Chapter 4: Beginning of the Tournament, Rinku vs Kuwabara
Kurama and Hiei decided to wait until after their first fights were over before they discussed what to do about Kagome and her mysterious claims. But if more strange occurences happened, they would have to dive in deeper at a quicker pace. This could potentially be dangerous for them considering her temper being connected to power. However they refused to be kept in the dark for too much longer.
And the next morning, the tournament kicked off with a roar of demons, all calling for the deaths of the mixed-species team. Kagome stuck close to Kuwabara, who saw fit to carry the still unconscious Yusuke. Honestly the young miko had no idea how the punk could sleep with the volatile demonic auras pressing upon her body. She could only wrap her arms around her torso and take deep calming breaths as she urged her powers down to a more comfortable level for Hiei and Kurama. But if they were bothered by her powers, they didn't show it so she chose not to draw attention to the possibility. It wouldn't do to expose potential weakness.
Once they got onto the ring, the miko just couldn't help herself. She moved with the swiftness that could only be garnered after a couple of years of running for her life in the demon-infested Sengoku Jidai and she approached the taller fox demoness named Koto, effectively invading her space. The brown hair looked so much like Shippo's from when he was a boy though it was much shorter. Her eyes were also more green than his teal but her excitable manner reminded the miko of when Shippo would learn new techniques and use them to not only show off to his surrogate mother but also torment Inuyasha. Of course, the referee had the fox ears but she was so much older than her little fox had been so maybe...maybe if he was alive still, he had them too?
Koto, for all her surprise at the strange human girl coming on the stage when she was the replacement fighter, had complied with her questions and grinned when the mention of her great-grandfather was mentioned. This resulted in two women gabbing in the middle of the ring while the two teams of fighters (minus the slumbering Yusuke) and an arena full of spectators watched on in surprised impatience. Only a soft bell and a vaguely robotic female voice broke up the chatter. -Miss Koto, please announce the beginning of the tournament and start the first fight. You may talk with Team Urameshi's replacement fighter on your own time.-
Kagome winced at the reprimand and smiled apologetically to the kitsune. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get you in trouble..."
"Oh, don't worry, Kagome. I grew up listening to bedtime stories of Grandpa Shippo's adventures. I'm just glad that I've got a face to go with his stories~"
The miko opened her mouth to inquire as to how he was doing or if he was still alive when a finger tapped her shoulder, causing her to turn and come face-to-chest with Kurama. She looked up to his face and saw a soft apologetic smile. "We really should get started with the tournament. Please come along..." She felt his hand on the small of her back, a finger pressed into the sliver of bare flesh exposed by the torn up school uniform. Frowning softly, she waved at Koto as she was escorted back to her team. She really hoped that she would learn about Shippo. And perhaps even Koga and Lord Sesshomaru.
"Sorry about that, folks! Anyway, welcome to the Dark Tournament! I'm your referee and super adorable walking rulebook, Koto! So let's begin with the negotiations! Team leaders, please come to the center of the ring!"
The difference in reactions from the audience were complete opposites. Team Rokuyukai got praise which Rinku soaked up, waving with a happy grin on his face. Meanwhile, Team Urameshi got more boos and death threats than ever before. Kuwabara growled at the audience's bias, stalking forward with Yusuke's sleeping carcass on his back. It was decided that he would be the second-in-command.
Kagome chuckled softly and shook her head. "At least they aren't coming down to try to cut off our 'ugly human heads'... and better yet, they aren't claiming us like property."
"Wait, that happened to you?" Kurama asked, surprise alight in his large green eyes.
She merely shrugged and replied, "All the time for the killing threats. I've had a couple of demons try to claim me as theirs."
"Did they succeed?" Hiei was the one to ask this question, glaring at her like she did something wrong. "Considering the state of your attire, I would assume it was rather easy to accomplish."
Her mouth fell open at the utter gall of the insult. The masked fighter's barely visible eye widened in shock (presumably). Kurama opened his mouth to lightly admonish his friend but the miko beat him to it.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with the way I'm dressed! Kuwabara's wearing his school uniform so why can't I?! Just because certain demon guys decide they are so tough that they can have whoever they want doesn't mean they can!" She crossed her arms in a huff. "Between Inuyasha and Koga, it was just some alpha male bullshit... and Naraku just got off on fucking around with Inuyasha's feelings for Kikyo..." Her rage quickly fell to quiet pain. She still remembered how many times she got hurt because the half-demon couldn't make up his mind-- it stung even now but she hated speaking ill of the dead. "Point is, it had nothing to do with my clothes and if your nose was half as good as Inuyasha's, you would know that I didn't allow anybody to have me in any way."
"Your surface thoughts don't support your claim... so perhaps you gave your heart to one of these numerous suitors."
