A/N: Hey, you guys. It's me, ToCOrNot 77, personally (well, not really). Thank you soooo much for reviewing this story. I really appreciate all of the feedback you guys give me. I actually didn't think this story was that great (Dragon of the Crimson Flame FORCED me to post this), but since at least some people like it I'll continue (after all, we made a bet). I'll probably be updating once a week at the most due to my busy schedule. I'll try my best to update a lot though. Anyways, I'm blabbing again. Here's the responses to my reviewers:
pyro the dark angel: Hey pyro. Thanks so much for the review. If it helps, I haven't decided whether or not to actually have Hiei tell her that her brother's dead. I hope you like this chapter.
GothChika07: Thanks for reviewing! I guess Hiei can be mean sometimes, but that's just the way he is. Hope you like this chapter.
ladyKaguya: Katana's a kinda weird name, yeah? Well, there is a reason for it. But, anyway, thanks for the review. You're right. They are going to annoy each other, but for now, they're mostly ignoring each other.
The Squabbit: I'd really like it if you kept up with my fic, but you don't have to if you don't want to. I'm warning you, it might take a while for me to update. But I really hope you stick with it. Thanks for the review.
aznwolf4ever: Thanks for the compliment and for reviewing. Well, here's the next part.
Zero: Hey! Thanks for reviewing. Here's the next chapter.
To all of my reviewers and readers: THANK YOU SO MUCH! Sorry I won't be able to update a lot, but I have soccer every single day. So I'll be busy. Well . . . here's the next chapter. I hope you like it.
Secrets of the Past
Chapter 2: The Second Martial Arts Tournament
It was a peaceful and quiet morning. Hiei walked out of the hotel at exactly 9:00 in the morning, not looking a bit tired, even though he had only fallen asleep a couple hours before due to the enormous amount of thinking he did over a certain ice maiden.
"Why do I even bother to sleep, I mean, I don't need it anyway," he mumbled to himself.
"I suppose, it's just because it gives us more energy," said Kurama walking out of the door and standing next to Hiei.
Hiei, who seemed not the least bit surprised at Kurama's sudden appearance, made a sound of disgust and said, "What are you doing here?"
Kurama yawned. "Today is the first day of the Martial Arts Tournament," he said, explaining to Hiei what he already knew and completely ignoring his question. Suddenly they were interrupted by a loud voice that completely disturbed the quietness of the morning.
"Great! The gorilla is here," mumbled Hiei, not very enthusiastically.
"So, are you guys ready for the Tournament," said Kuwabara in a loud and obviously excited voice. "I know I am," he continued, not waiting for anyone to answer.
"Hello Kuwabara," Kurama greeted his friend. "Yusuke," he nodded, "Katana," he said giving her a curious look. I never noticed how much Katana's outfit looks like the one Genkai used to wear, thought Kurama absentmindedly, staring at the blue and white outfit she was wearing that was fashioned exactly like Genkai's.
"Hey," Yusuke answered as Katana gave Kurama a curt nod. They started off toward the fighting arena, walking at a casual pace.
Yukina yawned and looked at the clock which said 9:31. Her mind was groggy, probably because of the strange, yellow, bubbly liquid that Shizuru had insisted on them drinking last night. What was it called again? Sake?
Hiei, she thought, suddenly remembering the incident yesterday. I shouldn't have asked him. I already know the answer. We both know, we both know that we are twins. I should have waited until he was ready to admit the truth. I hope he isn't too angry with me. Sometimes, though, I do wonder why he doesn't want to tell me. I know that I don't deserve to have a brother as good as him, but he could at least tell me. Does he know how much I've missed him? How long I've waited for him? Does he want me as a sister?
All of these thoughts and questions rushed through Yukina's mind as she lay in bed, eyes open. She was in such deep thought that she was rather startled when Keiko's soft voice disturbed the peace and quiet.
"Yukina? Are you up? I'm sorry did I wake you?" said Keiko after seeing Yukina jump.
"Oh, no. I was just thinking about something," replied Yukina, giving her a sad smile.
