DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH and unfortunately never will—however Mai and all my original characters—as well as twists to the original plotline are also mine—
STAY AWAY!
a/n: okay, well I just have nothing to do (except for probably reading my book report book, but that can always wait, right?) anywhos…
This chapter may seem a bit repetitive, and so I apologize in advance (not to mention it will be a little short…)
Cookies to my reviewers!
Little Sakura 87: Haha, very good question…(it actually took me awhile to sort this out) but you'll find out in a couple chapters (hopefully—I'll try and clear that up as soon as I can…it will especially be confusing in this chapter :nervous laugh:)
Umeko Saito: You really think so? Hm, interesting…LoL, well I'm glad you liked! (I'm sorry your parents think vacations during spring break are sins, though, LoL)
Shadowkitsune7: AWWW! Thank you!
Sarah1281: LMAO! For some reason, I can totally see Genkai doing that…creepy…
WiteLighter-Death: Thanks…but actually I don't know what you mean…hm…
LOL, and for those who didn't catch Sarah1281's little "scenario" I'll just put it in here for fun:
Yusuke comes out of the cave bleeding heavily and in severe pain to see Genkai sitting in a tree...playing solitaire on her computer.
"GRANDMA!"
"Oh, uh, yeah...don't give up Yusuke..." she says, not looking up.
"I'm in pain here and you're playing SOLITAIRE!"
"Yes, I'm playing against Toguro."
"How the hell does THAT work?"
"Uh, hey guys, remember me?" Mai limps up to them, holding her bleeding stomach.
"Yeah...you might want to use bleach on that..." Genkai says, resuming her game.
"It's nice to know we have such a caring teacher..." Yusuke comments.
Haha, anyway—
On to the chapter!
Thoughts/Flashback
With Every Drop of Blood
:Stuck:
Mai's body shook violently as each shot of pain raced through her. Her tears mixed with raindrops streaming down her face and dropped from her chin. One hand nearly clawed at her stomach while the other clenched the mud between her fingers.
She heaved deeply while she tried to clinch her eyes past the pain.
"Please…Yusuke…don't give up on me…"
The guardian grimaced painfully and suddenly screamed as another wave of pain swept over her. She gasped for breath while her tears continued to stream furiously down her cheeks.
"…Please…please don't die…"
-:-
The detective writhed in agony along the cavern floor as his screams filled the air around him. Genkai watched silently a little ways away as he continued to suffer under the spirit orb.
He grunted painfully and heaved in a breath of air as he suddenly whirled around to face the stone wall. His hands gripped at it so ferociously that the rocks were starting to crack. Yusuke abruptly rammed his skull into the cavern wall, creating a crater around his head. He did it again and again until it was almost as if the wall was going to collapse.
But no matter what he did, the pain would not subside. Blood trickled down his arms and from the corner of his mouth. He gritted his teeth and desperately clutched the tiny rocks between his fingers, crushing them almost instantly.
The detective screamed again and gripped his head between his hands.
"Please…Yusuke…don't give up on me…"
Mai…
Why was he thinking about her now? (The pain he was trying to endure steadily began to increase for some reason—be he didn't seem to notice). Dammit, he had to get through this; he couldn't afford to give up.
Not when she was waiting for him.
His knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists furiously.
Without warning, however, the pain suddenly erupted through him; greater and more agonizing than before. It felt as though he was on fire; like his body was slowly ripping apart. And Yusuke screamed again.
-:-
Unexpectedly, Mai gasped and nearly fell forward (had her hand not caught her before then). She blinked in surprise and stared at the ground before her. Rain continued to fall around her with a quiet pitter-patter…only now; Mai's screams were not among them.
"…What…the hell…?" she breathed.
The pain within her was suddenly gone—as quickly as it had come, it was gone.
But something told her she was the lucky one.
Without giving any thought to it, the guardian was suddenly onto her feet. She staggered only for a moment, but then she found herself racing blindly through the pouring rain around her.
Tree branches whipped mercilessly at her face and legs, but her only thoughts were on the path she was running. Genkai had told her not to interfere, but this was something she couldn't ignore; this was something she couldn't let Yusuke do alone.
