---Road to an Eternity of Wars---
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho and anything else that seems related to any other copyright item/game.
Okay! I hope no one is getting bored with my story… After this, I'm going back to my homework! Hope you enjoy it!
To one of my reviewers: I'm sorry I overlooked that area for Hiei. But what I think is that even though he is a fire apparation, not everything he touched would catch on fire so...seeing that he was caught a bit off guard...
Chapter 9: The First Days of the Tournament
Boat to Hanging Neck Island… (Or something like that)
Kagome, Botan, Yukina, Keiko, and Sango all arrived at the port a little early so they could talk for a while before boarding. The 5 had to discuss some matters.
"Well, you remember out fake names, right?" Kagome asked.
"Hai, I'm Yuki" Yukina responded.
"I'm Kio" Keiko…
"Sano…" Sango sighed.
"Nano" Botan answered, "I just don't get why we couldn't of used Bota?"
"Because that would have given it away really fast, oh, and I'm Kage"
"Ok then, let's go!" Botan agreed cheerfully.
A few days ago, Kagome had sewn up 5 navy blue cloaks covering their battle outfits. It would conceal their faces and body until someone ripped it off or something like that. Kagome had also concealed their auras and scents, along with every other thing that you could identify someone with.
They had combined their energies together for a moment to make 5 tiny weapons that would come in handy. It had the exact format of a lighter, except when the flicked the switch up, any spiritual energy coming towards you would be absorbed, and when you flicked the switch again, it would send the attack right back at them.
Sango had a pole wrapped in fabric slung across her shoulders. It was around 1.5 meters wide, and as slim as 3 centimeters. You couldn't see it but, it was a dark red and on one end, there was a blade sticking straight out, and on the other was a thin, but strong and durable black chain with a dagger attached at the end of it. This was her key weapon that didn't use any special energy.
Keiko had a large weapon wrapped in fabric slung across her left shoulder. Unlike Sango's weapon, hers was a Zabato. It had a metallic pink sheen to it and was slightly curved to the right, looking like a stretched out crescent moon.
Yukina had a dark purple and wide, dragon scaled sheath attached to her back. If you took the blade(s) out, you would see that it had a slight icy blue sheen to it.
Botan's hands had metal, flexible gloves that when added some energy into it, a blade would extend out from the knuckles, as long as up to half a meter. It was a dull, blackish colour with odd, white metal at every bend in the glove. Her 'lighter' was attached to the bottom of her wrist so she could shoot the offending energy right out of her sword/glove.
The scythe that she also used is about the same as Sango's, except the blade stuck out perpendicular to the pole, and the chain was on top of the blade, a black, round weight attached to the end instead.
Now, you couldn't see Kagome's weapon, but wrapped around her waist was the thinnest sword ever made, but still strong enough to control with the flick of her wrist. It had a slight eerie red sheen to it, giving the illusion that it was covered in blood.
"Remember, be discreet. When we will have to battle them, I'm afraid we'll have to hurt them to make us less suspicious. You can attack and hurt them all you want…I guess. As long as you know that they can recover in time quickly with the least pain possible. If we ever have to help them, try not to give any information away. If you are found out, I guess you could tell them everything EXCEPT us being the Jikan Tamashii. Okay?" Sango reminded everyone.
"Hai" the 4 girls replied.
"It's really a good thing they don't know my last name, except Yusuke. But he doesn't even remember so we're all good. When they call up our team, Yusuke and the others won't know then" Kagome told them, "I hope Miroku's going to be fine with the kids. If he teaches them anything vile, I'll have his head…"
"The ships are boarding now. Get on as soon as possible. Anyone late will be left behind" a voice was heard on an intercom over the crowd.
"Come on, let's go" Keiko exclaimed, pulling them along the crowd.
Along the way, Kagome accidentally bumped into Yusuke, "Sorry" she mumbled, 'Ah! It's Yusuke!'
"Watch it, jerk!" he barked out.
"Geeze, what crawled up his ass and died?" Kagome muttered, making the rest of the team laugh.
After a couple of minutes, the girls reached the dock and boarded the ship.
