Whew! Okay, I know this isn't as long as some of my other chapters, but given the circumstances and the difficulty of trying to keep the tournament as close to the original as possible, this is what I've come up with. It's a long chapter and still no real interraction between our trio, however there is some interraction between Yusuke and my new character Rei. Of course there is one surprise in this chapter, at least for Yusuke, but you'll have to read in order to find out what it is. I hope you guys truly like this update and I'm hoping I can get some fluffiness in sometime soon. I've also figured out when I'm going to have Yusuke find out about Kagome. He'll find out before Kurama (sorry to those who are already on the look out for that scene) but at least I know now, right? If you want a hint, just go back through the epidosed of the tournament where Genkai reveals herself to Yusuke. And if Kagome is the parallel of Genkai, then what does that tell you? Okay, enough writing and explaining. Now, onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or Inuyasha!

Everyone Knows...Or Do They?

Chapter 13

Kurama woke up the next morning with the distinct feeling that someone had been in his room the night before. His eyes had barely opened to meet the day when a whiff of something both sweet and pungent filled his nostrils. Almost as quickly as it came, the scent was gone. The feeling wasn't all together threatening, but it was still unsettling to know that someone had gotten past his highly trained senses. The silver kitsune part that was Yoko was cursing at him, while his shier human side wondered who possessed the ability to get passed all his plants. They had been his safeguard against many a demon who had tried to kill him simply because he was Yoko Kurama in another life. Of course, none of them could have known he was both Yoko Kurama and Shuichi Minamino, a sort of combination of the two. Most of lower class demons just figured he was Yoko Kurama in disguise and that his human body was purely of magical origin and protected by spells to keep his presence hidden.

Kurama opened his clear, crystal orbs and stared blankly at the ceiling. He could feel that Yusuke's presence had vanished from the bed beside him and he briefly thought about finding his friend and spending the morning with him before their next battle. However, there was something about the feeling in the air that left him feeling perturbed and he was determined to figure out how someone gotten through the door without being torn apart by one of his many vicious, not to mention, poisonous plants.

"Hn," a soft snort came from the open window and Kurama tilted his head back and spotted Hiei's body, silhouetted against the backdrop of the sun. A closer look and Kurama could see that the apparition's ruby eyes were diverted to the far corner of the room.

"Something you wished to speak to me about, Hiei?" Kurama whispered, eyes trained on the smaller demons as he leaned back against the window pane and continued glaring straight ahead, apparently attempting to ignore the fox's imploring eyes.

Kurama felt a bit guilty when his friend refused to meet his eyes, knowing that he was the ultimate cause of the resentment building in Hiei. It had started the moment Kurama had refused to answer Hiei's questions about Kagome. One part of his mind regretted shutting his friend out the way he had, but the other half continued to remind him that Kagome was his…well his and Yusuke's…secret friend. It was absurd how his feelings for his old friend had refused to die down over the years, only burning more quickly into love, as he desperately held onto the precious memories of his childhood. But no matter what he felt for her now or otherwise, she was his to consider and care for and he refused to share her memory with anyone who wouldn't understand; Yusuke, and perhaps Kuwabara someday, since, technically, the red head had met her before and because the other man was a gentle spirit at heart and had a lot of heart underneath his rough posterior.

Kurama reasoned that he probably could have told Hiei some basic facts about his relationship to Yusuke and Kagome, and yet human emotions were not something the fire apparition was attuned to. Hiei never would have understood the depths of Kurama's feelings, no matter how confusing they were. And while the thought of his former childhood friend often times filled Kurama with such delight and happiness, as if he were on top of the world and completely unbeatable, the fire apparition would simply see the girl as a distraction or an utter waste of time. It was for this reason alone that Kurama refused to tell the demon about her, knowing that it would piss him off to hear Hiei degrade and judge her and him the way he did other humans.

Kurama and Hiei sat in silence for a few minutes before, interestingly, the fire apparition was the first to break the tense silence. "You're slipping, fox," Hiei spoke gruffly. So...Hiei could feel the strange presence too.

Kurama simply sighed and raised a hand to run it through his fiery locks. "I know," he answered distractedly.

"You are distracted," Hiei murmured, eyes finally lifting away from the wall and cast directly on Kurama's expressionless face. "She is distracting you."

