My dreamless sleep did not last long. The black lightened to a gray and finally turned to colors. I glanced around. The dreams shifted, one nightmare to another. One showed Hiei clutching his arm in a forest, much like he had on the rock, another Kuwabara on the grass in the arena, his entire body bruised. Two more images, those of people, no demons, I did not know appeared. Once was an ice apparition that was on the ring floor, a while ripped right through his abdomen. Another was an unconscious red-haired demon. For some reason, I felt sorrow for them having to experience pain. I thrashed out, trying to wake up, but could not as I saw Kurama standing in the ring, unconscious, plants wrapped around his blood-covered body. My dream shifted again. I turned around.

I was at a dojo, a small stream trickled along, and I crossed the bridge to find myself at a sickbed. Several boys and men were crying. The only one who wasn't was the one on the bed.

"Master, you have to get better. I need you to be better." One of them whispered. He was apparently the youngest.

"I called the hospital and told them we could never pay the fifty thousand yen." Another one choked, closing his blue eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Damn it! It just isn't fair! The man that treated us like his own sons is dying and there is nothing we can do about it!" Another clenched his fists, so hard that the nails drew blood so even though he was grasping the material of his pants, they went right through the denim, his long, burgundy hair hanging in his face.

Their master laughed. "Oh come now, how can anyone fear death when they have had such wonderful students as you. My eyes are the only dry ones in the room." His voice sounded choked with held-back tears. "But there are some things you cannot control."

There was silence until a sinister laughed filled the room. Half of the students leapt to their feet. "Who are you?"

"Possibly the answer to your prayers." I looked at the guy; he looked like an evil troll gone mad scientist. Which he probably was, I conceited when I heard him say what he said next. "I can heal your master."

"We'll do anything!"

"Well, I will need-" he pointed to five of the boys-"you for an experiment."

"We'll do it!"

I sank to my knees, clutching my head. "NO… TELL HIM TO GO AWAY!" I shouted, abruptly waking up and sitting up, panting. Hiei and Kurama woke up a moment later.

"Everything alright?" Kurama asked, looking worried.

I nodded, though I felt pale and shaky. "Y-Yeah… I'm fine…"

Hiei snorted. "Liar." I shrugged and grinned weakly. Hiei rolled his eyes and removed his headband. Don't resist. I heard his voice in my head as I felt sleep begin to envelope me as his Jagan flashed. Or else I might accidentally hurt you. I succumbed to his spell without a murmur. My sleep was without dreams, for real, this time.

"She trusts you completely, you know." Kurama remarked, glancing at the now sleeping Yusuke.

"I'm not the type to break an alliance. After this Tournament, I cannot guarantee a thing." Hiei retorted.

"But if her life was in your hands, would you save her?" Hiei didn't reply. Kurama raised an eyebrow, then snickered. "I see. You are attracted to her."

"Nonsense." Hiei rolling to over to his other side so that Kurama wouldn't see him blush.

Waking, I lazily just laid there, nestled between Hiei and Kurama. I was certain when I woke up, they would not be there, but I am not complaining. I listened to the sound of their breathing, inhaling their scents. Kurama smelled like the roses he carried for his whip. But underneath that, he smelled like a garden, with lilacs, jasmine, and other blossoms, fresh and clean. Hiei was more woodsy, with the smell of pine and other trees, such as rowan and oak. And there were undertones of fire, crisp, and sharp. I particularly liked Hiei's. I glanced at his arm. I had seen him, on that rock, hunched over, clutching his arm in excruciating pain. And there was nothing I could do about it. Why did this feeling of utter helplessness feel so familiar? And why did I feel so melancholy...? It had to be those dreams. Damn it. If only I could remember. The only dreams that I had that I could recall were the ones I had just had before I woke up. Those guys... I could guess what happened to them, for they were on the Dr. Ichigaki team. Damn that little sadistic bastard.

I sat up and left the bed, silently. Going to my drawer, I quickly selected some clothes and went into the bathroom. Locking the door, I turned on the hot water and got in the shower. Three minutes later, I was toweled dry and dressed in my preferred fighting clothes. Which included a pair of loose, black cotton pants that hung around my frame with a snug-fitting noodle string tank top that shows off my stomach. I slipped on my fighting shoes and pulled on my knuckle gloves. Grabbing my light utility belt, which had my four kunai knives loosely tied to it with string in such a way I just had to grab it and it came loose. I fingered one, each one had a different design on it, and each blade had an animal etched on it. Fox, wolf, snake, and falcon, each knife had one of these. I retied it and pulled on my white coat, which went down to about my ankles and hid my kunai knives, and not to mention my shuriken pouch on my thigh, so I could easily grab them and my senbon case on the other one. Loosely tying my hair, so the rest was free, except from the back of my neck to half way down my back. I wrapped said hair with a white ribbon and tied a loose knot at the end so that it hung loose with the rest of my hair, though one end was a good five inches longer than the other end. Adding my also green wrist bands, I exited the bathroom, my still-damp hair clinging to my neck. Seeing Hiei and Kurama gone, I went to the main room of the suit. Sitting down, I quickly ate my breakfast and finished my preparations for today's fight.