…For once—gods for once let me protect you, Yusuke…Let me be your guardian just once!
Without warning, her foot caught on a tree root and she fell sprawling forward into the mud. Mai winced as she slid across the ground. When she had resided from the shock, she began to pant heavily. And using a nearby tree as support, the guardian shakily rose to her feet. She leaned up against the trunk as her tears sprung forth once again.
But through the storm, Mai heard Urameshi's indistinguishable screams of pain. Her eyes widened and she stared after the sound.
…Yusuke…
"Don't…don't give up…" she whispered as she took a shaky step forward. Her legs trembled violently after having her energy zapped from her. The guardian placed a hand over her abdomen as she steadily made her way towards Yusuke's cries.
With each step, her foot sunk deep into the mud and she swayed precariously.
"You wouldn't give up on me…" she wheezed and blinked through the rain, "So…Yusuke…I won't give up on you…"
-:-
Shishiwakamaru quirked an eyebrow at the apparition in amusement, "You think so?" he challenged, "You think that you'll have the honor of fighting one of us a second time?"
"Hn, I'd hardly call that a fight—let alone an honor…" Hiei growled.
The Uraotogi leader smirked, "Well it's the luck of the dice, isn't it?"
With that, he flicked his wrist and the pair of dice clattered along the arena floor. Juri shuffled over towards them and glanced down at the kanji symbols on them.
"Well it looks like it's Kuro Momotaro from Uraotogi!" the blue-haired demon cheered, but then frowned briefly as she turned towards the opposite team, "Unfortunately, it looks as though Mai from team Urameshi isn't present—so the fight is up in the air, boys!"
But Hiei—who had not moved from the ring—refused to budge, "It's mine then," he told her monotonously.
Across from him, a blonde-haired demon stepped forward. He wore a white bandana around his head and spheres marked with spades along his belt.
Hiei fingered the hilt of his katana in anticipation, "This should be fun…"
-:-
Genkai sighed heavily as she watched the detective roll along the ground. His chest heaved dangerously as his eyes grew wide in his agony. Blood seeped from Urameshi's pores and at the corner of his mouth.
Almost with an air of disappointment, the older woman knelt next to the detective and rolled him onto his back.
"I'm sorry, Yusuke…you shouldn't have to go through this…you're still not ready," she sighed, "I should have known before that you were too young…"
She placed her hands over his chest, and slowly the spirit orb appeared above the detective's flesh. Genkai sighed again and lifted the orb into her hands.
"I'm sorry, Yusuke—"
"Yo, old hag!" he suddenly grunted and his hand gripped onto her wrist, "Give…that…back!"
"Don't be an ass!" she retorted angrily, "Dammit, there still might be time to put this off!" she held the orb firm in her hands; unwilling to give it up. But Urameshi suddenly wrenched it away from her.
"Give it back, you old bitch! I'm going to finish this whether you like it or not!" determination burned in his eyes as he pulled the orb towards him, "Screw it if I die against Toguro! But I'm not going down without taking that bastard with me!"
With that, he shoved the orb back into his body. He sat up on all fours; anticipating the next wave of agony that would sweep over him. In only an instant, the detective's body began to shudder and he gritted his jaw and groaned. Through his teeth, blood dribbled onto the cavern floor. It wasn't long at all before another one of his screams filled the air.
Genkai stared at him in a mix of wonderment and astonishment, before she hung her head and sighed. She rose to her feet and turned, only to stop in mid-step.
The guardian stood at the mouth of the tunnel. She was drenched to the bone and her hair fell in front of her face. But her eyes were unmistakably locked on Yusuke in sheer horror. Those violet-speckled eyes of hers were wide and seemed to brim with tears. Her body looked as though she was begin weighed down; her shoulders slumped and her knees were beginning to buckle.
Slowly, she shook her head and took a staggering step forward.
This was his final test then…
…He had to survive Genkai's spirit orb…
And if he failed…if he failed, he would leave her alone…she would be a guardian without anything to guard. He would leave her to face this world alone.
