Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho
Episode 5
"Wow!" Kuwabara gasped as we walked into our hotel room.
Wow indeed. The thick, soft carpet was a pure, royal blue. Silk curtains of the same color hung on the wall opposite the room over a long couch. There were doors on both the left and right walls. More couches were placed around a small coffee table in the center of the room.
"Hey, bathrooms...." Yusuke said, opening the door on the left.
"I think we sleep here..." Kuwabara said, poking his head into the door on the right.
"And I think we drink coffee here..." Akuryou muttered sarcastically, plopping onto one of the various couches surrounding the coffee table.
"I'm tired. I'm turning in for the night." Yusuke yawned. "'Night guys." He stumbled into the bedroom, only to run back out. "Aargh! These guys are unbelievable!"
The four of us walked to the bedroom door. Five beds were placed in a row, side by side.
"I'm not sleeping in there..."
"What's wrong with that?" Akuryou asked. "It seems fine to me."
"I agree with Urameshi. Sleeping in a room with a bunch of other people is just... weird." Kuwabara said.
"Especially when you can easily roll onto someone else's bed," Yusuke added.
"Honestly! You're acting just like children!"
"Can't we like... ask for separate rooms or something?"
"What a spoiled little prince," Akuryou muttered. "Sleep on the couch, see if I care."
"No way!"
"I don't need a bed," Hiei said. "I can sleep on the floor."
"Go ahead."
"I'm not sleeping in here!"
"Aargh! Grab a bed and hop in! Honestly!" Akuryou snapped. "I'm not going to molest you in your sleep or anything!":
After an hour of bickering, Yusuke and Kuwabara finally decided to settle down. Perhaps it was the demon food that made them irritable. They insisted that Hiei's bed be moved so room between the beds could be made. Akuryou simply lay down on her bed and refused to move when Yusuke asked her to get off. He ended up having to push and shove her onto the bed at the end of the line, which took about another half an hour and resulted in many bruises.
The next morning, by the time Yusuke and the others were awake, Akuryou had already gotten up, brushed her teeth, showered, eaten breakfast, and was nowhere to be seen.
"You know what Urameshi? I had the weirdest dream last night."
"Really? What was it about?" Yusuke asked, chugging down a glass of milk.
"Yeah. You remember that girl we met on the boat? Yeah well, the dream was mostly about her. She was really angry with someone. Man, I thought she was ready to kill! Oh, and that little punk was with her too..."
"Oh, ok," Yusuke said, looking around. "Where's Akuryou?"
"I don't know... I wonder where she went," Kuwabara said.
"Who cares?"
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and a furious assassin stormed in.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She yelled. Yusuke flipped over the couch he was sitting on. Kuwabara simply looked shocked. Kurama raised an eyebrow, and Hiei pretended not to notice. "THE OPENING FOR THE TOURNAMENT IS STARTING RIGHT NOW!!!"
"Um... so?"
"BAKA! WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THERE 10 MINUTES AGO!!!"
"WELL, HOW WERE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW IF YOU DIDN'T TELL US?!" Yusuke bellowed back.
"I LEFT A NOTE, BONEHEAD!!!"
"WHAT NOTE?!"
"Oh, you mean this?" Asked Kurama mildly, picking up a small Post-it note from the coffee table.
"Yes, that note. NOW GET OFF YOUR ASSES AND MOVE!!!"
2 minutes later, Yusuke and his team were at the entrance of the tournament stadium, panting their lungs out.
"Teeckets," The security officer grunted. He greatly resembled an over grown slug. Akuryou flashed the tickets at him without a word, and swept past. The others tried to follow her.
"Teeckets," the officer said again when Yusuke tried to pass him.
"She just showed them to you!" Yusuke said.
"No teeckets no eentryy," the slug grunted.
"Damn it!"
"Hey! Lard face! They're with me!" Akuryou barked. The slug quickly backed off to let Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama pass.
"What a jack—"
"The Tournament's starting... and we're in the first battle." Akuryou hissed.
"What?!"
"If you had read the note when you woke up..."
HE-LLO MAKAI! WELCOME TO THE 271st ANNIVERSARY OF THE ANKOKU BUJUTSUKAI!!! MY NAME'S KORI, AND I'LL BE YOUR ANNOUNCER FOR THIS TOURNAMENT!
A girl with long, teal hair not unlike Juri's, was standing in the middle of the stage. Her ears were long and scaly (also like Juri); she had a long, green tail, and small, leathery wings. She was wearing a pink sleeveless shirt, and blue shorts.
ON MY LEFT, PLEASE WELCOME RANTOU!!! The announcer yelled. The audience cheered, screeched, screamed... whatever.
"Thank you!" A demon with long red hair with blue streaks in it was waving to the audience. His face was marred by a blue-ish scar, which was shaped like a spider. Yusuke and Kuwabara gasped when they saw him.
"Randou!" They hissed at each other.
HITAN!
A boy of moderate height stepped out. He wore a black clock. Bandages completely covered the place his hair was supposed to be, but small tufts of it stuck out. He looked bored out of his mind.
