---Road to an Eternity of Wars---
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or anything else that might seem related to any other thing...yeah...
And here's the next chapter!
Welcome to 2006! --------------- Lol, anyways, read and review onegai!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Chapter 17: And So A Battle ContinuesGenkai's POV…
Squeezing her eyes shut, Botan pulled the blade off, 'I'm sorry…' she whispered in her thoughts, 'I didn't mean to do that…'
Kagome may had raised aura barriers, scent concealments, mental barriers, and appearance covers, but the one thing she couldn't conceal was what Genkai sensed.
Botan's inner turmoil.
She released a small frown, puzzled by what could be troubling this girl that had just injured her greatly in the shoulder, un-enabling the pink-haired fighters' arm to be put to use.
Wait…was it…? Could it be…? But…why?
Why would this cloaked girl be weary and sorry for striking down a part of her opponent…?
Unless…this person knew Genkai?
Now that she thought of it, this 'enemy' did seem very hesitant about attacking her in the first place.
Genkai racked her brain for all the possible people that she knew who were female.
Yusuke and the others were here with her (And the fact that they were guys anyways); half of the people she used to know were dead…
Yukina was at that boarding school, although, Genkai had this suspicious feeling that something was up about that letter, Botan was with them…
Besides, those two girls couldn't fight this well, could they? Keiko was sure a surprise, so it was possible…
Even then…Genkai could sense that this person was holding back on her.
It frustrated the elderly lady completely that she was having trouble with someone that was holding back, but then again, she was getting old, so it was to be expected…
End POV…
Overall POV...
Botan shakily stared at her hands; the blood was sliding down the surface of the green slime-covered blade, and dipping its crimson red liquid slowly into the grooves of her metal gloves.
She stared, as if in a trance at her solid, metal knuckles, pupils dilating as the thick horror swirled itself around the dents, leaking underneath onto her bare hands after a moment.
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"Come on, B-Nano…snap out of it…!" Keiko whispered, leaning forward to encourage her friend, nearly slipping on her words, "You can't let the blood effect you that much! Honestly, you might die just standing there because Genkai doesn't know who you are"
"That's right..." The team captain added on, "Since she doesn't, I think grandma wouldn't hesitate to do something ruthless in the Dark Tournament like this. Especially since this competition is more ongoing like a survival testing or something like that..."
Kagome rubbed large, comforting circles on Yukinas' and Keikos' shaking back as the whole team silently willed Botan to continue and try to ignore the blood.
It wasn't serious; they all knew that Genkai could heal from that outrageously quickly. It was nothing to worry about…but still…it was Botan's first time in seeing human blood, spilt by her own hands and weapons.
Sango wasn't sure if Yukina was ready for this yet…she seemed so naïve, but then again, looks could be deceiving.
And despite how fragile the ice maiden looked, the demon slayer knew that this was one of the cases, having seen and experienced her training and battles alongside with her.
"Nano…you can do it…" Yukina closed her eyes and mouthed a silent prayer.
"And even if she can't-" Kagome received scrutinizing stares from her team members, "Even if she can't, then we can all understand…but I think she'll be able to hold her ground. Botan's a strong girl"
"If we loose this round though" Sango added in, "It's alright, because we can improve…right?"
"Yeah" The rest of the team agreed, their spirits brightening up a bit more.
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Kurama cocked his head, "Do you think that Genkai will be able to hold this up?"
Hiei grunted, still twitching to his loss after waking up and scaring the hell out of Kuwabara and Yusuke.
"I think she'll do just fine" Yusuke smirked, "Besides, we ought to have a win in this match sometime soon. What do you think, Kurama?"
"I'm confident about her abilities, but with the display of power that Team Higurashi has shown so far and beaten us, it seems that they are holding back. I'm curious to who the last 3 cloaked people are, Kuwabara?"
"We can't loose! Genkai's really strong and can kick that lady's ass! Hold on…a lady…" He bit his lower lip, trying to restrain the 'code' that was just about to come out of his mouth.
