I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho
Episode 8
"So you're not Randou, eh?" Kuwabara asked, forming his Spirit sword in his hand.
"Of course not! I am his older brother!" Rantou said arrogantly.
Kuwabara felt confident he could beat Rantou. After all, Randou was from a long time ago, and Kuwabara was obviously a lot stronger than that time. Then a little seed of doubt started to sprout in his mind. What if he was a lot stronger?
"Fighters ready? Then… BEGIN!" Kori yelled.
No goofing off, Kuwabara thought. I'll try to finish him as quickly as possible. He swung the sword at Rantou. Rantou dodged the blade too easily, almost as if he knew where the blade was going to go. He lashed out with inch long nails, slashing the bottom of Kuwabara's shirt into ribbons.
"Haha. Next time, I'll draw blood," He laughed. "Don't underestimate me!"
"What a load of bull," Kuwabara muttered.
"Your last words?"
"Hardly," Kuwabara replied. He tightened his grip on his spirit sword.
"Pity. Now die!" Rantou attacked with his inch-long nails. Kuwabara jumped out of the way just in time. Unfortunately, Rantou was ready for him. He swung his foot upwards, catching Kuwabara by the neck. Kuwabara coughed up blood as Rantou pulled his foot back.
"Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled.
"You can't fight back because you can't get enough air," Rantou said triumphantly. "I've pierced your windpipe."
"You bastard," Kuwabara coughed. He grabbed his own throat, trying to stem the flow of blood.
"Heh. I have claws on my feet too."
"You talk too much!" Kuwabara yelled, swinging feebly at Rantou.
"Heh, at least I can. You're dying. You have little life left."
Damn it, Kuwabara thought. He's right. My vision's going all fuzzy…
"He needs to block that wound somehow," Kurama said out loud.
"He needs a miracle," Akuryou added.
On stage, Kuwabara was kneeling on the ground, holding himself up by his spirit sword.
I can hardly breath… He thought. I'm going to die… And in the first round too… "
"Sorry Urameshi, I let you down…" Kuwabara whispered. The roaring
from the audience was dimming. He could hardly hear Yusuke's calls. I'm going to die… I'll never see…
"Kazuma-kun!" A voice rang clearly, amidst the noise, in Kuwabara's ears.
That voice! He thought, looking up. Yukina was standing at the wall right past Rantou's shoulder.
"Eh? Yukina-san!" Kuwabara yelped. Then he coughed up more blood.
"What are you looking at, human?" Rantou sneered. He approached, ready to strike the final blow.
"Get out of my way, bastard!" Kuwabara yelled hoarsely, punching Rantou right in the face. He was knocked out of the arena and didn't get up.
"Kazuma-kun! Are you alright? You're all covered in blood!" Yukina yelled from the audience.
"Yukina?" Hiei mouthed. Kurama smiled.
"Who the hell is that?" Akari asked no one, lookingw at Kuwabara and the equally dead looking Rantou.
"That's Yukina," Kurama explained.
"His girlfriend?" Akuryou asked. She felt very hot all of a sudden. "What, midget, you got a crush on her too?"
"No."
"That's gross Akuryou," Yusuke retorted. "Yukina is Hiei's sister."
"Oh."
"Detective…" Hiei turned to Yusuke with a murderous glare.
"Aagh! Sorry Hiei! I'm sorry! I just let it slip, sorry! Akuryou won't tell, will you?"
"If you don't want me to…" Akuryou said, a large sweat drop sliding down the back of her head.
"9… 10! RANTOU IS OUT!" Kori yelled. The second that came out of her mouth, Yusuke and Kurama ran to the arena.
"Kuwabara! You alright?"
"Hang in there!"
"Kurama! Can you do anything about him?"
Kurama didn't say anything at first. After inspecting the wound for a bit, he shook his head. "None of the plants I have with me can heal a wound as serious as that.
"Just sew it back up," Akuryou said. "Here, let me do it."
Yusuke and Kurama carefully pulled Kuwabara off the arena and onto the grassy floor.
"Well, um, team Urameshi, you'll have to move. There are more teams ready to fight," Kori said.
"All right," Yusuke grumbled. He grabbed one of Kuwabara's arms and dragged him toward the medical tent.
