DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH (or any lyrics that I may use)—but all my original characters are mine, however.
a/n: T.T WHERE IS EVERYONE:sniffle: I know I changed the title, but still…I was kind of disappointed that hardly any of you reviewed
YOU DON'T HATE ME DO YOU? Kitkat doesn't like to be hated, nuh-uh…
Anyway, cookies to those who did review!
Little Sakura 87: T.T thank you so much! That means a lot to me! (I kind of wish she was a real character too…THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!)
Umeko Saito: LOL, well now you can add Hiei to your group of Rock-Paper-Scissors haters, isn't that right, Hiei? (Hiei: Hn…)
Sarah1281: wow, you had a lot of time on your hands didn't you? LoL, but I can see Kuwabara doing that (and Hiei not having a childhood)
XxXHellzFireAngelXxX: hehe, well right now I'm trying to get it up this weekend—but I don't think I will; I have two tests on Monday that I have to study for…
Thoughts
ForeverFornever II
:Genkai's Strength:
As Mai's body quietly slumped against the base of the tree, the older woman let out a quiet sigh. Turning her back on the pair, she hung her head and stared down at the ground before her. After a moment, she started to make her way through the trees around her.
Just rest now, you two…she murmured mentally…I'll make sure you make it to the final round…
Sighing a second time, she slowly raised her head towards the treetops and closed her eyes.
"At least I can rest in peace now that the final chapter is starting…"
-:-
"Shishi! We love you, Shishi!"
Most likely every single one of the female demons in the audience was screaming at the top of their lungs and waved frantically at the fighter in the center of the ring. Some of them had even brought signs that they hung over the railings all around the stadium. Shishiwakamaru flickered some of them grins—causing them to melt on the spot.
Kuwabara, on the other hand, didn't seem to be enjoying the fact that his opponent was getting so much attention. He gritted his teeth, and clenched his fist—causing a burst of energy to form his sword between his fingers.
"Er—get over yourself and let's get on with this damn fight!" he shouted irritably after having Shishiwakamaru make fun of him earlier.
The demon turned calmly back towards the redhead and smirked, "If you say so…" he told him almost tauntingly. And as Juri made her way towards the center of the ring (finally recovering from the effects of the Idunn Box), he withdrew a gauzy fabric from within his cloak.
"Be prepared, folks!" Juri shouted into the microphone, "The next match is about ready to begin…" she quickly glanced between both fighters before she raised her hand high above her head, "NOW!"
The minute the words escaped her mouth, Kuwabara was instantly charging at Shishi. He lifted his spirit sword over his head and quickly swiped at his opponent—only to have him step away from it effortlessly. The redhead gritted his teeth angrily—this bastard wasn't even trying!
Angrily, he slashed at the demon. But before his sword could come down, Shishiwakamaru leapt into the air above him. And as if magnetically drawn, the fabric he had been holding followed after him and seemed to swirl hypnotically in the air.
But while Kazuma watched it dumbly, it appeared to be suddenly drawn towards him. However, when he finally realized it, the cloak had nearly surrounded him and there was no place for him to run to. The fabric merely wrapped around him as if it were blown by an invisible breeze…
But when the fabric started to blow away, Kuwabara was no where to be seen.
Shishiwakamaru landed back on the arena floor and placed a hand on his hip calmly, "Hm…I wonder where it sent him this time…" he mused aloud before he shrugged, "But I guess we'll never find out. For all we know he could be in an entirely different dimension—or even floating around somewhere in space. But I guess that's what I get for using the Cape of No Return."
-:-
"HOLY CRAP! HOLY CRAP! HOLY CRAP!"
Kuwabara was—simply put—freaking out. Unable to tell where he was—let alone what was going on—all he could do for the time being was scream and pray that whatever was going on would end soon. He felt his body moving unbelievably fast, almost to the point where it seemed he would never stop.
Without warning however, Kazuma suddenly found the ground (or whatever was beneath him) falling away and he was plummeting downwards. He let out a cry of terror—
But it was soon cut short when he slammed down onto the arena floor.
Groaning, he blinked and sat up on his knees; looking pretty confused.