Kurama scowled inwardly. "What is distracting me is of no concern to you, Hiei," he remarked shortly, only succeeding in gaining a slight grunt of disapproval from the burgundy-eyed demon. The kitsune rolled his eyes, knowing the apparition would never listen to his rebuttals.

"I'm going to train," Hiei finally stated, flitting away, and once again Kurama was left in silence. The kitsune yawned and relished in the quiet of morning, enjoying the sun streaming onto the bed and heating his flesh. At any other point in time, he would have slept in and taken pleasure in the sun's rays, as his kitsune body seemed to enjoy lazing around in the sun. However seeing at how high the sun was, Kurama figured it was a good time to get up and get some of his own training completed. Perhaps he would follow behind Hiei and figure out exactly how his friend planned to fight using only one good arm. After all, it wouldn't do for any of the other teams to find out about Hiei's slight disadvantage. Their managers had a way of exploiting weaknesses to work in their favor.

"OI?"

"Kyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

"I asked you first!"

"Er…so!"

"SO? Why you-!"

"What is going on out he-?" Kagome stepped out of her room, intent on finding out what all the screaming was about, and stopped dead in her tracks. From inside her hotel suite, she had recognized Yusuke's yelling, after all they both used to go at it quite regularly back in the old days whenever they had a disagreement or simply wanted to argue. The other voice was feminine and slightly familiar, and Kagome's sleep deprived brain had trouble conjuring up a name…until she remembered the woman she had run into last night. Tearing out the door and coming upon the most hilarious scene she'd seen in years, Kagome didn't know whether to laugh or to, well, laugh when she spotted a freaked out Yusuke holding a nearly naked, not to mention screaming, kitsune up against the hotel walls. The hanyou's mouth was open in shock and she was struggling profusely, biting and scratching as only a kitsune can do.

"Ow, ouch, stop it!" Yusuke shouted, using his body to keep the kitsune in place while he desperately tried to hold down the woman's flailing arms. One of her hands broke free and came up, swiping and making contact with his cheek, leaving three faint, red welts as her prize. She made a squealing sound when Yusuke plastered her up against the wall, causing her body to go into lock down, freezing the moment her back hit.

Rei's dark ruby hair was down and dripping slightly onto the extravagantly carpeted floor while she desperately tried to hold up the white towel in danger of slipping. Yusuke had a constricting arm braced against her throat, though it appeared he wasn't intending to truly hurt, while Rei simply clutched at his shoulders and hung still. Of course when Kagome made her presence known by falling to her knees and quaking with laughter, both Yusuke and Rei turned their attention off each other and onto the howling woman on the floor.

"Stop laughing, this isn't funny, stupid! She tried to kill me!" Yusuke cried, annoyed at the laughing woman, and considered dropping the kitsune in his arms to kick the laughing, hysterical woman. He would have, had something not caught his attention. The mystery woman wasn't wearing her disguise. Her mask was off and his eyes trailed up and caught sight of soft, glinting gold, a slight sheen of silver intermixing with the delicate strands. Two delicate strands of blue caressed her face, giving her a more youthful look. The two twitching ears and the slight slant of her silver-rimmed eyes alerted him to her race. A kitsune; their mystery fighter was a kitsune! And was it just him or did she look slightly familiar? She looked…sort of like…Kagome! Almost immediately, the voice in his head denied the possibility. For one, Kagome hadn't been heard from in years and this woman didn't look anything like her. And two, Kagome's eyes had always been open and friendly, while this woman's continued to look serious, even though the last of her giggles had yet to die down. And yet, something in the back of his mind was attempting to break free and hug her, long repressed memories of a friend lost to time jumping to the surface. Yusuke shook his head and put the thought aside to analyze later. This really couldn't be Kagome…could it?

Kagome opened her eyes and seemed to notice Yusuke's confusion and slight awe and nearly fled back into the room when she realized what she had accidentally done. Rei and Yusuke were both staring at her, though Rei looked a bit concerned, knowing that the golden kitsune did not want anyone to know who or what she was. "What!" Kagome finally barked, not allowing Yusuke to see how much this troubled her. Although Yusuke had never seen her in her kitsune form, she new her friend was smart where it counted. Yusuke would start putting the pieces together soon and she would be sunk. "Haven't you ever seen a kitsune before?"