) Inside the tent (
"I sewed the wound up," Akuryou said with a sigh. "But he's lost a lot of blood. Nothing too serious though," She added hastily under Yusuke's glare. "A good night's sleep should fix that." She sat down in a chair with a sigh.
"Good," Yusuke nodded.
"How's your wrist?" Akuryou asked Yusuke.
"There's a bunch of scabs on it."
"Good. Stop picking them. How are you, Kurama?"
"I'm fine," Kurama replied.
"Hiei?"
"Hn."
"Hi."
The five of them looked down. The little boy, Chiku, was standing there, with a gauze pad over his cheek.
"Did you guys beat us?" He asked.
"Yes." They replied in unison.
"Oh," Chiku said, looking at his feet. Then he looked back up. "Did I do that?" He asked, pointing at Kuwabara.
"No, it was Rantou," Yusuke replied.
"Oh. Good. Kanaria's yelling at him right now," Chiku said, smiling. "Look at what happened to me," He added, pointing at his cheek.
"How did you get that?" Kurama asked. He didn't remember having hit the boy in the face.
"Kanaria says I got it when I fell down."
Oh, Kurama thought. After I exorcised the demon.
Extracted, Youko thought. Exorcising is for ghosts.
Whatever.
Chiku had lost interest in me and had jumped into Akuryou's lap. "You're Akuryou right?"
"Yes…" Akuryou said, trying to push him off.
"Kanaria says you're a bad person," Chiku told her, resisting the assassin's attempts to push him off.
"She's right. I am a bad person. So get away from me before I do something bad to you," Akuryou said sarcastically.
"Nuh-uh! You just want me to go away, right?"
"You're right. Now go away. Please."
"But I want to stay here! You don't seem like a bad person," Chiku chirped happily.
"Don't judge a person from their appearance. Now go back to your sister before she comes over to skin me."
"She won't do that," Chiku laughed.
"Oh yes she will," Akuryou muttered. A livid Kanaria was standing in front of her.
"Chiku! Don't bother strangers!" She scolded, lifting him off of Akuryou's legs.
"I wasn't bothering her! And she's not a bad person like you say she is!"
"Hush. Hitan wants to talk to you," She said, putting a finger to her lips. "Talk quietly, please. He is still a bit tired."
"Aw, ok." The little boy skipped back. Kanaria followed him.
"Well, wasn't that enlightening," Yusuke said. "What are you, a child molester?"
"I'm an assassin."
"Right. I knew that."
) Meanwhile…(
"Yusuke hasn't come to school for days! I'm getting worried!" Keiko told Atsuko.
"He's fine," Atsuko replied, waving her off.
"I haven't seen him around either!"
"He's fine."
"How do you know?"
"Just a feeling."
Keiko turned around to leave when Botan suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Aaah!"
"Sorry!" Botan yelped, jumping off her oar to help Keiko off the ground. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine," Keiko replied, brushing her skirt off. "What happened? Why are you here?"
"How come you're over here at Yusuke's?" Botan asked,
"I was asking Atsuko where he was… So tell me, why are you here?"
"You didn't know that Yusuke had a mission?" Botan asked, ignoring Keiko's question.
"AGAIN?!" Keiko yelled. "Why didn't he tell me?!"
"Um…"
"Yusuke! I'm going to KILL you!!!" Keiko yelled, storming off.
) Meanwhile…(
"Achoo!" Yusuke sneezed.
"I bet Keiko's thinking about you," Kuwabara said automatically.
"Maybe."
"You wake up after sleeping 17 hours straight and that's the first thing you say?" Akuryou scoffed.
"Hey, I just happened to wake up at the time, ok?"
Akuryou did not reply.
"When's our next battle?" Kurama asked.
"They'll send a messenger to tell us when they've decided," Akuryou replied, staring out the window. She added, "That means the report could come anytime between now and a hundred years from now."
"Haha, funny joke," Yusuke said sarcastically.
"I'm not joking."
"Akuryou, are you really a guy or a girl?" Yusuke asked randomly.
Kuwabara laughed, Kurama raised his eyebrows and Hiei choked on his water.
"What do you think?" Akuryou asked. Her tone was silky smooth.
"Um… I mean, I know you're a girl—"
"Then why ask the stupid question?"
"Because I was just making sure."
"Why would you doubt the fact that I am female?" Akuryou asked.