"What the…? AW CRAP I'M IN THE WRONG STADIUM!" he shouted when it finally occurred to him where he was.
And sure enough, Kazuma was sitting right in the middle of the old arena.
He grumbled furiously to himself, "I wasn't even in the ring for five seconds with that bastard and I already lost!" he sighed, "Al least Yukina wasn't there to see me lose—"
"Hey Kuwabara!"
The redhead glanced up to find the four girls standing along the edge of the stands; they all seemed a little confused to see him.
"Aren't you supposed to be with the others?" Botan asked as she nimbly jumped down onto the sidelines with the other girls following her lead, "What in the world are you doing back here? I mean, I understand how we're here; we're lost. But aren't you—"
He instantly began laughing nervously and scratched the back of his neck, "Heh, you see…about that…"
"You lost didn't you?" Shizuru cut him off and was suddenly standing next to him. Her brother didn't answer her right away…so she decided to answer for him. Before Kazuma could even lift a finger, Shizuru had him in a cloud of dust, pounding on him as if there were no tomorrow, "You thought you could just run away from your fight, didn't you? YOU'RE SUCH A WUSS!"
Keiko and Botan glanced at one another nervously as Kuwabara finally emerged from the brawl; bruised and severely beaten.
He limped over towards the ice apparition nearby and grinned goofily, "Oh Yukina…can you heal Kazuma's itty bitty boo-boos and make them feel better?"
She nodded uncertainly, "A-Alright."
-:-
"Well what do you know…looks like time's up…" Shishiwakamaru mused as he turned to face the remaining two members of the Urameshi team. Both of them gritted their teeth in unison as the demon turned his violet eyes on them.
With the flick of his wrist, he rolled the dice again. They clattered along the arena floor until their skittered to a halt. And without even waiting for Juri to check on them, Shishi made his way towards them and smirked as he observed the kanji symbols.
"…Looks like my team has the free space this time…" his frown turned into a smirk, "Oh, but it looks like your masked fighter isn't present; what a shame."
Hiei cracked his knuckles, "Yeah, what a shame…" he muttered as he made a move towards the ring—
But he was abruptly halted when a hand caught his shoulder.
He turned swiftly to find the masked fighter standing behind him. The apparition frowned however, when he realized that something was different about them. He furrowed his brow; earlier this fighter had an immense power…but now it was nothing compared to the others.
Sensing his thoughts, she narrowed her eyes slightly towards him, "Yusuke has my power," was all she said to him. After that, she simply leapt into the ring to face Shishiwakamaru.
The demon frowned slightly when he too caught a sense of the woman's strength, "How disappointing…" he took his time unsheathing the sword along his belt, "But nonetheless…it should be entertaining to see what lies beneath the mask…"
Juri quickly made her way between the two fighters, "Alright then! The next match: Shishiwakamaru from team Uraotogi and the masked fighter from team Urameshi! BEGIN!"
Shishiwakamaru instantly disappeared from sight and began whizzing back and forth across the ring. The masked fighter followed his movements and at the very moment where he reappeared ahead of her, she leapt backwards out of his sword's reach.
But when the demon came after her again, she leapt higher into the air this time, causing Shishi to jump after her. He slashed out with his sword quick enough that it nearly caught the masked fighter off guard. Fortunately, she was able to lean out of the attack so only the tip of his blade caught the corner of her mask…
The tattered cloth fluttered to the ground moments after the fighters landed back onto the ground…
Kurama nearly took a step backwards, "M-Master Genkai?"
"What do you know…" Hiei crossed his arms, "It really was the old hag…"
All across the stadium, whispers arose—which soon grew to loud shouts of protest. Genkai, on the other hand, looked unfazed by the fact that her cover had been blown.
Shishi gritted his teeth and turned to Juri, "What is this?" he demanded, "This can't be the same younger woman from before! And if she's the substitute I demand to see proof of the younger fighter's death!"
Shouts of agreement erupted from the crowd while on the giant screen, a film sequence from the fight with Ichigaki began to play. But it only added proof to the fact that the fighters looked nothing alike.