Yusuke eyed her body suspiciously. "Never one like you," he countered, zeroing in on her ears and eyes.

A cough from his chest reminded the raven-haired boy that he was still holding his captive, wondering why his body had to be the first to remember. There were 'things' that were aching to lean closer and press the soft, delicate body further into the wall, though for the life of the young lad, he could not figure out why. He'd never been attracted to anyone, not even Keiko in all her childish beauty, as he did to this stranger. "Who are you?" he asked, looking deep into her sapphire eyes and finding him self breathless. He had never seen such a beautiful woman. Her features were so delicate, and yet there was a strong stubbornness to her chin and an icy look in her eyes that told him she was not someone to be trifled with.

"I'm sorry for scaring you," the woman apologized, realizing the man holding her was not trying to hurt her. She immediately felt bad for screaming in his ear, knowing just how delicate hearing can be. Still, it was just a bit of a surprise when a half dressed male, quite a handsome one if she allowed herself to think it, grabbed you in the middle of a dark hallway after coming out of a shower. Such a thing brought back recurring nightmares, long repressed memories she was determined to ignore and put behind her. It was not the warm body pressed against her now that she had feared. It was true; she had tried to kill him, but only because she was so lost in her horrible memories. If only she could make him understand that it wasn't him she was trying to hurt. "I didn't mean to strike out at you, it was just…" Rei looked down, not being able to put into words how sorry she was. There were deep scratches on his tan chest, scratches her nails had put there and his face had one long gouge where she had nicked him with one of her claws.

Yusuke's gentle heart recognized the sorrow in the kitsune's voice and his gaze softened. Smiling, Yusuke lifted her chin. "It's okay, really. I understand." And for some reason, Rei thought he might.

"But I hurt you," Rei whispered, lifting one of her hands and running a finely-boned finger down his face, cleaning the blood from where it dribbled.

"Nah," Yusuke denied, stepping away and surprisingly missing the woman's warmth. "I'll be all right. We humans are pretty tough, not to mention I learned how to fight from the best. That's a mean right hook you got there, by the way. We should spar later on and then we'll see who hurts who."

By the time Yusuke was done with his speech, Rei was smiling brightly; her baby blue's shining happily for the first time in what seemed like centuries. It had been such a long time since Rei had felt so young at heart. And for some reason, this stranger made her heart flutter happily. Perhaps he could be the key in making her whole again. Of course, it was in these moments that it finally registered. Rei was barely clinging to her towel, a blush creeping up her neckline and onto her freckled face, while Yusuke's smile transformed into a smirk of definite approval. "So, since I've already gotten you half-dressed and into my arms, I think it's only best that we properly introduce ourselves, ne?" He teased, amber eyes flashing with amusement, while holding out a hand. Rei looked into his eyes and found herself lost in his laughter, reaching out and making direct contact with his slightly calloused, yet delicate hands. The sparks that flew between them were unexpected, yet oddly not unwelcome.

Kagome, who had been ready to jump between them in case they started fighting again, was now fighting not to laugh at the expression on her new friend's face, as well as the mischievous one that adorned Yusuke's. Forgetting her own dilemma, the golden kitsune was staring between the couple, happy for both of them. If she wasn't mistaken, there was a definite attracted between them already. And while she was happy for her friend, the nagging part of her mind was filled with sadness, aching to find her own mate and finally claim him as hers.

"I'm Rei."

"Name's Yusuke."

Kagome tuned in at this point, reminding both that they needed to be getting to the next round of the tournament. Yusuke regarded the golden kitsune with quiet eyes and decided not to press her into answering his questions. From just being around Kurama, Yusuke knew his race was secretive and did not like being questioned. So he told himself to let it go and think on it later. After that, both Yusuke and Kagome pleaded with Rei to accompany them using their combined puppy, or in Kagome's case, kit, eyes. Rei gave in, though she did not look displeased.

The two kitsunes went back into Kagome's room, while Yusuke left to continue getting dressed. Kagome teased Rei mercilessly about her reaction to Yusuke, while Rei huffed and puffed, denying the possibility of any amount of attraction. Of course she slipped up once when she mention that she did not 'like that evil, handsome prick' with the 'soft, wandering hands'. Of course, that caused Kagome to break into hearty laughter…until Rei finally got fed up and jumped the golden kitsune, both girls spending the next 30 minutes wrestling around on the ground and growling playfully. Kagome was having so much fun that she nearly forgot about the tournament…that is until Kuwabara and Yusuke pounded on their door, demanding to know if everything was all right. Apparently their yells and shrieks could be heard from down the hall.