KANARIA!!!
"That's her!" Kuwabara hissed at Yusuke.
Kanaria was wearing a mean scowl, glaring directly at Akuryou. She was also wearing a light yellow sleeve-less shirt and jeans.
CHIKU!!!
The small boy leaped out of the shadows, and stood next to Kanaria, beaming at everyone.
AND PAKO!
A fat man waddled onto the stage. His beady eyes squinted around the stadium. This guy wasn't just fat. He was humongous. His legs were like tree trunks, and his arms like sausages. His eyes rested on the Urameshi team, and he grinned, exposing two rows of shining, razor sharp teeth.
AND ON MY RIGHT, PLEASE WELCOME YUSUKE!
Yusuke walked out onto the stage while the audience booed and hissed.
KUWABARA!!!
Kuwabara stood like a deer caught in headlights until Akuryou's foot connected with his rear end. He stumbled up after Yusuke.
KURAMA!!!
Kurama walked out calmly, ignoring the jeers.
HIEI!
Hiei walked out calmly as well, though he shot murderous glares at random audience members.
AND AKURYOU!!!
The audience seemed to be struck dumb for a split second, but then hissed and booed as they did with the rest of the team. Akuryou gave them the finger, waving it around for everyone to see.
TEAM LEADERS, TO THE CENTER!
Yusuke stepped up, as did Rantou.
"One on One?" Yusuke asked.
"Fine with me."
"Who fights first?"
"I will," Akuryou said, stepping up to the stage.
"Fine then," Rantou got into a fighting stance.
"Rantou! I'm fighting this one!" Kanaria hissed, kicking the demon in his groin from behind.
"What the hell?!" He yelped, voice considerably higher.
"Baka, I said this is my fight!" Kanaria yelled.
Akuryou watched this all with a large sweat drop rolling down her head.
"Ok ok! Damn, pushy bitch..." He muttered, limping off the stage.
ALRIGHT EVERBODY!!! THE FIGHTERS ARE DECIDED!!!
The display board, which had been flashing a commercial for some sort of bug spray, immediately changed, showing Akuryou and Kanaria's names in Kanji.
READY... BEGIN!
The fight didn't just start like BAM! Akuryou and Kanaria stood there, glaring each other down. The entire stadium was quiet, and suddenly, both fighters leaped. They met in the center of the stage, and came away, both unscathed.
"You know, I couldn't wait till today," Kanaria smirked, forming small, bracelet-sized rings of reiki around her fingers. "I couldn't wait to take revenge... For what you did... Not just to me, but to everyone else..."
"What are you talking about?" Akuryou asked, balls of reiki about the size of baseballs formed around her.
"Don't play dumb. You know perfectly well what you did."
"I know the things I did. I just don't know which one you're talking about."
"Shut up!" Kanaria made a motion with her hand similar to throwing something. Several of her reiki rings flew at Akuryou, who took the blasts full on. "You killed my family!" Akuryou did not reply. The reiki balls around her flew together to form a bigger sphere, about the size of a soccer ball. The ball hovered near her feet. Akuryou half raised her foot, about to kick it, but she stopped, as if thinking about it, and lowered her foot. The reiki ball disappeared.
"What is she doing?" Yusuke hissed as Kanaria threw more rings at the assassin. Akuryou simply stood there, taking every blow thrown at her. Yet she still stood, shaking off the damage as if nothing had happened.
"You heartless bitch!" Kanaria cried. "Why won't you say something?! Anything?!"
"What do you want me to say?" Was the reply. "I can't say I'm sorry, because I'm not."
"How can you NOT be sorry?!" Kanaria yelled. Tears streamed down my face. "We were happy! And then YOU came and ruined everything!"
"Hey, I was just doing my job."
"What kind of stupid job involves killing people?!"
"Being an assassin," Akuryou replied as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
Kanaria seemed at lost for words. She howled and ran toward Akuryou, landing as many punches and kicks she could.
"Is she trying to lose on purpose?" Yusuke asked.
"I dunno, I think she feels kind of bad," Kuwabara answered,
"Why? And which one?"
"Akuryou. I think she feels bad cause she killed Kanaria's family but she doesn't really feel anything about it."
"I don't get it. If she felt bad, then why would she kill these people?"
"No! She killed these guys and she doesn't feel anything for them!"
"... Exactly! Well duh she doesn't care! If she did, she wouldn't have killed them in the first place!"
Kuwabara gave him a look. "She killed them without feeling. Most people kill for reasons like hate, jealousy, or even blood lust. Akuryou had no reason. She just killed."
"Man, that's deep."
"Not really."
"How can you tell all this anyways?"
"I dunno. I just feel it."
"Don't turn all psychic on me."
"Yusuke, Kuwabara, look," Kurama said quietly.
Akuryou was still standing, looking like she had been caught between two gangs fighting, but worse. She spat blood out of her mouth, and just stood there, blood dripping, right arm hanging useless.
"Why didn't you just kill me?!" Kanaria shrieked. "Just like you did to my family?"