Koto placed her hand to her ear as if listening to something. After a pause, she leaned over the microphone, "I guess the committee is going to have to decide on this one—"
Her voice was quickly drowned out by the furious roar of the crowd. Nearly every one of them was getting ready to overrun the entire stadium. But one thing was for sure; each and every one of them wanted team Urameshi dead.
Above the crowds, Koenma gritted his teeth slightly and sighed; this definitely wasn't there day…
Next to him, Jorge seemed to be having a nervous breakdown, "K-Koenma, sir—shouldn't you go tell the committee soon about the two Genkai's? Or…I guess it's only the one Genkai—but still—!"
But even before he had even finished speaking, the demigod quickly made his way off of his armchair and was heading for the door. However, before he could even lift the latch, Koto's voice rang over the loudspeakers again.
"Well it looks like the committee has made their decision…" she said almost nervously as she glanced at the demons surrounding her. Wincing, she continued, "The committee rules in favor of team Urameshi and the fight will continue."
Instantly, the stadium erupted into roars of protest; some of them even went as far as to throw their concession trash at the fox demon.
"Don't be mad at me!" she shouted at them and covered her head.
Kurama blinked, "Well I have to say…I didn't expect that the committee would rule in favor of us…" he said as he placed a hand in his pocket casually.
While he was pondering this, however, Koto was running on her last nerve. She took the microphone in her hand and raised it above her head; making ready to throw it at anybody who yelled at her again. But before she could let it fly, it was abruptly taken from her hand.
She blinked and looked around in confusion before she realized that Toguro was standing next to her.
He held the microphone up and glared at the demons in the stadium with a cold stare, "Stop it. The Urameshi team didn't cheat and to understand why…all you have to do is know who that woman is…"
From the ring, Genkai carefully gritted her teeth as her eyes never left Toguro. He too held her gaze for the longest time, before he turned his head to address the rest of the stadium.
"While employing the spirit wave technique, the body's cells of the user revert to the point in their life that they were most powerful," his cold, hard eyes flickered briefly towards the elderly woman at the center of the ring, "For all of you lowlifes who don't know anything…let me tell you this: that masked fighter is the great psychic Genkai."
With that, he simply handed the microphone back to Koto and made his way silently up the steps. The older woman watched him leave until he disappeared beneath one of the tunnels above them.
But from behind her, Shishi smirked while his fingers drummed along the hilt of his sword, "Well, well…this will turn out better than I thought; through killing you, I can at last receive the fame I deserve!"
Swiftly, both of his hands latched around the hilt of his blade. A foreboding, red aura started to surround him as he held the sword in his hands. He tugged on the handle, causing it to break away; revealing some sort of hideous mass that strangely resembled that of a screaming skull.
Shishiwakamaru narrowed his eyes coldly towards Genkai, "…for my Banshee Shriek will surely be the end of you!"
-:-
"…You know, Kazuma…you could hurry it up just a little bit; if we keep at this pace the match will be over…" Shizuru drawled as she placed her hand in her pocket.
"Well I'm going as fast as I can, okay?" Kuwabara protested heatedly as he continued to trudge onward, "I'm just trying to make sure we don't get lost again! Besides…" he added, "Hiei was all fired up to kill team Uraotogi anyway…"
Yukina glanced up at him curiously, "He seems to be pretty quiet…is he always like that?" she wondered.
He snorted and put his hands behind his head, "Him? He's scary; you shouldn't think he's cool...he's just a stuck up bastard actually…"
Botan whirled on him, "Kazuma Kuwabara, take that back! You shouldn't say that stuff about Yu—!"
Instantly, she clapped her hands over her mouth and her eyes widened. The rest of them stared at her oddly—especially when she started to turn around frantically in circles.
Next to her, Keiko sweatdropped and absently glanced into the woods. She blinked when something caught her eye.
"That…that's weird…" she said aloud.
Kuwabara followed her gaze, "What's weird—? Hey! That's Urameshi!" he shouted almost angrily and immediately stormed off towards him, "That lazy bastard!"
The others followed after him as he made his way into the clearing. They all stopped however, when they noticed the detective and the guardian sleeping beneath the tree. Mai stirred slightly as they approached, but she didn't wake up.
