switched his stance so that as the apparition plummeted towards the earth again, the redhead raced to meet him.
With a rough collision, Kuwabara was able to hold Risho back even while keeping his footing. But the force of his attack caused the redhead to slide backwards. The demon would not let up, however, and he soon found his strength quickly wearing thin.
Unexpectedly, the redhead found his thoughts wandering towards Yukina; her pretty face and angelic features (for a moment, he even went into a type of daze) Wait a second! Why am I thinking about Yukina? Well, she is beautiful...he sighed inwardly, I'm sorry, my love, I wish you could be here to watch me fight—
"Kazuma!"
Kuwabara blinked suddenly. That was weird…he could have sworn he heard someone call out his name. And besides Mai (at times), the only person who called him by his first name was—
"Yukina!"
Both Yusuke and the guardian sat blinking in amazement. Well that was just plain creepy…
"I don't think I'll understand that guy…" the detective thought aloud as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I mean, I knew he had spiritual awareness, but that 'Yukina Sense' of his is just a little freaky."
The redhead abruptly was able to throw Risho off his flight pattern and disrupt his attack. The demon staggered backwards in surprise while Kuwabara quickly scanned the crowd for the ice-apparition. In—what probably would have been a world record—he spotted her as well and Keiko and Botan standing in the front row of seats not too far away.
He pranced quickly towards the concrete wall and waved enthusiastically up at her, "Hey! Yukina! Did you come to watch me and my mad skills?" he called to the apparition while he struck several body-building poses. Yukina smiled and let out a small giggle—which was more than enough to satisfy the ecstatic redhead.
Risho recovered quickly and gritted his teeth, "Let's finish this fight, dammit!"
The ice apparition suddenly turned her head, "Kazuma!"
He quickly switched his attention back to the fight—but not before sending Yukina a final grin, "I'll finish this one for you, baby!" he shouted to her. His fists clenched at his side as Risho charged towards him, and even he was amazed at how fast his energy unexpectedly returned to him. Kuwabara's teammates watched in near awe as his body was surrounded in an unbelievable aura; exploding with enough energy that would have surprised them even if he had been at full health.
Clenching his fist, a flash of energy shot through his hand and formed into his spirit sword. It might have just been an illusion, but for some reason it looked a lot bigger…
But before anyone could comprehend it, Risho was only a few feet away from the redhead. Overcome with new strength, Kuwabara raised his sword over his head and swiftly brought it down onto his opponent. Time seemed to stand still as the energy merely sliced straight through his armor—but thanks to the force of the blow, the apparition was sent flying backwards into the stadium causing the concrete wall around him to crumble.
Kazuma made a quick motion with his sword as he "sheathed" it along his belt. The energy disappeared and he heaved a sigh of relief. His weariness was suddenly overcome when he remembered Yukina and almost instantly, he skipped back over towards the stands.
"Hey! How was that? Did your man deliver or what?" he shouted enthusiastically up at her as Koto made her way to the center of the ring.
"One! Two! Three!" she shouted while Kazuma continued to show off to the ice-apparition, "Four!"
"Kuwabara the count!" both Yusuke and Mai shouted in unison, but it took a moment for the redhead to understand what they were talking about. When it finally did click, he started and swore under his breath as he staggered back to the ring.
He panted and placed his hands on his knees as the fox-demon finished her count.
"Annnnd ten!" she shouted and gestured towards the one side of the arena, "Winner of this match—team Urameshi!"
Yusuke stepped into the ring and walked up to Kuwabara who now stood hunched over after realizing the toll taken out on his body. Grinning, the detective slapped in along the back, "Way to pull through, buddy!" he congratulated—only to blink guiltily when the redhead toppled over from exhaustion.
The guardian couldn't help but conceal a small laugh…that is until her gaze found Hiei and the masked fighter (now freed from Ruka's force field). She had to blink a few times when she caught sight of the expression along his face. Uncertainly, she made her way towards them.
"Are you worried Yukina's here?" Mai asked.