Kagome opened her mouth to reject his claim when Koto interrupted. "Looks like the first match will be a series of one-on-one fights, the first team with three wins will be victorious!" Kagome closed her mouth with a pout. She hated that Hiei had practically implied that she was some kind of modern-day Japanese Helen of Troy. She didn't do anything to egg Koga on-- he just claimed he was in love with her after she helped him out. Inuyasha only liked her because she was nice to him... sometimes... well, she looked like Kikyo and that was half the battle. Naraku was just a sick bastard who enjoyed being an asshole to everyone so if he could use some kind of mind-control on a powerful priestess that was the reincarnation of the woman he had been obsessed with 50 years ago... Wait a minute... 50 years and demons didn't seem to age very much, half-demons aged a bit faster but not as fast as humans... How creepy, having a bunch of really good looking, really OLD guys chasing her until after the final battle... eww... How old was Hiei??
Her mind refocused when she saw flames emitting from Zeru. It was an impressive show of power but she'd felt more energy from Sesshomaru and he had style and only one arm. Compared to the feudal lord of the West, the vampire-wannabe was trying too hard and the display was just crude. Like a small dog growling, barking, and nipping at one's ankles. But her miko energy acted on its own, surrounding all of them to protect them from the potential burns. Unfortunately the fire was directed to the audience. Kagome covered her mouth in surprise, eyes wide with guilt.
Koto had hidden behind the lip of the ring and popped her head up. She made a quick excuse, claiming that audience participation was why they loved this tournament. "Well, we should get this show on the road while we still have viewers."
Kuwabara volunteered to take the first fighter, who was Rinku. The young boy wasn'tthrilled at being stuck with the weakest member. Kagome zoned out the trash talk. Honestly, she got enough of that with Inuyasha and Koga.Within the first minute or two, Kuwabara was struggling to fight Rinku, who was jumping to and fro, getting shots in when he passed by. She couldn't help but laugh. "He's playing... this was Shippo's favorite game~ although he threw out some foxfire and his tricks to keep things interesting..." Her longing for her surrogate son flared and she gently held her hand over her heart. A yelp had her flinch and she saw Rinku slowly getting up with Kuwabara's fist raised. "HEY! SIT BOY!!"
Silence covered the arena as everyone looked at her. Kagome bit her lip as her cheeks flared. "S-sorry... habit... c-continue..." She moved to hide behind Kurama, praying that the calm human vessel would either keep her from freaking out again or find a rock for her to crawl under to die from embarrassment. "...Inuyasha used to hit Shippo in the head a lot. I used to subdue him to make him stop..." she murmured, tears in her eyes.
The redhead chuckled. "Kits are known to be quite rambunctious. It does not surprise me that this Inuyasha would resort to violence to try to control him. I would like to ask you more about him but later. We have a match to win..."
Kagome smiled at him shyly and nodded, feeling better. Trust wasn't there but at least they'd had 10 hours to rest up and get used to each other. She really did feel much better when surrounded by humans and demons, preferably friendly acquaintances or true friends. But friendship could be established later. At least their rocky beginning seemed to be set aside for the mission. Now if only Hiei would stop being such a jerk.
She got out from behind Kurama and stood between him and Hiei to watch the fight.
Just in time to watch Rinku kick Kuwabara in the head, his neck looking like it was broken. Her blue eyes widened at the first death...she had just met him yesterday. Wasn't he strong? Koto counted diligently but Rinku claimed that it was a waste of time. "I broke the dummy's neck. You might as well count his last heartbeats~"
The priestess' eyes watered and she looked away from the corpse, each count like another knife in her gut. If they were in the feudal era, she would do everything she could to avenge him. But this was a tournament--there were rules. She would simply have to try to make it to the end of --
Kuwabara slowly got up, gasping out that his neck was just fine. Kagome's eyes were now filled with happy tears, glad that they hadn't lost anyone so soon. She wiped her tears so she could see what the little boy was pulling out of his bag.
"Yo-yos? Serpent yo-yo attack... hmm..." That was another thing that Shippo used to do when she brought the dangerous toys to the feudal era. He didn't master the serpent-string technique but he certainly had Inuyasha running for cover. She couldn't help the soft giggle bubbling up.
She felt her teammates' eyes on her but she ignored them as she watched Kuwabara struggle to fight against a weapon that wasn't a straight shot. His swords could do nothing against the energy-infused strings. And after the human boy was on the ground, repeatedly struck by the yo-yos that could damage stone, the strings wrapped around his limbs, beginning to lift him up in mid-air. Kagome's heart began to race, her hand reaching out to take hold of the nearest warm body--Hiei. If he minded, he said nothing, nor did he move. Everyone's attention was on the inevitable, a Kuwabara pancake.