Keiko bent down and lifted Puu and Hywein into her arms. Kazuma managed to pry Yusuke away from the guardian's death-like grip and lifted him over his shoulder while Shizuru and Botan held Mai between them.
"Well we can't exactly leave them here…" the redhead grumbled as he made his way back towards the stadium, "Though I'm not quite sure what we're going to do with them when we get back…" he briefly glanced down at the detective and then at Mai, "Man, they're both out cold…"
The ferry-girl made a face, "…I wonder what they were doing all the way out here—and I don't see the masked fighter anywhere…"
Shizuru shifted Mai's weight for a moment, "Well, wherever the hell they are, it doesn't really matter now, does it? We might as well find someplace to put these two; judging by the fact that they're both KO'd, they won't be much use for the rest of the match."
The rest of them nodded and with that, they once again started their march back towards the stadium…
But for a moment, Keiko stayed behind; silently watching the two spirit beasts in her hands. After a moment she sighed heavily and followed after the others…
-:-
Karasu's eyes narrowed and flickered briefly towards the demon next to him. On the other side of Toguro a fourth member stood silently watching the fight.
His eyes continued to narrow as he turned his own attention back towards the arena, "I'm disappointed, Toguro…" he drawled, "This Genkai of yours…she's nothing like the stories I've heard…" he calmly folded his arms over his chest as if daring him to tell him otherwise.
But the demon smirked in amusement, "…You'll find any answer you're looking for in Yusuke Urameshi, Karasu…because what power was the master's is now the student's…"
The violet-eyed demon stared at him curiously; confused by his words.
Toguro casually placed his hands in his pockets, his eyes never leaving the arena.
"Be assured…before the finals begin…
"Genkai's days will end."
-:-
The old woman's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Shishiwakamaru. She glanced down at her hands warily; she probably only had enough energy for three blasts…but that might not be enough to get her through the match…
The demon opposing her smirked as his stance switched. As if holding a pendulum, he started to swing his sword back and forth—so that its tip barely grazed the arena floor. Gaining momentum, he then raised it above his head.
"It was a pleasure meeting you, old hag…" he growled under his breath. The sword above his head steadily began to twirl—until it was turning so fast that it was merely a blur hovering over Shishiwakamaru. But as it continued to whirl…a strange noise slowly began to resonate from its center.
An instant later however, trails of light began to emit from the blade and rushed hurriedly into the nearby stands. Genkai took an instinctive step backwards—
But without warning, a hideous shrieking sound erupted through the stadium. The demons in the crowd screamed and covered their ears desperately.
Koenma winced painfully and covered his own ears, "What…the hell is that?"
Shishi smirked as he steadily brought the blade down from above him; it was almost as if he was gaining power from the screams enveloping the stadium. First he spun it at his left, then at his right before it went to revolve behind him. But suddenly, horns sprouted on the top of the demon's head and his eyes began to glow with a fiery rage.
"CHORUS OF A THOUSAND SOULS!"
Out of the blue, a blast suddenly erupted around Shishiwakamaru; sending bursts of red light spiraling into the nearby stands. Rubble from the arena flew into the air along with it, causing a cloud of dust to swirl around him.
From that cloud however, what appeared to be skulls shot out towards the stands; screeching and howling as they went. These souls quickly sought out any living being they could find.
The audience was quick to realize the power of these spirits. As they began attacking the demons within the crowd, it soon became apparent that they would engulf anything that they devoured; building some sort of power within them.
Frantic, the demons desperately tried to scramble away from the souls pursuing them—but it seemed as though they were able to find them anyway. Several of the audience members had the gruesome pleasure of having their own skulls snapped off of their shoulders—only to have their entire body devoured moments later.
Kurama eyed the souls nervously before swiftly turning to the apparition next to him, "Hiei—"
But fortunately, his companion was already ahead of him. He said nothing, but around the pair a faint dome of energy appeared to ward off the attacking foes.
Suddenly, the skulls turned back towards the arena at the center of the stadium. In unison, all of them abruptly dived straight towards the psychic standing. Genkai's eyes narrowed milliseconds before the attack collided—causing a cloud of dust to billow into the stadium.