"Well…" Yusuke started nervously. "Um…"
"Yes?"
She's going to kill me anyways, Yusuke thought. "You're chest is completely flat. And you wear boys' clothes. And you act like a boy. You look like a boy. And you sound kind of like a boy too."
Akuryou did not reply for a minute, then, "So?"
This is the first time I called a girl flat-chested and didn't get slapped upside the head, Yusuke thought with relief. "It doesn't bother you?"
"Being a girl sucks," Akuryou sighed, staring at her fingers. "Every new client I've had did a double take when I met them face to face. No one expects a 17-year old girl to be the best assassin in Makai. Most of them doubt me until I've done a job for them. Even so, they tend to ask someone else to do it. A male," Akuryou said in disgust. "But every so often, I get a client that's stupid enough to think that I'm a guy so they like me," She added, playing with the dagger at her waist.
"I don't see anything wrong with being a girl," Yusuke said.
"That's because you're male," Akuryou said testily, crossing her arms.
"I don't see why that should change my opinion."
"The reason men rule the world is purely physical."
"Hey, you girls aren't much smarter! You should see the girls at school! All they care about is their make up!"
"Boys don't seem to care about anything but girls!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Urameshi, no offense, but you're not really in a position to argue that point," Kuwabara interrupted. "Remember all the perverted stuff you do to Keiko?"
"It's just Keiko! I don't do it to anyone else!"
Akuryou turned her head away and muttered something that sounded vaguely like "men". Her hands gripped the jacket she was wearing. "I'll be in the room, if anyone needs me." She just barely made it into the room before tears started to slide down her face.
) Later (
"Hey, Akuryou?" Yusuke poked his head into the room. "You awake?"
Akuryou's back was facing him, and she did not reply.
"Er… Are you just ignoring me, or are you really asleep?" He crept closer. She seemed to be sleeping, but who knew? If he got too close, she might jump up and bite his head off…
"What?" Akuryou croaked, voice muffled.
"Eh?"
"What do you want?" Akuryou turned around. Her arms and legs were wrapped around her pillow. She pushed several strands of sand colored hair aside.
"Ah. I was wondering if you wanted some dinner?"
"Sure," Akuryou yawned and scratched her head. "What are we eating?"
"Some thing Kurama bought at the restaurant."
"Aight…"
Yusuke led the stumbling assassin into the small yet luxurious kitchen.
"Hey guys, Akuryou's joining us for… dinner," Yusuke announced, taking a seat.
"We can see that, Yusuke," Hiei snapped.
"Yo," Akuryou said quietly, raising a hand. She flopped into her chair and stared at the table.
"Are you alright? You seem extremely quiet," Kurama asked cautiously after several minutes of silent eating.
"I'm fine," came the reply. "Just a little tired is all."
No one else said anything for a while. Kuwabara made a few feeble attempts to make a conversation, but no one really talked. Finally…
"If you could wish for anything in the world, what would it be?"
There was a moment of silence, then…
"Death."
The four boys turned to stare at the only girl at the table.
"Why would you want that?" Yusuke asked.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
"If I was dead, I wouldn't have to go through this crappy tournament again."
"So you want to die just cause you don't wanna fight? Then why'd you join in the first place?"
"It's none of your business!" Akuryou yelled.
"We don't know anything about you! How do I know we can trust you?!" Yusuke yelled back.
"Um… You guys…" Kurama tried to pacify Yusuke.
"You don't have to! I could always go back home and ask my friends for help!" Akuryou shouted, her eyes turning into an angry red.
"What friends?! If you could do that, why'd you come to us?!"
"It was more convenient! You guys needed a 5th fighter, right?"
Yusuke could not find anything to retort with, so he replied, rather lamely, "I know other people that could fill the spot."
"Well then. I can see that I am not needed," Akuryou said in a would-be calm voice. She stormed out of the kitchen. The slam of the door shook the room.
"Women!" Yusuke huffed angrily.
) Next morning (
"What do you want?" Yusuke asked. The rat demon was standing in front of the door.
"Excuse moi, your battle weel start in few minutes."
"Alright, alright," Yusuke muttered, slamming the door in his face. He stepped on the still-sleeping Kuwabara on his way to the bathroom. They had slept on the ground that night because Akuryou was still in their room. "Damn bitch…"
"Who was that?" Kurama asked.