What the hell were you thinking Yusuke…? What were you thinking when you did this?
Did you even think about what would happen if you failed?
Did you…did you think about the fact that you could die…?
"You're…so selfish, Yusuke…" she whispered suddenly at his writhing form, "…How could you do this to me…? You knew there was the chance that you could die…" she paused and her eyes almost went blank, "…the chance that…that you would leave me alone—gods you're such an ass…"
The older woman noticed her hands ball up at her sides and the hurt shimmering in her eyes.
Mai gritted her teeth and hung her head as Yusuke screamed again; his voice echoing eerily through the cavern. He grunted as he smashed his head into the wall for the countless time in his attempt to rid himself of his agony.
A tear rolled down the guardian's cheek.
"YOU'RE SUCH AN ASS, URAMESHI!"
-:-
Kuro folded his arms over his chest, "So Onji…are you sure he can't use that dragon of his?" he asked the old man under his breath.
The corner of his mouth curved into a small smirk, "Don't worry…he's too weak to call the Dragon of the Darkness Flame."
He smirked as he fingered the hilt of a small dagger at his side, "Good," he muttered as he walked calmly towards the center of the ring. Hiei watched him coldly as the demon approached him.
Without stopping, Momotaro promptly kicked Makintaro's body out of the ring. His blood left a smeared trail along the arena and the sidelines where his body settled.
Juri quickly made her way to the center of the ring and raised her hand above her head, "It's settled then—let the match BEGIN!"
Almost immediately, Kuro whipped out the dagger from his belt. His eyes never left the apparition as he sliced the knife across his arm. Kuro winced as blood trickled over his skin and down his hand. His eyes stared down at the blood-stained metal. With another smirk, he calmly licked the blade.
Hiei cocked an eyebrow, "That wasn't very hygienic you know…"
Momotaro snorted as he sheathed his sword and grabbed one of the spheres along his belt, "Hell, it's worth it for what it'll do for me in the end…say hell to my first Steaming Sphere."
Kuro crushed the sphere with his fist and there was suddenly a hissing sound emitting from it. A trail of steam flowed out from the orb and the demon inhaled the smoke deeply. Hiei noticed the wound along his arm slowly begin to heal and close up—and also the face that he started to grow fur.
The apparition furrowed his brow, "Sorry, but the spot of babbling monkey has already been taken by the baka over there."
His opponent glowered as the steam began to subside—only to reveal the new ape-like demon in front of him, "This is my Beast Armor of the Ape."
"So that's it…" Kurama said quietly, "Those spheres contain the essences of animalistic qualities that Kuro Momotaro can change into."
Kuwabara on the other hand remained confused, "Wait, what the hell did he mean by 'the spot of babbling monkey has already been taken'?"
Hiei flicked the hilt of his sword with his thumb—and before anyone could follow his swift movements; he vanished and suddenly reappeared inches away from Kuro with his sword drawn. He instantly swiped at his opponent's arm, only to have the blade shatter on contact after a brief chock of electricity raced along its metal.
As the apparition landed back onto the tile flooring, he glanced—almost unhappily—at his broken katana then to the unscathed Kuro before him. Then he cast the hilt away and shrugged.
"Ah well…I'd prefer killing you with my own hands anyway…" he told him rather casually. But a glint suddenly flashed across his crimson eyes and he disappeared a second time…only now, Momotaro did the same; matching Hiei's movements.
Unfortunately, this caught him off guard—especially when he went in to punch Kuro in the stomach. His opponent caught his head between both his hands and suddenly whipped the apparition at the ground. Hiei collided with the edge of the ring, causing the concrete to crumble as he skidded across the sidelines and created a crater in his wake.
Kuro sauntered towards the edge of the ring and folded his arms over his chest smugly, "You should know…my body can remember the pain of my opponents; when I use the Steaming Spheres I become immune to those attacks…"
-:-
Mai absently tapped the light bulb with her eraser as she stared lazily out the window where the sun was just beginning to set. Sighing, she dropped her pencil and scooted out of her seat and headed towards it.