Hiei leaned back against the tree trunk, mulling over the thoughts in his mind, the primary ones involving Yusuke. The way she had fought the other day, she had looked so happy... He had wanted to be the one fighting her. He had, once before, and that was when he had fallen for her, hard. And she when she had been the only one other than Kurama to trust him, without hesitation, that sunk it. Even Kurama had doubts when they first met. Now the fox was vying for her affections, as was that Chu. He had seen the way the Australian had looked at her when they were fighting. He sighed slightly. He had promised himself he was going to protect her, but with this arm, how was he going to? And he very well could not drop out of the competition and retrain his arm, because of what Toguro would do, but... Damn. He glanced up at Kurama, who had been standing on the limb next to his as he spoke. "Is this wise, Hiei?" He asked, referring to the training they were about to begin.

He snorted. "You heard what Toguro said. I do not have a choice." He heard two sets of approaching feet.

"The doctor's team seems to have gotten lost." Kurama smirked.

"Yes, a horrible coincidence for us both." He remarked, his left hand straying towards his blade.

I kept the dream to myself as they walked down the hallway to the arena. I wasn't too worried about Kurama and Hiei not being there, but, still, what if Ichigaki had tried something...? If he did, he was as good as dead. I didn't notice as the skin between my fingers began to throb and energy began to materialize. "Yusuke." The unknown energy vanished as I peered at the guy who was in front of me. He was richly dressed in silks, he had a pacifier, and the character "Jr." on his forehead. And don't forget the elegant golden eyes and light brown hair. There was an air of majesty and unearthliness about him.

"Koenma...?" I asked, looking at him closely.

"Yes, in my super-cool teenage form!" He laughed. "Yo, Kuwabara. Thanks for helping Yusuke out. It's cool." What an idiot, I could not help but think.

"I take it you have a reason for being down here, then?"

"Yes, I have found a few new ways to help you in the next fight." I gave him my undivided attention. "You're about to have a hatched egg."

I raised an eyebrow, then smacked my fist against the palm of my hand. "You mean the Spirit Beast egg."

"Yes. Unknown to you, for the past year, it has been gathering your energy and now it is ready to pop. Until then, you won't have any latent energy, but when it does, you can tap energy from it."

I raised an eyebrow but shrugged. I would worry about it later.

"Yusuke, did you learn the Spirit Wave?"

"Nope. Genkai thought I was not ready because of my 'utter lack of discipline'." I grinned.

Koenma gaped as he watched them enter the ring. That wasn't good.

When I walked to the center of the ring, I paused when I saw the three fighters, they were the… I saw Kuwabara stiffen as well. Genkai glanced at the fighters then at us. Two members of the team were missing.

"Well, well, two of our members are missing as well. What a horrible coincidence for us both." Ichigaki laughed. All of us walked to the center of the ring to decide the match rules.

"Three on three." Genkai a.k.a. the Masked Fighter announced. I knew this even though she looked and sounded much younger. Spirit Energy could do that to a person. I glanced at the troll, yep. It was the same guy.

"You drive a hard bargain." The doctor remarked, laughing. I stiffened slightly. "So, what do you say that we raise the stakes?"

"What do you have in mind?" I raised an eyebrow.

"If my team wins I use you for some of my experiments."

"Fine. But if mine wins, I get to kick your face in." I smirked. "And I will for what you have done to these three."

"Every genius has his critics." Genkai and I could watch Kuwabara's back in this, but... I shivered. I shouldn't have made that deal.

"These three competitors, I've met them before." I glanced at my mentor. "Their instructor Mitamura was a famous martial artist. He believed that building character was more important than physical skill. I was always struck by his student's respect for life. They would NEVER kill. No matter what."

That made a few things snap into place. The way they had fought in the tournament... I saw the reddish brown loops on their backs.

"Those things on their backs, it's controlling them." I gritted my teeth. "And I'm willing to bet that if I removed them, it would kill them."

I grimaced then shifted to a fighting stance as the match began. Genkai and I jumped out of the way, Kuwabara wasn't as lucky. He got a harsh blow to the stomach, pushing him to the edge of the ring, just as the burgundy-haired guy, M-3, I think the announcer called him, leapt into the air, his energy encircling his hand. I ran; I couldn't waste my Spirit Gun, not with this bad feeling in my gut. Jumping to meet him, I shoved him back, a snarl on my face. I tackled him to the ground as I felt a slight outpour of blood on my cheek. Flipping off him, I moved back to Kuwabara and Genkai. This would not be easy, was my primary thought as I wiped away the blood with the back of my hand.

Kunai: knives that are used by ninja/shinobi and assassins. It is one piece of metal that has a triangular blade and the handle is just wrapped in cloth. The end of the knife is a large hoop that can be used to attach it to belts, etc. The ones Yusuke/Yurei'ha has are Chosen, they are decorated and made by the hitokiri that gives it to his/her Shidosha. They may contain feathers, etchings, designs, anything. Each one is different and specific, for they house the souls of their fallen makers if the Shidosha is still alive when they fall.

Shuriken: throwing stars

Senbon: acupuncture needles

Votes:

Hiei: 5

Kurama: 1

Hiei and Kurama: 3