Chapter15: To Know Your Enemies… Or Your Family

Rai stared in disbelief as the called opponent walked onto the arena. He was still in the guise of her brother, Seishou. He was smirking evilly. He cast off his coat, showing of strong arms. He looked about the crowd and somehow spotted Rai in the midst. He smiled and waved. Rai's face was full of anger. How dare that monster do this in her brother's body!

Rai fell down when someone had tugged her arm. It had been Yasu. Rai could tell by looking in Yasu's eyes that she understood the situation fully.

"Save your energy. You'll fight him soon enough." She said firmly. "For now, watch this battle so you'll be ready when you do."

Rai looked back at the arena resigned. Yasu was right. Besides, what could she do from up here? A thought suddenly came to mind. Yukaru would be watching! He would see Shogate fighting in Seishou's form!

As she thought this, there was a small rumble of lightning. It had to have been Yukaru. Yukaru would keep his cool under nearly any circumstance. But she knew that Yukaru would come to her, asking for an explanation. She wouldn't blame him when he did.

In a second, the battle started. Shogate's opponent drew their sword and charged him. Shogate stood there as if nothing was happening. Just before his opponent reached him, he drew his own sword and stopped them in their tracks. They wasted no time with words. In a moment, they were in a fierce battle. The sound of metal against metal filled everyone's ears.

Suddenly, Shogate leapt away. Loudly, he shouted, "Enough of this game. It's time to finish you off." Then he slashed at the opposing demon, cutting them in half.

The crowd cheered at the victorious demon. Shogate waved and walked off.

"Team Unmei is victorious for this round, folks! Come back tomorrow for more mayhem!" Koto shouted out, officially dismissing everyone.

Everyone was quiet when walking back to their rooms. They were unsure of what to say to Rai, who was obviously worried about the well-being of her brother. Sure Shogate said he was alive then, but nothing was said about how far from death he was.

"Rai, you have some explaining to do." Yukaru's voice came from behind.

Rai turned to face her eldest brother and looked down. "I know." She turned to her friends, "Could I speak to my brother alone for awhile.

Everyone agreed. Hiei lagged behind, but left with a nod from Rai.

"I'll explain as much as I know. Shogate has been impersonating Seishou for at least two months now. He first did it to spy on us and now he's just using Seishou as leverage for our cooperation in this tournament. I have no clue where Seishou is and I have no clue if he's alright." She put her face in her hands.

This sight wrenched Yukaru's heart. It just so happened that all the Toshimo brothers liked to make sure that their only sister was alright. Yukaru hugged Rai.

"I'm sure he will be. That kid's always been good at getting himself out of trouble and staying alive when you'd expect him to die." He said comforting her. "I seem to remember a particularly humorous escape. Remember the one time both of you nearly drowned?"

Rai looked up at him and nodded.

She had been practicing agility, and balance while doing a practice fight with Seishou on a strong, thin piece of wood. Their four elder brothers sat watching them. It was hazardously placed above a lake. At one moment, Rai lost her balance and went tumbling into the lake below them. Her weapons that were still attached to her dragged her down. Seishou dived in after her without a second thought. Before any of the older ones could react, Rai surfaced. With some difficulty, Seishou placed her on the board, but he didn't join her. He fell under the surface and didn't come back up. She looked into the water frantically. Nothing.

"Are you alright, Rai?" One of them called out to her.

"Yeah, but Seishou went under and hasn't come out yet!" Just as she spoke, something broke the surface. Seishou's head popped up.

"I suppose you're looking for me." Was the first thing out of his mouth?

"Seishou!" She began happily, but paused looking at him. She put a hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing. "You look like a drowned rat." She said, not able to contain it any longer. His face fell. Instead of responding, he took her arm and pulled her back in.

"Don't know why I saved you in the first place."

Rai was brought out of her thoughts when Yukaru spoke.

"Seems like someone's getting impatient."

Rai looked up from Yukaru to see yet another brother. Inasuwei. He was about as tall as Yusuke and had light brown hair with sky blue eyes. He wore a red jacket, unzipped, revealing the white shirt he wore underneath and black pants. Rai jumped over to him, hugging him around the midriff.

"Hey Inasuwei! When did you come down here? And why did you?"

"I came in yesterday afternoon. And why wouldn't I come down? I, myself, haven't seen you, Rai, for a couple of years. Besides, I heard you have a boyfriend." He said as he ruffled her hair. He beamed down and she beamed back.

"Yeah, why don't you come and meet my friends?"

"Why not? You comin' Yukaru?" He looked up. "Dang! He did it again! I'll never know how he does it." Yukaru had pulled another disappearing act. Rai shrugged and took Inasuwei's hand to lead him to her room.

"By the way, are Hiriguwa and Karima here too?" She asked him on the way up.

Inasuwei shook his head. "Nah, they're watchin' over Naku and Marakai. You know how much of a handful they can be." Rai nodded, giggling.

She opened the door to the boys' room, "Hey everyone, I'd like you to meet my brother, Inasuwei." She said happily.

Kuwabara looked up at him, "Uh, didn't we leave you with Yukaru?"

"You did. But Inasuwei popped up and Yukaru pulled another disappearing act."

"So Rai, which one is your boyfriend?" Inasuwei asked bluntly.

"Straight to the point, aren't you, Inasuwei?" Rai asked, her face fell. He shrugged in response. "Well, I'll just introduce you to everyone at once. That's Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara, Kurama, Yasu, and finally, Hiei." She introduced them, pointing to each in turn. "Everyone, this is Inasuwei, he's pretty much the joker of all my brothers."

Inasuwei looked at each in turn. "Lemme guess, Hiei? Deffinitely not Kurama judging by how close Yasu is to him."

Rai's face fell again, "Yeah. You're not going to drop this aren't you?"

Inasuwei shrugged his shoulders in indifference, "I gotta find out which one is going to d-." Before he could get any further, Rai hit him in the face with a pillow from the couch.

"That's far enough with that kind of talk. I say we move on."

"I, for one, agree. Your brother certainly is a lot like Yusuke. Are there any other of your brothers here?" Yasu asked.

"No, Hiriguwa and Karima are watching over Naku and Marakai. We should all know by now that this tournament isn't really a family affair."

"How old is Marakai? You said he was the youngest." Kurama asked.

Rai thought back. "Um, he's a little over four-years-old. And Naku is the cheekiest little ten-year-old I have ever known."

"I'll say. He keeps telling me to shut up whenever I start talking." Inasuwei interrupted.

"No, that would be Seishou. But anyways, Hiriguwa and Karima are very interesting. Hiriguwa is the calm one, and Karima is the one that, well, how would you say it, Inasuwei?"

"He practically a rock. The guy hardly talks."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration. He just doesn't talk unless he feels he needs to. And that is usually when he's getting Inasuwei and Naku out of their more idiotic problems." Rai explained.

"Yeah right. Whatever you say. Anyways, I gotta be off. It was nice seeing you again, Rai. Next time, don't leave without telling us where on Earth you're going. Nice meeting your fiancée." He gave a small salute as he walked off, leaving everyone to stare after him.

"You have some interesting brothers, Rai." Kurama commented.

"You have no idea."

Elf: Yukaru is definitely the older brother part. Inasuwei is pretty funny. I started coming up with his personality when I realized he was going to be quite a bit like Yusuke.

Kuronue: What was he going to say before Rai hit him in the face?

Elf: You'd probably be happier not knowing. It just concerns Rai's and Hiei's relationship farther than probably anyone wants to know. I wouldn't say it anyways.

Kuronue: (Silence)

Elf: Yeah, I know.