As she sat along the sill, she noticed storm clouds beginning to gather on the horizon…damn, it was going to rain soon. Above all else, she hated the rain with a passion.
She blinked after a pause; she just remembered that she needed fix that hole in the wall from the little "bathroom incident". Yusuke and Kuwabara—of course—hadn't shown up for almost a week, leaving her to clean up their mess. Mai pouted briefly; dammit, those two could be so selfish sometimes…but at the same time, she didn't think they really meant to be.
The guardian laughed inwardly. It was an odd sort of selfishness though: they were usually selfish for the sake of others.
Which didn't make a lick of sense.
A devious glint suddenly passed over her eyes; well the good news was that the next time she did see them, she'd have a perfect chance and or reason for beating the crap out of them—
Bang. Bang. Bang!
Mai blinked and after a moment frowned as well. She rose from the windowsill and made her way towards the door. She creaked it open and poked her head through into the hallway, glancing around uncertainly.
Again, she blinked in surprise to find someone sitting in the hallway…working on the hole in the bathroom wall…
"What are you doing?"
Yusuke glanced up at her with a roll of scotch tape sticking out of his mouth, "Hm? Oh…" he took the tape out of his mouth, "Nothing."
The guardian crossed her arms and moved towards him, "I thought you and Kazuma had ditched out of this little project…"
He shrugged, "Well Kuwabara did…the wuss…" he muttered.
Mai glanced at his handiwork for a moment as the detective tried to smooth out a strip of tape surrounding the hole, "You really suck at this," she informed him blandly and she noticed him scowl.
"Yeah, well—would you like to do it then?" he grumbled.
"No, I'm good," she told him simply as she sat against the opposite wall and stared at the rather crappy repairs done to the hole, "You missed a spot."
"I know," he replied as he started to work again, "I did that on purpose…"
…
Anyone could have heard the loud smack that followed.
Mai turned her head away from him and glanced down the hall, "You're such an ass, Urameshi…" she mumbled.
He unrolled a strip of tape and ripped it with his teeth, but didn't answer her. Mai scowled and jabbed him in the shoulder, "Hey! I just called you an ass! Urameshi—!"
She was suddenly cut off as the roll of tape smacked her in the face. The guardian blinked in surprise, but Yusuke hadn't appeared to look up from his work. After a moment, an artery began to pulse in her temple just as the detective turned with a sly grin.
"Whoops, it slipped…" he told her innocently.
For some reason, she couldn't get herself to reply (probably because she was so furious) and Yusuke busied himself again.
There was a long pause that filled between them.
"You know…" he started to say, "You're not the pick of the crop either…"
Her eye began to tick, "Excuse me?"
He turned and noticed how pissed she looked—but nonetheless he shrugged, "Well you're not…really…" he said simply and she caught a smile playing at his lips, "You can be a bit of an ass yourself sometimes."
Mai blinked again and watched as he plastered the strip of tape along one of the cracks in the wall. She stared at him in near-disbelief before she furrowed her brow. Scuttling across the hall, she turned him around by the shoulder and prodded him in the chest with a finger.
"I may be an ass sometimes," she said, "But you're stuck with me."
The detective watched her for a moment before he noticed her gaze soften slightly. He then saw a smile curve along her lips.
"So deal with it."
She plopped down against the wall as Yusuke began to smile as well. He shook his head as he pulled at another strip of tape. Once again, he busied himself with his project and another silence filled the void between them. Urameshi paused and rolled his shoulders casually.
"Is that a promise?"
Mai blinked, "What?"
He set his tools on the ground and turned to face the guardian, "That you're stuck with me…is that a promise?"
The girl blinked again, wondering if he was joking, but he looked completely serious. Well, when she had said that, she had been partially kidding—while Yusuke looked like he really wanted to know.
After a moment, she grinned and placed her hands behind her head, "Yup, and probably for life depending on how long you keep this tantei job…"
Urameshi paused briefly then he smiled wryly, "Well I guess I'm screwed then; this job is the one thing I've been good at and I'm not giving that up."