"You know," said Keiko, suddenly filled with rage and completely awake, "I'm going to give that Hiei character a piece of my mind! You don't deserve to be treated so unfairly!" She calmed down, noticing that she was yelling and Yukina looked frightened. "He shouldn't have just run off like that," she said more quietly, but with no less passion, "He should have answered your question. Surely, he knows how important finding your brother is to you."
"Yes, he does," Yukina said, not sounding even one bit mad at him, "But I wasn't expecting him to tell me right away, he needs to think about it first. I know that it hurts him every time he sees me and knows that I spent so much time looking for him. But he's had it so much harder than me. I can feel it in my bones when he's hurting. I'll wait, I'll wait for him to tell me the truth, and I will always wait."
Ever since Yukina's first words, Keiko had been staring at her with an open jaw, dumbfounded. Had Yukina just hinted that she knew who her brother was? I never thought that she actually knew who her brother was, Keiko thought, then why did she ask Hiei . . . oh my gosh! Could it be possible? Could Hiei and Yukina actually be twins?
"Keiko? Are you okay?" said Yukina, full of concern as she looked at Keiko with her mouth wide open.
"I'm fine," Keiko replied trying to smile, "Was it my imagination or did you just hint that you knew who your brother was?"
"Hello everybody! Ready to cheer the boys on to kick some butt?" Botan's loud and cheery voice interrupted their conversation.
Shizuru came in right behind her, saying, "Is everyone ready to go? It's already 10:20."
"Hello, Botan and Shizuru," Yukina politely greeted her friends, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Hi, you guys," said Keiko, too distracted by the fact that Yukina and Hiei could possibly be twins to pay much attention to them.
"So . . ." she said to Yukina, desperately trying to figure out what was going on.
"Well, um," continued Yukina.
"Why do I have the feeling we came in at bad time?" Shizuru mumbled to herself.
"Hush," Botan said, eager to get in on some more gossip
Yukina seemed a bit hesitant at first, but she finally began to share with the other girls. "I know who my brother is. I've known for a long time and I have been waiting just as long to see if he would tell me the truth. Hiei is my brother."
Shizuru, Botan, and Keiko's jaws kissed the floor. Of course Shizuru and Botan had known about Hiei and Yukina's relationship before they even met each other from the video Koenma sent them about rescuing Yukina, but Keiko was just downright shocked.
Well, that was blunt, was Shizuru's first thought. Never thought she'd figure it out. Guess the little girl's not as naïve as we all thought.
I never would have guessed . . . they're so different in personality. Yet, they have the same eyes, I suppose, thought Keiko, who never would have guessed in a million years about Hiei and Yukina.
Botan was panicking as a certain memory flashed into her mind. At the last Tournament, Botan had almost told Yukina about Hiei, but soon remembered Hiei's promise to torture her to death if she did. Terrified Botan imagined what Hiei would do to her.
Oh no, for sure he'll think that I spilled the beans and told her. After all, I am a big blabbermouth. He'll kill me, torture me. The worst thing is, I didn't say anything, nothing.
Yukina watched the three faces staring at her, all with different expressions. Keiko had a shocked and dumbfounded look on her face, Shizuru seemed to be curious, as always, and Botan wore a terrified expression as if she were afraid someone was going to eat her.
"Aren't you guys happy that I finally found my long-lost brother?" asked Yukina, rather hurt.
"Oh, of course," replied everyone in unison, nodding their heads.
"Oh my look at the time!" cried Keiko, "We have to leave now if we want to make it in time for the start of the tournament."
"Right, let's go," said Shizuru as everyone walked out of the room.
Yukina was both excited and frightened about the Martial Arts Tournament in which people fight and could die at any time if they didn't keep their guard up. But she was aware of bloodshed and violence; after all, she did grow up in Makai. She was not as innocent as people would think.
The girls' walk to the stadium was peaceful. It was a beautiful day and everyone was to wound up in their own thoughts to start up a discussion.
"Where are they anyway?" said Yusuke, "those no-good, rotten girls are probably keeping us waiting on purpose."