Kagome's giggles dissipated and she sprung up from the floor, holding a hand out to Rei who effortlessly flipped to her feet. With that, both girls threw on their cloaks and opened the door, striding past both boys and continuing onward, gabbing away as Yusuke and Kuwabara grumbled about 'chicks' and their 'annoying chattering'.

Where is the rest of Kagome's team? Rei asked herself, noting with some curiosity that there were only three members of Team Urameshi present in the ring. And although they looked confidant, Rei could tell the other female was worried about their other companions. Kagome's stance was relaxed, only the stiffness of her back indicated that something was wrong.

Indeed something was wrong. Kurama and Hiei had yet to show up and Kagome was truly worried. Oh, what if something happened to them? What if someone jumped them simply for being in the tournament? Oh, Kurama, where the hell are you?

Kagome turned to scowl at the disgusting creature known as Dr. Ichigaki, who was, at the moment, acting very brave for one who would be dead in just a few minutes. Of course, her attention was directed to the three human beings, looking so…lifeless. Their eyes were blank, showing no emotion whatsoever and their bodies seemed to be controlled by the packs on their back. Kagome had no idea what was in those packs, but she was willing to bet these three would continue to fight unless the packs were to break or fall off. She felt a wave of sympathy for the three mind slaves, not relishing having to kill three, seemingly innocent humans. She did not enjoy killing others, especially people who were innocent; however the stakes were much higher than the life of just three humans. Killing a human would be a small price to pay for keeping her team alive until the finals.

"It appears as if the rest of your teammates have been detained," Ichigaki cackled and Kagome's eyes narrowed. Is it Dr. Ichigaki that kept Kurama and Hiei from being here? "But never mind that. Seeing as you have three players and I have three players, I think it's only fitting that we match them up."

"What about you?" Yusuke scoffed. "Don't the pointy-eared freaks such as your ugly self, want to feel my fists?"

"Ahahhahaha," Ichigaki cackled. "My boys will kill you and then I will have my ultimate goal, your body!"

Kagome gasped in shock while Yusuke clenched his fists and glared at the smirking doctor. Rei was yelling on the sidelines, shaking her fists at the thousands of demons who overheard Ichigaki's plan to kill Yusuke. Who cared how the spirit detective died, as long as he did? So that's his plan, Kagome mused thoughtfully. Dr. Ichigaki wasn't here to win the tournament and he did not care about his players. He simply wanted a way to defeat Yusuke so his body could be used in his evil experiments. Too bad Kagome would never allow that to happen to her friend.

Kagome opened her mouth when it looked like the fights would be one on one again. "I propose a three on three battle, a battle Royale," she proclaimed, watching in satisfaction as the Doctor turned away to measure the odds. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked startled, though neither protested. Kagome glanced at Yusuke when she noticed his questioning glances. "So it evens the odds a bit," she whispered to him. "If we all fight as one, it will give us time to study our opponents and come up with a plan for beating them. This will not be like the last fights, Yusuke, and you cannot simply rely on your physical strength for this one." Yusuke seemed to contemplate her response and nodded discretely when he understood her reasoning.

Dr. Ichigaki finally agreed, not that Kagome doubted he would, and left the arena just as his players made their move. They were quick, Kagome had to give them that, not to mention very agile on their feet. She, however, was having no problem spotting their attacks before they reached her, although keeping an eye out for Yusuke and Kuwabara was quite tricky. Kagome kept the three humans at bay as best she could, even stepping in and warning both her teammate before their heads could be cut off when one of the humans swiped at the air.

Yusuke was having a really shitty fight, not able to do anything but block as best he could. He and Kuwabara could not feel the energy blasts until moments before they were right there. Yusuke gave a grunt and half twisted to the side, pain exploding in his ribs at the force of his roll. Something came crashing down on his side and he gasped in pain as what felt like a large, heavy mallet burned into his side and seared away clumps of flesh from underneath his clothes. Weakly he rolled away, just barely dodging another attack, and instead slammed into Kuwabara, both boys tumbling head over heels on their asses.