Another Place in The Port to Hanging Neck Island…
"Hello Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Genkai" Kurama greeted.
"Whatever" Yusuke grumbled.
"Don't over exert yourself in this tournament. Remember that" Genkai hinted him.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you old hag"
"Yusuke!" Koenma hissed.
"What is it this time?" Hiei turned his attention from the bickering punk to the Reikai Prince.
"I just received a letter from Yukina, Botan, and Keiko"
"What does it say?" Kurama asked politely.
He cleared this throat to begin reading,
"Hello everybody,
Yukina, Botan, and I (Keiko) would just like to tell you that unfortunately, we will not be able to watch you in the dark tournament for private reasons. We wish you the very best of luck and Yusuke, you better not die. Hopefully, we will see you later though"
The rest of the group laughed at the last note Keiko gave to Yusuke. He just scowled and everyone was left there wondering why the girls couldn't attend. But before anyone could comment on it, the announcer came on, "The ships are boarding now. Get on as soon as possible. Anyone late will be left behind"
"Come on!" Kuwabara yelled loudly.
Kurama followed the group towards the ship. He wondered how his other friends and his mother was doing. He wondered if he would ever see them again, but it wasn't time to be a pessimist.
--------------------------------------------------------------Flashback---------------------------------------------------------------------
Kurama stood at his doorstep, a dark brown suitcase clutched tightly in his hand.
"I guess I'll see you in two months" He commented to his mother.
"Suichi, good luck on the school" she replied.
Well, it wasn't exactly for that reason, but hearing her say good luck made him feel better.
"Take care of yourself, mother"
He started walking forward, then stopped abruptly and turned around. He hugged her gently and whispered, "I-I love you. Remember that...please..." it took all of his will power to restrain the quiver in his voice.
She stood there, shocked for a moment, then hugged back, "I love you too, Suichi"
Then, Kurama left. Little did he know that she heard the wavering in his voice. She just didn't know why.
----------------------------------------------------------End Flashback------------------------------------------------------------
Along the way, Yusuke bumped into a cloaked figure, "Sorry…" the person mumbled. The voice was too soft to identify whether it was a man or woman.
"Watch it jerk" Yusuke barked out. She was followed by 4 other cloaked figures. Just before they were out of hearing, the YYH group heard, "Geeze, what crawled up his ass and died?"
Genkai and Kuwabara laughed while Kurama and Hiei smirked. Koenma had long gone and Yusuke was just scowling again. They then boarded their ship, which was a different one to the strange-cloaked figures.
The Ship With The Girls On It…
Sango cracked her knuckles, "Well, it looks like it's time to kick some demon butt, no offense to Yukina though"
Yukina laughed, "Let's get them…"
"Yeah! We can do it!" Botan exclaimed excitedly. The other girls just sweat dropped.
"Well" Kagome sighed, "Let's not waste any more time" she drew her twin blades from her back and cleanly sliced the nearest demon's head off. It slid off, landing on the ground with a soft thump. This created an all out war.
((I forgot to mention their other weapons! Every one of them has a bracelet that they can use telepathy with each other, but they don't use it often because it's tiring. They also all have a staff. Kagome has twin blades; Sango has a sword and boomerang, Botan has her scythe, Yukina has a katana, and Keiko has daggers))
The captain of the ship ducked for cover as the roaring of demons started up, only to be cut short by death and a new hoard replaced them. After a little while, they finally finished, frightening the captain to death because he thought that they were going to kill him.
"Well, that certainly went well." Botan told them cheerily.
"Yeah. Just remember, try not to use your staff for magic and stuff until we get nearer to the finals, which I'm counting on all of you to!" Keiko cheered them on enthusiastically.
"Yeah!" Sango agreed.
"I got us a full floor for our hotel" Kagome stated proudly. She was then engulfed in a hug, going swirly-eyed for a moment or two.
"Thank you!" Botan cried out.
"It's nowhere near like the shrine, but I tried for one of the best…"
"Thanks for trying, Kage." Yukina commented.
"Yeah. I think Nano with enjoy it the most." Sango smiled lightly, already missing Miroku for some reason.