Shishi smirked and held his sword out in front of him haughtily.
"Heh…I'll be a legend now that the great psychic Genkai is—!"
He was abruptly cut off when they dust began to clear. Before him lay a giant crater…but the old woman's remains were no where in sight. Shishiwakamaru frowned slightly; maybe it had worked better than he thought?
Then he heard someone laughing behind him. He whirled to find Genkai standing unscathed from the blow. The demon gritted his teeth furiously as the elder woman smiled in amusement.
"Would you care to try that again?" she asked tauntingly, "I'm afraid I wasn't quite sure if you wanted to kill me or not with that attack…"
Shishi's eyes flickered, "Why you…" he gripped his blade between his fingers until his knuckles turned white, "You can't run from the Chorus of a Thousand Souls forever! Either your luck or your knees are bound to give up sooner or later!"
All across the stadium, the demons paled; they were nearly positive of what Shishiwakamaru was planning on doing—
And they sure as hell weren't going to stick around for the finale.
-:-
"See? I told you I would get us there!" Kuwabara shouted triumphantly as they stood in front of the stadium.
Botan sighed, "Yes, well…we did get lost once back there…" she corrected—and the redhead puffed out his cheeks irritably.
He shifted Urameshi's weight on his shoulder, but blinked suddenly when he noticed several demons sprinting out from one of the entrances. The company watched them oddly as they made a mad dash towards the surrounding forest area.
"GET OUT OF THE FRICKIN WAY!"
"What the hell…?"
Kazuma pondered for a minute, "…The match can't possibly be over, can it—?"
But as if answering his question, Koto's voice suddenly rang out from the speakers surrounding the stadium.
"What do you know, folks? That old psychic Genkai is still standing!"
It took a moment for this to process through the redhead's brain, "No way…That can't be Genkai!" he insisted—and without warning dropped Yusuke onto Botan and the other girls.
"Kazuma!" the ferry-girl shouted after him as she tried to hold onto the detective and Mai at the same time.
"Yeah thanks a lot, jackass!" Shizuru called after him heatedly and made a rather rude hand gesture, causing Yukina and Keiko to blush slightly, "That's just like him too…" she grumbled irritably as she tried to help Botan balance the two teenagers.
-:-
Shishi's eyes narrowed darkly towards the old psychic. But after a moment, he held the blade before him and smirked, "My sword knows more attacks than the Chorus of a Thousand Skulls…" he growled.
Without warning, the blade was suddenly pulsating with an eerie blue glow; radiating into the audience. Only seconds later, it once again let out that horrible shrieking sound, causing the demons to scream in pain—and add to Shishiwakamaru's power.
Kuwabara skidded to a halt abruptly as the shrill cry echoed through the corridor. He immediately clapped his hands to his ears and winced painfully. What the hell was that?
As the crowd continued to scream in pain however, the pulsars grew stronger and stronger until it seemed as though the power it was emitting would overflow and explode in Shishi's hand. But before it had a chance to do that, Shishiwakamaru suddenly plunged the blade into the arena before him—creating a furious, ripple-effect that rose up around both fighters.
The older woman frowned slightly as she glanced quickly at the walls suddenly surrounding her and her opponent. It took her only a moment before she realized that the barrier was created by the souls of the demons collected earlier, and their energy was now trapping them within the force field.
Shishi's eyes flickered towards the psychic from where he stood kneeling next to his sword. He paused for a moment before he slowly rose to his feet, "…People like you who fight for justice make me wretch…" he growled distastefully.
Genkai cocked an eyebrow towards him, "Really? And where did you get the impression that I was a hero?" she wondered.
He smirked, "Make no mistake, old hag—when I defeat you, I will be a star…and you'll be nothing more than a pile of ash at my feet; your reign of fame is at an end."
It was her turn to smirk at this, "You think I'm a star, is that it?" she asked in amusement, "…Well then, if that's the case, maybe you should watch and learn something from this old hag."
Shishiwakamaru gritted his teeth furiously and he quickly swiped his sword out in front of him, "I will defeat you!" he screamed
In an instant, he was in the air with his blade raised high above his head. Genkai watched his movements as he hovered above her.