She smiled also and closed her eyes, "That's good to know," she told him. There was another silence that came between them—but only before Mai heard him shifting and she opened an eye to find him sitting next to her. Neither of them said anything for awhile as they both stared at the detective's handiwork.
"I'm not really an ass, am I?" he asked.
Mai sent him a curious glance, but then she laughed, "Sometimes," she admitted and paused, "But you really should know…your repairs suck."
Yusuke smirked and rolled his shoulders again, "Well…the good news is, Kuwabara's going to have to do a hell of a lot more if he wants to watch you shower," he cocked his head to find the guardian scowling. He laughed and folded his hands behind his head casually.
She paused again and stared at the "repaired" hole.
After a moment, she turned her head towards the detective, "Kazuma can still get through that, you know…"
He smirked without looking at her, "Would you like to help then?"
The guardian smiled and laughed as she leaned forwards a little bit, "Yup, besides…
"You're stuck with me, remember?"
-:-
Mai clenched her eyes shut forcefully as the detective screamed again. Her nails dug into her palms and her tears trickled down the side of her face. His screams echoed against the cavern walls and almost seemed to cause the stone to tremble. The guardian heard him choke as he coughed blood up onto the floor beneath him.
She couldn't bear to watch him; she couldn't bear to watch him suffer and die!
I…I want to help you, Yusuke…gods I want to help you so much…
"But you are not to interfere."
What kind of crappy rule was that? If Yusuke died, there would be nothing for her to live for anymore—
It wouldn't be worth it to live if he died!
"…don't give up on m e, Yusuke…" she whispered and hung her head, "…not you…don't you give up now…"
Her fists clenched painfully as a tear plummeted to the ground. Beside her, Genkai watched the guardian with an unreadable expression.
"DON'T DIE ON ME, YUSUKE!"
-:-
Keiko blinked suddenly, "Oh! I completely forgot about Puu and Hywein! I left them both in hotel room alone!"
The other girls waited patiently as the brunette hurried back down the hallway. She quickly made her way back to the room to find both spirit beasts in the same place they had left them earlier.
"There you guys are—!" Keiko cut herself off suddenly when she noticed an expression of worry across Puu's face and—what appeared to be—a look of sorrow along Hywein's, "Oh…" he voice softened and she stared out the window with them as the rain steadily began to die down.
She bit her lip worriedly, before she sighed and carefully gathered the two creatures in her arms. She watched them nervously and glanced through the window a final time.
"I hope those two are alright…" she quietly said aloud.
-:-
The apparition cursed darkly under his breath as he lifted himself back to his feet. There was a crater that had formed around him, and he stared at it distastefully.
Shit…
Above him on the ring, Kuro began to smirk in a taunting fashion. He folded his arms over his chest and stared down at Hiei, "Why don't you make this fight a bit more interesting…? Bring out the
Dragon of the Darkness Flame and let's see how exciting this match can get."
Hiei's eyes never left his opponent, he growled under his breath—only because this bastard was getting on his nerves. But without missing a beat, his hand quickly went to the bandana along his forehead. He tore it off, only to reveal the glowing Jagan from beneath.
His eyes narrowed dangerously, "Remember…you're the one who asked for it."
Without warning, a tremendous amount of energy enveloped the apparition in a steamy, purple haze. The demons in the stands—that had also started to cheer for Kuro—went silent almost immediately as Hiei's power almost sent a shiver through the stadium
From the sidelines, Kurama frowned; "Hiei's been severely drained after the last time he used the dragon…" he informed Kuwabara quietly, "He has to summon an extravagant amount of energy to lure the dragon—and now he's hardly even at half strength."
The mist surrounding him grew thicker and thicker until the apparition was hardly visible from beyond. But then he started to crouch low towards the ground while his fist began to emit blue sparks. In a flash, he launched himself at Momotaro and leapt into the air above his opponent. He struck out his fist and a blast of dark blue light shot itself directly into Kuro's face.
Hiei's opponent howled in pain as the apparition touched down onto the arena floor.
Kazuma frowned, "…Um…was that just me, or did his attack look nothing like a dragon?"