SLAP!
"What did you say?" said Keiko all of a sudden appearing behind him with a look that said she had heard what Yusuke had called them.
"Ow, Keiko that hurt," Yusuke said, rubbing the back of his head, "We weren't saying nothing, okay?"
"Whatever," she said, brushing him off.
"Hello, Hiei," said Yukina shyly.
Hiei gave her a gruff nod, but never made eye contact with her.
"Are you guys going to stand out here all day of are you going to get into that stadium?" said Koenma, suddenly appearing out of nowhere in his teenage form with George. "After all," he continued, "No team of mine is going to be late, especially when they're a shoe-in to win. Right?"
He looked at his team expecting them all to say yes, but that's not what he got.
"Aw, Koenma, why'd you have to come? We can take care of ourselves now, remember? We don't want you babying us around," said Yusuke, purposely putting an emphasis on the word baby. At this, the majority of the group started to laugh.
"That has got to be the stupidest pun I have ever heard in my life," replied Koenma, not at all happy about the way everyone was laughing at him.
Why do I put up with all of this?, he thought to himself as everyone began to head to the stadium again.
By the time they reached the stadium, everyone was dead serious. And, of course, they had every right to be, knowing that they could possibly die in this dangerous tournament. More than once had each team member been facing death in one of the fights, with an exception for Katana who had not participated in the Tournament before. But she was a great fighter and had faced death many, many times before as well, though none of her teammates knew about it.
As soon as all of the bystanders caught sight of the gang they all hushed of whispered remembering the extremely powerful guest team that had won last year's tournament.
Hiei snorted. Hn, at least they're giving us the respect we deserve, he thought. They walked into the stadium. Katana mentally gasped to herself, keeping her expression behind the emotional mask she had learned to keep up over all of her years.
Never had she seen so many creatures all in one place. There were fans everywhere, betting, talking, cheering. This truly was the famed "Dark Martial Arts Tournament" of which she had heard many stories.
As they walked towards the door they knew led to the backstage place reserved for the fighters, fans stared, giving them every kind of possible insult through their eyes.
"Some things never change," said Yusuke.
"Okay ladies," said Kuwabara loudly in his booming voice, acknowledging the girls following them, "I guess this is where we part. See ya later. Hope you guys don't get killed!"
"Hope that you don't get killed little bro," said Shizuru, teasing him, "You probably will get killed anyway, you're a weak fighter compared to everyone else in here."
"Shut up, sis," said Kuwabara to Shizuru, "Goodbye Yukina," he said taking her hand and blushing, "Cheer for me, okay?"
"Uh, okay Kazuma. Good luck, you guys!" she replied.
Hiei turned and scowled. Of all people, why did the big monkey have to like her, he thought to himself. At that, they went their separate ways.
"Hey Koenma, you coming?" asked Yusuke, inviting the Reikai Prince to come along. Koenma seemed to hesitate. "Well, I really have to do a lot of work in Reikai," he said, "And I don't think I will be able to stay. But good luck. I'll be watching." With that he gave a nervous glance at Katana and left.
"So any of you guys scared?" asked Kuwabara after they had walked down the hall for a little while.
"Of course not," replied Yusuke confidently, "There's nothing to be scared about. Team Toguro isn't here and there really is no one that might be able to beat us."
"Well Yusuke, you never know," said Kurama.
"Aren't you fools forgetting something," said Hiei. "What about her," he said glaring toward Katana, "How do we know if she's even a decent fighter . . . or if we can trust her?"
Katana completely ignored him, as if she didn't hear, and she probably didn't, she looked preoccupied with her own thoughts.
"Don't worry Hiei. Something tells me that we can trust her. She sort of reminds me of . . . Genkai," said Yusuke with sadness in his eyes.
Everyone was silent the rest of the way. They stood behind the gate, waiting for Juri, the referee, to announce them.