Yusuke snorted, staring at the frozen scene, "But if we want to win, this team is all ladies…we've got to defeat them no matter what!"
"…But what about Keiko…?"
"K-Keiko…" Yusuke's face softened for a bit. He wanted to have a talk with her after the match, "I-I don't know…I'm really confused about all of this right now, and sadly, am not really thinking straight at the moment"
Kurama nodded in agreement, especially after finding out that Sango was one of them, "I never thought Sango was involved in this demon business…"
Hiei added in, "That may explain why she ran so well at your ningen 'PE' class"
"…Then what about Kagome…? She was there too?" Worry flooded Yusuke's senses at the thought that his cousin might have been keeping lies from him the whole time and that she might be hurt or in danger right now…
"Yes, but it's possible that since Sango's one of her best friends, that she may just be able to keep up with her friends"
"…But…10 kilometers…?"
"Who's going next?" Hiei snapped, abruptly changing the subject.
"I will" The teammate replied.
(XD HA!)
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'Snap out of it, Botan!' Her eyes slowly unclouded, 'Snap out of it! Its just blood! You've seen plenty of it in your lifetime!'
B-But…Genkai…blood…'Like I said! Lots of blood, now if you keep standing there, you'll die, and they'll be a whole lot of blood coming out of you, that's for sure…!'
O-Oh…oh!Botan snapped out of her trance just in time to catch a punch from Genkai's right hand, twisting her wrist the wrong way and nearly side-flipping the lady.
At the last moment, Genkai snapped her arm back, doing a back flip and wincing as the gasp in her left shoulder got slightly littered in dust.
Genkai staggered a bit out of shock and stared Botan down, 'I've got no choice but to use it! She seems quite immune to my small spirit energy and fighting attacks…'
Genkaishifted into her stance.
Botan took a step back, eyes widening in fear – she knew what that stance was for, and what attack too!
"SPIRIT WAVE!"
A huge blue wave of spiritual energy pushed into Botan's body like a gust of wind, sending shocks down her spine and through to the tips of her fingertips, numbing them.
It felt like an eternity as the ferry girl slowly staggered back, trying to use her arms to shield her body from the immense display of power, 'I have to counter back! –No! I have to save that for later! … But I'll die!'
She decided against using what she was just thinking about…
But she had to grab on to something! Or else she would crash out of bounds, into the wall behind her and most likely break her back and neck!
Trying to grind her quickly sliding feet into the ground, Botan reached inside her cloak once again and randomly pulled out an long, anonymous object, jamming it into a crack by her feet, to anchor herself to the ground.
'Oh...crap...' Botan thought as she just noticed the pole she had pulled out.
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise. But…! The only person who wielded that was---!
The grim reaper!
That exact scythe that just happened to stick to the ground, only wielded by Lady Death, guider of the dead souls and spirits.
Botan grimaced afterwards as the long blade of the scythe snagged onto the hood of her cloak, completely ripping the fabic in half.
The black material slid down her bright blue hair and settled on her tensed shoulders.
"H-How is this possible…? Botan?" Genkai stared openly at the scythe.
'Man, if they thought this was a shock, they'll really be in for a surprise later on…' Botan thought idly, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head and staring at the ground.
'And who is this real identity now?' The announcers just remembered that they were supposed to be reporting everything that went on, 'Could it be – Lady Death?'
Keiko slapped her forehead in annoyance, "Obviously!" She grumbled to herself, causing the rest of Team Higurashi to laugh.
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"Botan?" Kurama stared.
"Hn" Hiei tried to disguse his surprise with indifference, but was failing horribly.
"And to think" Kurama laughed weakly, "I estimate that most likely more than half this crowd never knew that the grim reaper could hold it up like this"
"But…she could never fight before!" Kuwabara protested, thinking back to a lot of other memories.
"Neither could Keiko" Yusuke whispered absently, "Neither could Keiko…"
ALRIGHT! I'm finished another chapter! What did you think? Maybe it was too rushed?
Read and review onegai!
Sayonara,
Tenshi-Battosai