The redhead folded his arms, "No, Hiei didn't use the Dragon of the Darkness Flame at all…it's the flame of the human world; the Fist of the Mortal Flame."
"Hn," the apparition stared darkly at Kuro, "I had no need to waste the flame of the underworld on the likes of you…" he informed him.
But suddenly, Momotaro began to laugh. The smoke surrounding him cleared away to reveal the demon hadn't even been scratched by Hiei's attack.
"You idiot!" he chuckled darkly, "You just wasted an attack—especially now that my body has memorized it, there's no way it will be able to work on me!"
And without giving Hiei a chance to react, he whipped out a second sphere from his belt and crushed it in his fist. The steam wafted around him and he inhaled it immediately. There was a dull glow that radiated from the demon as—instead of fur—feathers began to protrude from his flesh and his skin became a scaly blue.
Hiei shifted his pose and growled under his breath. As Kuro's transformation concluded, the apparition gave him no time to prepare an attack, but instead charged directly at Momotaro. His opponent seemed to match his speed perfectly, and in no time he had caught up with him. Kuro threw a punch straight into Hiei's face and sent him staggering backwards.
He recovered quickly and again charged towards him a second time—only this time, his fists were both giving off a deep, gold glow.
"Double Fists of the Mortal Flame!" he shouted and instantaneously punched Momotaro in the chest.
Kuro gave off a hawk-like screech and stumbled backwards from Hiei's attack. The demon's abdomen was lined with scorch marks and his mouth was open in surprise. But then his body quivered and slowly, his wounds healed up and disappeared; gaining yet another immunity to the apparition's attacks.
He smirked and gave Hiei no warning when he kicked the apparition directly in the face. With his newfound speed, he was quickly able to turn around and punch him in the stomach then pick him up and slam him over his leg.
Hiei was sent drilling into the ground and he grunted in pain. Despite the fact that he couldn't seem to compete with his opponent, he was certainly unwilling to give up so easily.
From across the Urameshi team, Onji watched the fight with a twisted interest, "Hm…" He spoke aloud to any of his teammates, "…Kuro can win—that's for sure…but Hiei is still dangerous and a threat…"
The rest of the Uraotogi team took not of this, even though Kuro did not hear them. Instead, Momotaro randomly drew out a third sphere from his belt and held it aloft in his hand.
"I hope you enjoyed living so far…but I think this next armor will be the last one I'll have to use…" he growled as he suddenly crushed it between his fingers. The mist swirled around him and Kuro breathed it in anticipation; his body taking on a third transformation.
The audience watched as the feathers evaporated from his flesh and were replaced with hair that covered his entire body. Momotaro's ears stretched out from beneath his—now white—hair. Fangs as well as long claws appeared instead of teeth and along his hands.
And the instant that the transformation stopped, Kuro launched himself at his opponent with even more speed than before. Catching the apparition off guard, Hiei was just barely able to dodge the sharp claws that slashed at him. He leapt into the air just as Momotaro's attack came down and crashed into the arena floor.
As Hiei landed back onto the ring, he cursed under his breath when he noticed the claw marks along the front of his shirt. Kuro turned immediately when he realized that he had not actually hit his opponent and prepared for another run at the apparition.
He gritted his teeth and took a step backwards.
Kurama blinked in surprise, "…That's unlike him…" he said suddenly, catching Kuwabara off guard.
"What are you talking about?"
The redhead's eyes never left the apparition, "It has never been like him to back down from an opponent…actually, I've never seen him do it before…"
Hiei's foot suddenly knocked into the hilt of his sword and he glanced down at it briefly before his eyes flashed towards Kuro. He shrugged casually; it was worth a try, he decided. The apparition kicked the edge of the hilt, causing it to flip up into his hand.
He turned back to Momotaro, "Unless you want to die, I'm giving you a final chance to surrender," he quickly glanced down at the hilt in his hand, "Personally, I actually hate this attack; it's devoid of any taste or artistry…"
Kuwabara blinked, "Wow, there's even an attack that's too barbaric for shorty…" he commented aloud.
Kuro sneered, however and appeared as though he would never back down, "Who are you to threaten me?" he demanded, "There's no way that you can possibly win! I'm practically invincible!"