"Uh . . . lady," said Kuwabara hesitantly, "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but are you sure you want to be here. I mean, there's tough competition out there and you could get killed. I'm warning you . . ." Katana shut him up with a silent, annoyed glare. "Well," said Kuwabara backing up and waving his hand in a defensive position, "I was just thinking about you."
"I would worry about myself if I were you," she replied, her tone hollow, with no emotion at all.
Man that lady is freaking me out, thought Yusuke. She's reminding me way too much about Genkai . . . Oh well, it's probably just the way she dresses. Damn, that fighting gi looks exactly like how the old lady's one used to.
"Hello? Is anyone out there?" said Koto, the announcer, "We're ready to start now, so whenever you're ready . . ." The crowd hushed. "Now that's more like it," she continued.
"Hello, everybody," started Juri, "And welcome to the tournament. I'll be you're referee for the next 10 days and Koto here will be you're announcer."
Everyone shouted complaints, "Hurry it up already!" someone said. "Okay, okay. We'll start," she said. "Now introducing, Team Urameshi!"
"That's our queue." said Yusuke walking out of the open gate. Everyone was in an uproar, shouting and throwing pieces of rubbish at them.
"Boo!" shouted someone in the stands, "Get off the stage," he shouted.
"Shut up!" said Shizuru, who was sitting above him. She slapped him.
"Don't you retards remember that they won last time," Keiko shouted, "You're lucky you all aren't dead by now!"
"Gee, some respect for the defending champions," said Yusuke without the least bit of surprise in it.
"Take out Kurama and Hiei first they're traitors," shouted one of the fans. Kurama and Hiei, who were used to these kinds of remarks, just ignored them.
"Now quiet down everyone," said Koto. Everyone stopped talking. "Okay and now, Team Lasen! The door opened and every head turned toward Team Lasen.
There were five of them. They were basically the same. All of them were huge, maybe about 9 feet, with red skin and horrible looking faces.
"They don't look all that tough," said Kuwabara, "I bet I could beat all 5 of them myself."
"Hn!" remarked Hiei with a smirk, "That's pretty big talk for an ape that practically lost every fight he fought."
"Come here you mouse. I swear one day I'm going to make you cry for mercy!" said Kuwabara charging Hiei.
"Is that all you've got?" Hiei said. He used his blinding speed to simply move away as Kuwabara was about to tackle him. Now Kuwabara was lying face down in the dirt. "Pitiful fool," said Hiei looking down on him.
"Why you little . . ."
"Now calm down Kuwabara," said Yusuke waving his hands, "Hiei has a point, you know, you did lose practically every fight you were in. Plus, we are in front of millions of . . . err . . .people here."
"Now you too, Urameshi?" said Kuwabara sounding betrayed, "Oh all right. I give up. You guys are hopeless."
"Uh hello, Urameshi Team? We'd like to start now," said Koto.
"Oh all right we're ready!" shouted Yusuke. "Gee, you'd think its some kinda race of something," he muttered under his breath.
"Now, team captains, come forward," said Juri, putting on her professional tone. They both went up, and Yusuke found himself facing an especially tall guy even for his team. Yusuke stared up. This guy must be at least double, or even triple the size of me, he thought to himself.
"Now would you two like to have a five on five fight or just one on one?"
"One on one," said Yusuke after a few moments of thinking.
"Let the puny one decide," said the other teams captain, his voice reminded Yusuke of a car engine. It was deep and rumbling, and it seemed almost to shake the earth. They both turned and walked off the arena.
"Well, folks," said Koto, "It looks like we've got a one on one fight. This should be a doozy. Have fun!"
"So," said Yusuke, "Who wants to go first?" He looked each of the members of his team in the eye.
"Why don't we let our new team member go first?" Kurama suggested.
"Why not?" said Kuwabara, "Go for it lady."
"Hn," said Hiei.
"Okay, it looks like we've decided. You're up, Katana, is that alright?" said Yusuke sounding sure. But he wasn't, I hope she doesn't get hurt. Maybe she'll refuse.
"Fine," she said her face expressionless.
A/N: So? How did you like it? Please review. See ya later!
ToCOrNot 77