She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists at her side. It was only a matter of seconds before her hands were crackling with black sparks.
The older woman waited until the last possible second—and as Shishi's sword was coming down on top of her.
"YOU WILL DIE!"
But before the demon could even hit his mark, Genkai had suddenly caught the blade between her hands. Shishi gritted his teeth furiously and could only watch as the old psychic was surrounded in a veil of energy…
To be more exact however—his energy.
Genkai's eyes narrowed towards the demon suspended before her. Shishiwakamaru stared in a transfixed awe as he watched the lines creasing along her face smooth out and her hair regain it's deep pink color and sheen. Her golden brown eyes shimmered for a moment before they showed their original luster.
"What the hell?" he cried furiously.
But the—now younger—woman narrowed her eyes and frowned darkly at her opponent. The energy that hovered around her was so intense that it even spread out towards Shishi's body and enveloped him as well.
Her fingers clenched dangerously around the sword—and without warning, her eyes were suddenly giving off an eerie blue color, "SPIRIT REFLECTION BLAST!" she roared.
She dragged the sword to her side where a giant blue orb flickered around her hands. And before Shishiwakamaru could even react to the formation of the attack, Genkai suddenly threw the ball of energy directly towards him.
The cage they were trapped in was immediately surrounded by the light—and only an instant later, the force field shattered while sending Shishi back at the same time. The blast exploded upwards; creating a fountain-like explosion above the audience.
Shishi on the other hand, tumbled across the arena floor painfully. He grunted as he slid to a halt, but Genkai calmly walked towards him.
"How could you…Where the hell did you get that energy?" he demanded wrathfully.
"I couldn't afford to waste my own energy," she explained calmly, "So I simply borrowed some of yours…"
The demon gritted his teeth and instantly jumped to his feet, "How could you do such a vindictive thing to me, you second-rate thief?" he roared, "I swore I would kill you—and I'm sure as hell not going to give that up!"
He thrust out his sword angrily before him. The hideous, skull-like form began to give off an eerie green glow from its hollow eyes and mouth. Then there was a dull moaning sound as the spirits of the demon souls seeped forth from the openings; swirling around Shishiwakamaru's hand and arm.
Instantly, the specters charged towards Genkai; using Shishi's rage to guide them. But the woman merely stood as if waiting for them to attack her, but when they were nearly upon her she raised her arms in from of her chest in a horizontal line. A dull force field flickered around her and the souls crashed into it and dispersed.
Shishiwakamaru gritted his teeth furiously, "What…?" his hands clenched around the hilt of his sword until his knuckles turned white and a red aura blazed around the blade, "WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?"
The energy whipped around him now; powered by his fury. He charged blindly at Genkai; leaping above her once again and raising the sword to strike.
But the woman frowned towards him—and as he rapidly approached, it was as if she sucked the barrier surrounding her into her hands.
"SPIRIT REFLECTION BLAST!"
It exploded in front of her. Shishi was unlucky enough to be standing before her when she let off the attack. It blasted across the arena and even towards the opposite side of the stadium where several audience members had to scramble out of its way.
The demon screamed as the attack carried him across the ring. His sword was thrown out in front of him, but the force of the blast pulled at its hilt until the Banshee Shriek completely snapped away. When he was finally relieved of the attack, his body slid across the floor; creating a billow of dust behind him.
He wheezed as he tried to sit back up. His eyes grew wide however, when he noticed Genkai standing before him and next to his shattered blade. He seemed to stare at her in confusion.
"I…I see now…" he whispered quietly, "You don't fight for justice…but you don't fight for power either…" a weak smile played at the corner of his lips, "I think I may have fallen in love. If things had turned out differently for us, and if you still looked like this all the time we could have been together…once…"
His eyes went blank for a moment, but then they closed and his head lolled onto the arena floor.