As soon as they docked to the island, Team Higurashi made their way to the hotel.
Another, Different Ship…
"Urameshi, wake up!" Kuwabara whined.
Genkai snorted, "Let the dimwit be. I think he trained too hard again."
Later on, a demon came up to them and attempted to kill Yusuke. But before any of the team members could defend him, Yusuke, in his sleep, punched the demon in the face, mumbling, "Stupid old hag…I'm up already!"
Genkai raised an eyebrow.
Growling, the demon attacked again, "Old hag! Take this!"
The group laughed at his sleep talking, except Genkai, who just kept a raised eyebrow at the sleeping form.
Pretty soon, Kurama and Hiei had killed off most of the demons and they docked. Then, Team Urameshi headed off to the hotels.
Inside the Hotel, 57th Floor…
"Nice place, I guess.." Sango commented.
"Yeah" Kagome agreed, plopping down onto a nearby bed, "There's 5 beds, so we can each take one" with that settled, the girls each chose a bed in a room and started to unpack the stuff they brought. Fighting kimono after fighting kimono, slayer outfit after slayer outfit. There were basically 7 copies of their battle outfits, just incase something happened to theirs during battle.
Kagome with her silver miko outfit, Sango with her pink demon slayer outfit, Keiko with her red, altered slayer outfit, Yukina with her icy blue kimono, and Botan with her bubblegum pink 'haori dress'.
Each person also unpacked some extra weapons they brought for backup.
Getting settled in, they went to sleep for the night, but not before checking the schedule for tomorrow. The tournament would start tomorrow.
Preliminary Round
Team Higurashi vs. Team Riko
Inside the Hotel, 21st Floor…
Kurama took the key out to their hotel room and unlocked the door with a small 'click'. Opening the door, he was suddenly pushed aside by 2 exited boys trampling into the bedroom.
"He had to wake up…" Hiei grumbled.
Genkai came in after and Hiei behind her. Kurama was the one to close the door.
"There's only 3 beds" Kuwabara whined.
"I can sleep on the couch," Kurama offered.
"Hn. I don't need a bed."
"If you're sure." Yusuke shrugged.
"Great, I'm stuck here with 4 boys" Genkai commented sarcastically.
"HEY!" Yusuke and Kuwabara retorted. Hiei just snorted and Kurama gave a light smile.
"What's the schedule for tomorrow?" Kurama asked them.
"It's on the counter." Hiei responded.
"Thanks, Hiei."
"Hn."
Kurama walked into the kitchen and found a stray sheet of moderate sized paper lying on the counter. He picked it up. It seemed that they would be playing tomorrow.
"We are playing tomorrow?" Yusuke stuck his head into the kitchen.
"Yes. And Team Higurashi is too. I think we should study how they fight because we're playing them 3 times in this tournament."
"I think he's right about that. We should evaluate and watch the player's moves and styles." Genkai walked in.
"Hai…"
Preliminary Round
Team Urameshi vs. Team Kari
The Next Day…
"Get up guys!" Keiko clapped her hands together and announced, "It's 10:30am and the match starts in half an hour!"
Two thumps were heard as Sango and Botan fell off the beds in their rooms. A door opened and Yukina stepped out, her hair was slightly tangled. Greeting Keiko, she took refuge in the bathroom.
A couple minutes later, Botan and Sango opened the doors to their room, rubbing their eyes.
"Good morning!" Yukina exclaimed cheerfully, while letting Botan pass into the washroom.
"Where's Kagome?" Sango questioned, glancing around the room for any signs of her.
"Oh, apparently, she went to get some breakfast before the match would start. She'll be back soon." Keiko replied, shifting through the suitcase from a battle outfit.
"Oh, okay." Sango then took her turn in the washroom.
"This fits me perfectly!" Botan cheered, fingering a loose thread on her sleeve, and then successfully snapping it off. The door shut behind Sango again as the demon slayer came out wearing her clothes.
"Hey guys!"
"Kagome, you're back!" Keiko greeted.
"Yeah, and we have 25 minutes until our match starts" Kagome commented.