"I don't kill children," Akuryou replied with a cough. More blood splattered to the ground.
"You pretty much killed them anyways!" Kanaria shrieked hysterically. "You left them there to die. They had no way of protecting them selves, nothing left! IT WOULD HAVE BEEN KINDER TO KILL THEM!!!"
"I said, I don't kill children," Akuryou said again. "Besides, I left them alive so that maybe... Maybe their hatred would grow. And they would come back for revenge." She lifted her head. "Like you did."
"Why the hell would you want that?!"
"Maybe I want to feel bad." Akuryou said quietly.
Kanaria stopped yelling. She stood there, staring open mouthed at the assassin, who finally lifted her head to meet Kanaria's eyes.
"Maybe I want to feel bad," The assassin repeated almost in a whisper. Then she raised her left hand slowly, wearily. "Hey, announcer. I forfeit the match."
Well, this certainly is a turn of events... Well, then if that's what you want... TEAM RANTOU WINS THIS MATCH!
The display board put a red cross next to Akuryou's name in red and put a green circle next to Kanaria's.
Akuryou stumbled to the edge of the arena, and fell off the edge. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama rushed over to see her wounds. She was sitting up, leaning against the stage.
"Sorry," she panted. "I couldn't fight back..."
"It's alright," Said Kurama soothingly. "Here, let me see that arm."
"No, I got it." As she spoke, blue reiki gathered around her fore arm. "My body has a natural healing reflex. Minor injuries heal almost right away. Major ones take longer." Akuryou explained.
"I see..."
"Unfortunately, when I heal internal injuries, it sometimes gives off the impression that I'm radioactive... Like now."
PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTERS FOR THE NEEEXT ROUND!!!
"Does that bitch ever shut up?" Akuryou hissed. "Alright let's see who's fighting..."
The fat, I mean really fat, man was standing near the arena. Rantou seemed to be trying to explain something to him. Something that involved a bunch of pointing and pounding. Finally, the fat guy got the clue and waddled up on stage. He sat there blinking stupidly.
"Um... Who wants to fight the fat ass?" Akuryou asked, voice flat.
"I'll get 'im." Yusuke said, punching his fist into his other hand. "Let's see if fat absorbs blows as much as muscle."
"Actually, detective, muscle does not absorb shock waves. Fat DOES, however."
"Whatever."
AND NOW OUR FIGHTERS ARE DECIDED!!! Kori yelled into the microphone. YUSUKE URAMESHI VERSUS PAKO!!! FIGHERS, READY?
Yusuke put up his fists and got into a fighting stance. Pako blinked, apparently confused by what was going on.
BEGIN!
Yusuke disappeared in a flash. Pako did not seem to notice, even when Yusuke appeared behind him and punched as hard as he could.
"Waaaa!" Yusuke bounced off the stationary figure and flew into the wall behind him. His opponent scratched his head stupidly. "Damnit!" He yelled, jumping back to the stage. He drove his fist as hard as he could into Pako.
"What a monster," Kuwabara remarked. "I don't think he even notices Urameshi's punches."
"He doesn't," Akari said. "Yusuke is doing more damage to himself than his opponent."
"How's Urameshi gonna beat him then?"
"Having a blade might be helpful," Akari replied, frowning. "But I remember his technique was Spirit gun, so that's not going to help. Perhaps if is was strong enough, it would vaporize the fat ass, but I doubt that..."
"Hn. That idiot."
"I agree with you 100, Hiei. Your Black Dragon should fry him to charcoal, if the detective does not succeed. Or will the Mortal Flame suffice?"
"Hn. Neither of them is needed."
"That's what I thought."
"Hey, Kurama, what do you think?" Asked Kuwabara, leaving the two to sort it out.
"I rather agree with Akari. I'm afraid that Yusuke's Spirit Gun may not be enough to defeat Pako."
"Oh. Well, how is he supposed to win?"
"Think about it Kuwabara. Take a tree for example. The outer layer of bark is hard to penetrate for disease, but once it goes through, the whole tree may die." She smirked. "Now let's see how long it takes for the detective to figure out..."
"Huh? I'm confused..."
Akari ignored him. "Then again, he'll probably think of it soon anyways. Gouki had always had a big mouth..."
"Gouki? Who the hell is he?" Kuwabara asked.
"What does Gouki have to do with this?" Kurama asked. How could the assassin know who Gouki was?
"Nothing really." Akari replied. She smirked. Perhaps she'd tell them some time. But not now, she mused. They're not ready yet.
Bwahahaha!!! Just started the 10th page....
Preview
Yusuke: Hey guys, how's it going? So anyways, I'm stuck fighting some fat ass who's totally oblivious to the fact that I'm beating him up! What's the deal with that?! Wish Akari would just say what was on her mind and then I could kick this guy's ass a lot faster. Anyhow... Stay tuned for the next episode of Yu Yu Hakusho!
Akari: raises eyebrows I'm impressed, detective. I didn't know you knew big words like oblivious.
Yusuke: What, is there a problem?
Akari: nothing whistle
Yusuke: --