"Messenger."
"Then we should be getting down to the stadium."
"Whatever."
) 5 minutes later (
"What are we gonna do about Akuryou?" Kuwabara asked.
"Let's pretend she's sick," Yusuke muttered.
"Think they'll believe us?"
"I don't give a damn."
"WELCOME TO THE SECOND ROUND OF THE DARK TOURNAMENT!!!" Kori yelled. The crowd went wild… literally. "IN THE LEFT CORNER, TEAM MASHOUTSUKAI!"
"What?!" Yusuke yelled over the noise of the crowd. "Didn't we fight those bastards last time?!"
"PLEASE WELCOME… SHOUKA!!!"
"Maybe not."
A girl with short, bright orange hair stepped out. Her hair curled outwards at the ends. Her amber eyes seemed to gauge the Urameshi Team's power almost immediately. She wore a strip of cloth tied around her chest under a netted shirt. Her skirt reached down about mid-thigh.
"JUNSUI!"
A boy with blue hair that stopped at his shoulders walked out. His expression was mild, mostly due to his calming blue eyes. He wore a toga-like… thing over a netted shirt. His pants were long and baggy.
"REISHO!"
"Ok, that guy we fought."
Out came Reisho, looking foul-tempered as ever. He sneered at the Urameshi team. Kurama noticed that his teammates didn't seem to like him very much either.
"OOKAMI!"
Kurama was startled. He had met this particular wolf demon before. Ookami had silver hair, grey ears that poked out of the top of his head and amber eyes. He was wearing almost exactly what Junsui was wearing, but his shirt covered his whole upper body.
"AAAAAND… KEISUI!"
Keisui was tall. Really tall. Standing at about 200 cm, he towered over the rest of his team. Even Ookami looked short compared to him. His hair was messy and a light green color. His face was quite stern, with yellow eyes. He wore an X of cloth across his chest and long baggy pants. He scratched at his elbow pads with a yawn.
"ON MY RIGHT, WELCOME OUR GUESTS… TEAM URAMESHI!!!"
"Let's just all walk out and get this damn thing over with," Yusuke muttered.
"YUSUKE! KUWABARA! KURAMA! HIEI! AND AKU— Hey, where's your fifth member?" Kori demanded.
"She's sick."
"What?"
"She won't be coming!" Yusuke snapped. "Not that we need her anyways," He added, smirking at the other team.
"You are clearly underestimating us," Said Keisui disapprovingly.
"WELL, THEN! TEAM LEADERS, DECIDE ON YOUR FIGHTERS!"
"Continued battling?"
"Sure."
Keisui turned back to his teammates. "Oi, which one of you wants to fight first?"
"Let me!" Shouka yelled, jumping up and down.
"Er… No, you can fight later. Junsui, you go," Keisui decided, walking off the arena. Shouka made a pouty face.
"Yes sir," Junsui replied. He jumped onto the stage.
"I will fight him," Kurama said, also jumping onto the stage. "Though I have heard of the previous team we fought, I'd never heard of this one."
"Our sect doesn't do a lot of public stuff," Junsui commented helpfully. "You've probably never heard of us because we try to remain a secret to rest of Makai."
"Well then," Kurama said, eyebrows raised.
"Although I'm an easy going person," Junsui said, taking a fighting stance. "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you."
"I'll keep that in mind," Kurama replied just as calmly.
"FIGHTERS READY? BEGIN!"
A/N: Ah, the Mashoutsukai team. My favorite team in this tournament besides the Urameshi team. I used the same name as the previous team because they are from the same village. Shouka and Junsui's names should give you a clue about their elemental powers. You know who Reisho is, I hope. Ookami and Keisui's powers will be revealed soon…
Yusuke: Oh yes! The start of the second round!
Hiei: We know that, Yusuke
Yusuke: (Ignores Hiei) Ok, so the second round of the tournament starts! I hate these Mashoutsukai guys cause they almost kicked our butts last time. It's not the actual butt-kicking part that pisses me off, but that they cheated! This team better not cheat or else I'll…
Kurama: Yusuke, please get back on topic.
Yusuke: (stops strangling air) Right. So now Kurama has to fight Junsui! What powers does Junsui have? And why the heck is that slimy bastard Reisho on their team? Find out next time, on Yu Yu Hakusho!