The shopping back crinkled, as Yukina looked through its contents, pulling out a random sandwich, "Thanks."
"Yes, arigato." everyone else smiled.
"Don't worry, I already are, but we need to activate our staffs like Midoriko said…" Kagome reminded the group.
"Oh yeah, let's do it now before the tournament starts." Sango suggested.
"Creation!" Keiko said, silently saying that she agreed in the process.
"Judgment!"
"Destiny!"
"Dominate!"
"Challenge!"
They all took a deep breath, praying that this would work, "Fate!"
5 lights flashed within the room. When it subsided, the girls were surprised.
Nothing was different other than the white and black-tipped WINGS they had sprouted and white slippers the girls had on. There was also a thick, white sash around their waist.
"Oh, kami…" Yukina gasped, staring at herself and her teammates in awe. The rest were doing the same Team Higurashi observed as their wings folded back in and disappeared, probably for future use.
"Well, we can't gawk any longer, the match starts in 5 minutes, we have to get to the area right now" Sango urged on, waiting until everyone else got their cloaks on and hooked their weapons onto their bodies. She then dragged them out the door and towards the battle arena.
The Dark Tournament Arena…
"Welcome to the first match of the Dark Tournament!" Juri cried out. The crowd roared in anticipation, "This is the preliminary round! You can use any weapons or techniques you want to. The first person to stay down or out of the rink for more than 10 seconds is the looser."
Koto then stepped up, "Now we have Team Higurashi vs. Team Riko! The leaders have discussed this and we'll have 3, three on three matches. The most wins is the winner."
Juri then butted in, "From Team Riko, we have Rimoko and Koshii! And from Team Higurashi, Sano and Kage! Without further a due, let the first match begin!"
The two girls and boys jumped into the arena, the rest of their teammates cheering them on wildly along with the audience in the stands.
"It's time for you to die!" Koshii smirked.
"Yeah, there's no turning back now! Muahaha-cough, cough, hack, wheeze, cough"
The girls looked on, exasperated.
While the two were in momentary shock from the…deformed laughing, Koshii took this as the opportunity to attack. He drew his sword and sliced at Kagome.
Seeing the attack coming out of the corner of her eye, Kagome sidestepped swiftly and drew both of her twin swords, hacking at his left arm furiously, making a large gash from his shoulder to wrist. The offender staggered. The deep, crimson blood stained the ground.
Sango whapped Rimoko's form with her staff.
"You think a mere staff can stop me? Muahahaha-wheeze, cough, hack, cough, cough, wheeze."
"Aw, shut it." Kagome stabbed a blade through his stomach and withdrew, jerking it out sharply, blocking Koshii's sword with her other blade.
The audience roared at the sight of blood, "More, MORE! Kill them!"
Juri peered in, "And it looks like Kage is doing fairly well!" She turned to Koto, "Does Rimoko have breathing problems?" Koto just shrugged.
Using his fists, he caught Kagome off-guard with a right hook to her jaw. She stumbled back from the blow, "Shimatta." Kagome swore, clutching her jaw in pain.
"Ha! I hit you! Muaha-cough, cough, cough, wheeze."
Sango stepped up, "That evil laugh of yours is really starting to piss me off. Especially since you can't do it correctly." she smirked.
Several snickers were heard from the stands and Team Higurashi, along with mummers of agreement.
Rimoko's face turned red with anger.
"Oh well, it's a loss, really. And I mean you." Sango continued.
Without warning, Sango drew her sword and cleanly sliced his head off.
"And now only Koshii remains! This is the first death in the Dark Tournament so far, ladies and gentleman!" Koto announced, somewhat proudly.
"YEAH!" the audience roared, "MORE BLOOD!"
"Rimoko!" Koshii turned towards his body. At this little distraction, Kagome took the chance and held one of her swords to his neck in a rapid motion.
His eyes widened in fear.
"Don't worry, I'm not that ruthless." Kagome laughed quietly and sheathed her swords.
Juri stepped up, "And the winners are Sano and Kage!"
The many demons in the stands cheered and yelled.