Luckily, Rinku was having more fun slamming Kuwabara into the ground, enjoying the brutal crunches and cries of pain. The crowd loved it too, roaring out for broken bones. Kagome just couldn't watch, burying her face into Hiei's arm and trying to ignore the sounds of the fight.
xx.xx
Hiei's attention was no longer on the pitiful fight but on the miko who sought comfort from him. It was quite...uncomfortable for him. He knew nothing about making anyone feel better and the situation would not be improved by him--the oaf would eventually die and the girl would still be crying over the death. And their team would be down a barely competent fighter, replaced with the sobbing female. She was no fighter but her powers were formidable.
He turned back to the fight as the sounds of pain were more...tolerable. But he opened a dialog with Kurama. "It seems your training has not been effective. We'd best plan for his death and assemble a new strategy."
The miko jerked away from his arm and lightly smacked his arm (it was most likely with all her strength but it barely held any spirit energy or purity). Her blue eyes glared at him through her tears. "Hiei, that's horrible!"
"There are still techniques that he hasn't used... there is a chance for him to at least survive this." Kurama's voice was soft but it made Kagome turn away from the forbidden child, letting out a hopeful "really?" He smiled lightly at her with a nod. "He just has to see it, to adapt."
Rinku started raising the idiot up far higher than before, above the top of the open-air stadium. The intent was obvious and Hiei could feel her hopes plummet. Instead of moving back to his shoulder, she turned to Kurama's shoulder to hide from reality. The crimson-eyed fighter should have been relieved but all he felt was bitter disappointment and cold anger when he saw the fox wrap an arm around her. Comforting her in a way that he didn't know how. He knew the motions from having watched the humans before he was defeated by the detective but without those soft emotions, that weakness that Kurama had for his human mother, holding the trembling girl seemed like a meaningless gesture. Pointless. Hiei didn't do anything without a purpose. But that didn't quell the anger in his mind at the fox's appendage around her shoulders.
Rinku released the oaf's arms and legs, letting gravity do the work. A mistake since Kuwabara used his spirit sword to not only cushion the fall but also catapult his body directly at the child. The brunette boy scoffed as he unleashed his serpent yo-yos attack and disregarded the spirit sword. A near fatal mistake since the orange-top learned to adapt his sword to weave in and out of the strings, causing both parties to be victims of head-on attacks and knocking them both out of the ring. Koto started yammering on but Hiei was not paying her any mind. It would be a miracle for either of them to rise from such assaults. But at least the priestess stopped crying, waiting with baited breath. After a bit, Rinku crawled back onto the ring and set about healing himself, eyes showing his pain. Kuwabara only rose up when a slumbering Yusuke insulted him in his sleep. The idiot spent so much time arguing with the unconscious body that he only started climbing back in the ring by count 8, ignoring the yo-yos on his body until Rinku used them to subdue his opponent long enough for the 10 count to be complete. Kuwabara fell over after the last number was called but scrambled on stage, tossing the toys on the ground as he vigorously objected to the unfair win. But Koto was adamant that they continue the fight where 'real men' settled things. Rinku ran back to his team, pleading for the human to just go away.
The orange haired boy grumbled as he returned to his team as the loser. Kagome, tears forgotten, got right in his face (as much as she could). "Way to pick a fight with a kid, jerk!" She shoved something against his chest before stalking off.
Hiei noticed that she was going to the other side of the ring, towards Team Rokuyokai. He was prepared to rescue her from her stupidity if the other members attacked. His eyes caught sight of the item she had roughly given the oaf and scoffed at how soft-hearted she was.
xx.xx
Kagome approached the boy who had bunkered down away from his team to heal. Sort of reminded her of a less volatile Inuyasha when he was injured or a hurt cat. He looked up at her sternly with his big greenish eyes. "Look lady, I'm not fighting him again. The idiot lost fair and square." He wasn't letting his guard down and now Rinku reminded her of how Shippo was when they first met. It pierced her heart and she smiled at him, holding out two objects. His already wide eyes widened further. "Huh? What's that??"
"Chocolate. It was a favorite of my son's... but in case you don't like chocolate, I brought a lollipop too. You fought well... the sugar will give you some energy..." She placed the wrapped treats on the ground and stood up. "And my name is Kagome. Nice to meet you."
The raven-haired girl turned to walk away when she came face-to-chest with the wannabe vampire guy Zeru. 'Way to be a creep... why's he staring at me like that?' Zeru's eyes reminded her of Sesshomaru's, always looking down on everyone whom he deemed unworthy. The frost had melted a bit for Rin later on.
Hiei was immediately by Kagome's side, putting himself in front of her and glaring up at his opponent before the pale man walked back to his team. He 'hn'd and turned to look at her. She sighed a breath of relief. 'Why is it that all bad guys always seem to be so frickin' tall?!!'
"So they can look down on those they assume are inferior..." She jumped at his answer, surprised that he had said anything at all. His ruby eyes locked onto her sapphire before walking away. She watched him with a dumbstruck look on her face. "Come along. You delivered your sweets, your business is done." She apologized lightly but couldn't stop the small smile on her face. She felt as though she had made a small step forward to a potential friendship with a former enemy and current teammate/acquaintance.