The apparition smirked, "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" he said too quietly for him to hear.
Momotaro suddenly launched himself at Hiei without giving the apparition time to react. In an instant, Kuro's speed had gotten him across the ring and suddenly he was towering over his opponent. He unexpectedly sunk his teeth into his shoulder, causing blood to spill over almost the entire arena.
Hiei's eyes went wide in surprise, but then a moment passed in a near complete silence until he began to chuckle darkly.
A pillar of energy was suddenly protruding from Kuro's back; the same energy that Hiei had used before to summon the Dragon of the Darkness Flame.
In another instant, the apparition flicked his wrist and the pole of energy sliced straight through his opponent. The rest of the audience realized that the energy was glowing from the hilt of Hiei's sword.
"So he did summon the dragon…" Kurama said quietly.
Kuwabara frowned though, glancing at Hiei uncertainly, "But I thought that he was too weak to do that; wouldn't he have died then?"
The redhead nodded slowly, "Yes—at least if he had controlled it using his actual body. Since Hiei used the hilt of his katana, the energy was separate from him and made the attack weaker, but because it was separate, it didn't kill him."
Kazuma eyed the apparition a moment longer before something occurred to him, "Hey! That attack of his was pretty damn close to my spirit sword—and he said that his attack lacked taste an artistry! Were you implying something, Hiei?" he demanded, but his teammate didn't exactly answer.
Juri quickly made her way to the center of the ring and raised her hand above her head, "The winner of the second match, Hiei from team Urameshi!" she announced brightly.
Hiei, on the other hand was staring down at the hilt of his sword unhappily, damn…that attack sucked a whole lot of energy from him…he would actually need to time to recover it he was going to plan on fighting again.
-:-
"Nice shortcut there, Botan…" Shizuru informed her sarcastically.
The ferry-girl sweatdropped and scratched the back of her head as she glanced uncertainly around the forest, "Did I say it was a shortcut? Whoopsie…" she told them nervously.
Shizuru sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Well let's go back to the hotel and start from scratch…it seems like the only thing we can do now."
The other girls nodded. But as they turned to head back towards their starting point, Keiko glanced down at the two spirit beasts in her hands. Both of them looked terrible…
"I wonder what's happening to them…?" she said quietly.
"What was that, Keiko?" Yukina asked her as she turned around.
The brunette started and noticed the ice-apparition watching her. She managed a weak smile and shook her head, "Nothing, I was just talking to myself…"
-:-
Yusuke screamed louder this time, and it was almost as if pieces of rock from the ceiling above trickled onto the cavern floor. His cry of pain echoed through the cave's tunnels and even though the opening to the forest beyond.
His body writhed along the floor of the cave and he continued to smash his skull into any boulder or wall he could get his hands on.
Genkai hung her head and subtly clenched her fists at her side, "Dammit…he might not be able to live through this test if he keeps up like this…"
"…Shut up…"
The older woman blinked in surprise and turned to find Mai with her head hanging low and strands of hair covering her face. The guardian's knuckles were white, and she could have sworn that she saw trickles of blood seeping through her fingers.
"Shut up! He's not going to die!" she shouted, but her voice shook in fear, "He's stronger than that, dammit!"
Her arm almost shook as the older woman watched her.
"It was his choice, Mai," Genkai told her quietly, "I tried already to stop him, but he wanted to go through with his test…"
The old woman watched Yusuke without blinking, her gaze stern.
"Now it's up to him if he decides to live or not…"
-:-
a/n: …
Yes, the dialogue was crappy—but only because I don't remember shit about what Kuro Momotaro sounded/acted like…and probably because I was totally out of it the entire time I was writing this…
And don't ask me why I chose this title for the chapter...maybe it was because of the flashback, but I actually don't know for sure :nervous laugh:
Ah well…
Anyway! Let's hope it gets better by the next chapter, shall we? ESPECIALLY SINCE YOUKO'S COMING OUT! MWAHAHAHAHA!
LoL, anyway…I'm off to do my homework!
Ciao!