"Great job!" Yukina smiled at the two winners.
"Thanks, Yuki" Sango smiled. Kagome nodded and sat on the ground, closing her eyes for a little rest.
Koto took the microphone, "Well, that was exciting! Next up, we have…from Team Riko, Shieta and Kimi! And from Team Higurashi, we have Kio and Yuki!"
"Good luck" The other three murmured patting them on the shoulder.
"Thanks…" Keiko and Yukina tugged on the end of their cloak in nervousness.
"Don't worry, you'll do fine, but this is a dangerous tournament" Kagome commented, giving them a reassuring smile. And then, they entered the ring.
"Well finish-" Shieta started.
"You off-" Kimi ended.
"As fast as-"
"We can, so it will be-"
"A less painful death" Shieta and Kimi smirked.
On the sidelines, Sango groaned, "Great, just what we need, psychotic twins…"
Botan frowned, "If they're like that, then their attacks will probably be combined"
Without a second thought, Yukina drew her katana. Turns out she had gone past her phase of naivety. Keiko drew out two of her daggers inside her cloak.
"What's inside-"?
"That cloak?"
"Begin!" Juri shouted into the mike.
Yukina lunged forward, but was forced to step back as a wave of thunder struck the ground, scorching the floor.
"Whoa!" Keiko cried out, having the same trouble, only with water geysers spurting forcefully out of the ground.
"Thunderstorm!" the two opponents shouted in unison, clasping their hands together.
Yukina and Keiko gave out a cry of shock as a wall seemed to form around the arena and water filled up to their knees.
"Yuki! Kio!" Kagome, Sango and Botan cried out, pressing their hands against the barrier to hold the water in.
"And it looks like Yuki and Kio are in trouble! What will happen now? Is it the end of them?" Koto questioned.
"SHUT UP!" Team Higurashi yelled out on the sidelines. Well, the majority of them.
Thunder slowly seemed to descend down onto the water. If it hit, then the two girls would get electrocuted to death, especially considering that they were covered in water. Kimi and Shieta just stood aside, smirking, just waiting for it to come down.
In a cry of desperation, Yukina grasped Keiko's arm and jerked them out of the water in a jump. But before landing back in it, Yukina used her ability to freeze the ground and the electricity struck the ice, shattering it in a million shards, flying towards the competitors of Team Riko.
Keiko and Yukina panted heavily from shock, "Arigato…Yuki" Keiko smiled.
"Anything for a fellow friend and teammate" she replied.
Juri yelled into the microphone, "And they got out of this one without a scratch!"
"Aww…what a-"
"Nice reunion" the two mocked, struggling to stand after it felt like a thousand needles shot through them.
They shot a thunderbolt laced with water, missing Keiko's head by an inch.
She gave a sharp intake of breath and patted the top of her cloak down, "Stupid static" Keiko muttered bitterly.
Yukina gave a light giggle.
((Ok, they would use their staffs, but the team doesn't want to show their powers until later on in the tournament))
'Can I?' Keiko questioned telepathically to the other four members of Team Higurashi.
Botan and Sango shrugged and Yukina gave her a questioning look.
'Sure then' Kagome replied for them.
"Alright then…if you want to play" Keiko insisted, unwinding the cloth off her large weapon.
Understanding what Keiko was going to do, Yukina stepped back to a suitable safety rage inside the arena.
Her Zabato shined a pink sheen against the light, reflecting its rays over to the enemies, blinding them for a second.
With a little war cry, Keiko drove the blade deeply and forcefully into the earth, making a crevice that gradually got larger as it approached the twins.
Alarmed, Kimi attempted to use thunder to stop the cracking, but only succeeded to make the crack grow larger. Before you knew it, the two had fallen through the darkness and hit the ground…somewhere down there.
"Ah…err…and the winners of this match are Yuki and Kio…"
The crowd was silent for a moment, and then they erupted into a cheer.
Ok, I'm cutting this chapter short because it's getting way to long for my tastes. I always stop at 12 pages in the word document. Hope you enjoyed it! Read and review onegai!
Sayonara,
Tenshi-Battosai