Juri blinked for a moment and carefully nudged the fallen demon with her finger. When he didn't wake up, she rose and held the microphone to her mouth, "Shishiwakamaru from team Uraotogi is unable to fight (a/n: holy crap that sounded like Pokemon…), so I grant Genkai from team Urameshi the win—!" she turned to the younger woman—only to blink in surprise; she had returned back into her elderly form. The sea-demon laughed nervously for a moment, "…Yeah, well…"
-:-
From high above them, Toguro felt a smile curl at his lips; well hadn't this turned out better than he thought…? His eyes flickered towards his companion standing next to him, "Clearly, Karasu…she still lives up to her legends…" his smile darkened, "…The only way to defeat her is with absolute force…"
The raven-haired demon narrowed his eyes, "So it seems…"
-:-
"This is a joke…" Hiei growled as he watched the elderly man across from their team, "He's the only fighter left on their team and he's just an old bat…"
But as he was talking, Onji shuffled onto the ring and stood next to his fallen companion. Fishing through Shishi's pockets, he withdrew the pair of dice and held them aloft in his hands. He grinned almost pleasantly as he faced the Urameshi team.
"Well it looks like it's up to me," he told them in a near cheerful manner, "Let's see who I'll have to fight…" He tossed the die over the arena floor and watched as it clattered along the tile flooring.
Juri frowned as she leaned over to read the kanji, "Um…well it looks like the winner is Kuwabara—but since he's probably in a different dimension by now I—"
"You giving up on me so easily?"
All heads turned to find Kuwabara standing next to Koto (after prying the microphone away from her, that is). The fox demon was looking rather peeved and sat with her arms crossed over her chest.
"For I, Kazuma Kuwabara—warrior of love and all that is good—will not give up a fight that easily!"
"…My god, he's back…" Hiei muttered.
-:-
Shizuru nearly paled at the sound of her brother's voice echoing over the loudspeakers. Behind her, Botan, Keiko and Yukina were helping to try and get the detective and the guardian situated against one of the nearby trees.
"Dammit! That idiot's using our name again!" she shouted angrily and suddenly started running back towards the stadium, "I'm gonna kill that stupid, smart-ass punk!" she pledged.
The ferry-girl blinked, "Eh? W-Wait! Shizuru, come back!" she called after her, but the older girl was already fighting her way back into the arena, "Uh…well we might as well follow her now, come on Yukina."
Next to her, the ice-apparition nodded obediently and quickly followed after the blue-haired girl as they made their way through the crowds.
But Keiko however, remained behind a moment longer. She almost seemed to stand uncertainly in front of the sleeping pair.
For a moment she merely stood there; listening quietly to Kuwabara's droning on the speakers surrounding the stadium…and then to Mai and Yusuke breathing quietly in front of her. After a pause, she carefully knelt down in front of them; her eyes lingering on the two of them for a long time.
Her eyes then fell on the detective—whose head was now leaning on top of Mai's. She sighed as she watched him sleep…but blinked suddenly when I thought occurred to her…
He had gotten taller…
The brunette quirked her head to the side as if trying to see him at a better angle. But then it seemed as though she couldn't find what she was looking for and she straightened her head with a weak smile.
She hadn't realized how much the two of them had changed in the past few years. Her eyes flickered towards Mai for a moment and studied her…
She hadn't realized how much the two of them had changed at all…
Softly, a small smile curled around her lips, "I'm leaving this pain-in-the-rear with you now, Mai…so you better make sure he keeps up with that schoolwork of his…"
With that, she stood once again and then turned her attention back towards the detective. Her gaze seemed distant for a moment, but then she shook her head and smiled at him sadly…
"…Later, Yusuke…"
-:-
a/n: SWEET! I'M DONE! LoL, which is good, cuz I have a lot of stuff I need to do over the weekend, so I hope you all enjoyed! (Haha, and if anyone noticed, it got kind of annoying writing "Shishiwakamaru" over and over again so I just had to settle with "Shishi" at some times)
PLEASE REVIEW PEOPLE! I want to make sure that all of you still know where this story is (since I changed it's title that is) I'm not really trying to sound desperate or anything, I just want to make sure that I don't need to send out emails to some of you, that's all.
CIAO EVERYONE!
Ps: AH! I'm so poor now! Hehe, but I guess it was worth it cuz I bought the next two DVD's for YYH!