Hiei snapped almost immediately to attention, but he soon covered up his surprise, "Hn, I could care less…just as long as she doesn't know who I am," his eyes flashed warningly, "Tell her, onna, and I'll be enjoying every minute I spend shoving this katana down your throat…"
She smiled despite his threat, "Don't worry about it…I won't tell; you have my word," she insisted and placed her hand over her heart almost teasingly. The apparition glowered, but without another word, she saw him make his way towards the tunnel out of the stadium.
For a moment, she stared after him worriedly, but then shook her head.
"Are you doing any better?" Genkai asked suddenly without glancing her way.
The guardian held her arm with a hand and stared up at the two boys on the platform in front of her, "Yeah…I'm fine…"
-:-
"That was some fight, Kazuma…" the ice-apparition noted as she gently wrapped a bandage around his arm. After tying the knot, she smiled up at him cheerfully, "There…is that any better?"
A furious blush formed at his cheeks and he nodded shortly. After getting rid of his embarrassment, he abruptly gripped Yukina's hand in his, "Yeah of course it is…everything is better when you're around!"
Oblivious, she could only nod and smile up at him. Kuwabara grinned foolishly and proudly flexed his arms for her while the sun slowly began to fade beyond the horizon.
Mai watched the pair with a small smile from beyond the tree limbs. With a sigh, however, she removed herself from their conversation and absently weaved in and out of the trees. She inattentively fingered the bandage along her arm.
Without paying much attention, the forest had disappeared behind her and she found herself standing along a cliff-side hanging over the ocean below. She blinked into the sunlight and stared off vaguely at the horizon. Mai sighed again just as she felt something brush against her shoulder. Glancing up, she noticed a single feather floating down next to her.
Curiosity piqued her interest and she gently grasped the plume within her fingers. She realized with a start that it was similar to the ones that had floated around her during her fight with Touya. The guardian stared at it blankly before she clenched it in her fist. Unexpectedly, she felt tears forming in her eyes. What was happening to her? With a pain that tugged at her heart, she couldn't help but think about her fight with Touya—
The last thing she had cried was Yusuke's name…
She blinked quickly and a pearly tear rolled down her cheek before dripping into the white feather in her hands. On instinct, her hand seemed to reach up and cover the area of her heart…what…what was wrong with her? For a moment, she merely stared down at the feather; her mind beginning to wander aimlessly. The guardian could feel the immense power pulsing within her and she shivered; it almost scared her…she didn't want to have what happened with her fight earlier to happen again. Gods, she was so sure that she was going to die and that feeling scared her.
Mai suddenly staggered dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. She quickly caught herself and blinked in surprise. The girl's hand went to her head and she frowned when her skin made contact with the heat resonating from her forehead.
She forced a weak laugh, that's what's wrong…she decided I've probably gotten myself sick; it's making me think like an idiot…
Sighing, her hand slowly released the snow-white plume that she held in her hands. The feather drifted in the air for but a moment before a gust of wind carried it off the cliff and over the ocean below. But when the tears continued to form in her violet-speckled eyes, she started to gaze absently into the churning water.
…She remembered something else—from her fight with Touya…
…Along with the power that nearly tore her apart…she remembered the feathers that swirled around her…
And a single pair of wings…
But not only that, but she remembered that only one thought continuously crossed her mind during that point: what would Yusuke do if she died? Not how Kurama would feel…not what would happen to her teammates…but…
The guardian covered her face with her hands as the tears began to stream down her face.
In almost a horrified whisper, she asked herself softly "What's….what's happening to me…?"
-:-
a/n: wow, this is probably the earliest I've been able to post a chapter in awhile…that's kind of weird…
Ah, but since kitkat is feeling very very nauseous, she better go to bed (wow, I'm talking in third person again—which isn't abnormal for those of you who know me) I hope you guys enjoyed; there won't be any fighting for about two or three chapters (which I'm secretly glad of; I was actually getting bored with it myself—but now on to the drama!)
SPIRIT BEAST PEOPLE! NOT MANY OF YOU HAVE GIVEN ME SUGGESTIONS :SNIFFLE: BUT I NEED TO KNOW SOON!I have ideas either way, but if you want Mai to have a spirit beast, you better speak up now, cuz I'm going to have to know after this next chapter!
Ciao!