Yusuke cursed himself for feeling so weak and unguarded. "You okay?" Bijiin asked, jumping to his side, helping him stand. She shot off seconds later, dragging his flailing body behind her, nearly yanking his arm right out of his socket by the force of her hold. He held on for dear life as she dragged him around the ring and protected him from the many attacks. Yusuke briefly contemplated how the kitsune was able to see the attacks when she seemed to have no trouble getting around them. One particularly nasty shock sent him falling to his knees, causing him to lose his grip on the masked woman.

He got up dizzily and on trembling legs and grabbed his aching head, aggravated at both himself and his depressing, current situation, wondering how on earth he was going to survive this. Genkai had never trained him for this type of fight; in fact she had trained him daily on being able to rely on his senses. But he simply could not sense or see the attacks; that is until they were right upon him. Was there something wrong with his eyes? Or perhaps it was because he was unable to use his spirit energy at the moment. Yusuke froze when someone shouted his name. He shifted his head to look over his shoulder and instantly knew there was something headed straight for him. His back was tilted slightly and there was no way he would be able to avoid the force of the attack. He was already covering his face and neck, determined to survive the shot meant to take his life. But before the shot could connect and cause serious damage, a black blur jumped in front of him, taking the hit for him and being blown clear out of the ring.

Kagome knew the moment she took the hit that it was going to hurt…immensely. But she simply had to save Yusuke. She owed that much to him. She would gladly give up her life if it meant he would live. The blast hit her point blank and her body flew with astounding speed, smashing with deadly force into the concrete walls. The concrete collapsed around her, encasing her within the hard stone walls, feeling exactly as if she were in a prison cell. The kitsune coughed weakly, head fuzzy and eyes watering from all the dust and debris, momentarily unable to orient her mind. She must have passed out for a second or two because she awoke seconds later to over hear Koto counting and the crowd chanting.

Without stopping to think about what she was doing, Kagome leapt up and into the ring, pausing just long enough to block two weak attacks heading towards the motionless Kuwabara and the stunned Yusuke. She stood in front of them, mask half blown apart and porcelain features slightly exposed. Her hair flowed out from under the mask, a glorious amount of spun, golden hair, silver eyes flashing in anger and disgust. The crowd must have been shocked to the bone as the audience went deathly still and eerily silent. Even Koto stood frozen in place, staring in awe at the ears perched on top of Kagome's head.

Finally Koto broke the silence by stepping curiously up to Kagome's side and stuttered a review. "G-g-g-golden k-kitsune," she stammered in awe, a bit jealous that the masked woman was so very beautiful. She must have gained her composure for she smiled brightly at the crowd. "It appears as if our masked fighter is truly a kitsune in disguise. If you ask me, I think it explains a lot."

"And I didn't," Kagome smirked coldly, using her abilities to cleanly erase the minds of the demons who had witnessed the fight and her accidental exposure. Sensing movement from above, Kagome replaced her mask and watched proudly as the demons in the stands blinked, not being able to recall what had happened seconds ago. She allowed Yusuke and Kuwabara, as well as Rei, to remember, though their memories were tweaked a bit. Kuwabara would only remember that a common kitsune with brown hair and brown eyes had saved Yusuke, while said spirit detective and said hanyou would remember everything. After all, Rei already knew who she was and Yusuke had seen her this morning. The damage had already been done and it would make no sense to hide her kitsune form from Yusuke when he had already witnessed it. Of course, Kagome could have just as easily erased Yusuke's mind pertaining to the events of that morning, but that would mean erasing the encounter between him and Rei as well. And Kagome liked seeing the attraction between them. If she erased the memory, she would have to take that part away as well. See while Kagome could erase memories with almost perfect ease and very little effort, her power did have its limitations. If she was to erase only small portions of a specific memory, the pieces that had been left behind could eventually be re-worked back into the puzzle…that is if the person's mind was powerful enough. The weak-minded oni's that attended tournaments such as these for only blood and petty reasons, were able to process very little in their tiny, one-track minds. However, although Yusuke was not a demon, he was powerful enough to eventually figure things out and Genkai had no doubt trained his mind just as well as his body.

After that brief break, in which no one except Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Rei could fully remember, Hiei and Kurama eventually showed up, dropping down from the sky just seconds after Kagome replaced her disguise. Though severely late, Kagome was glad to see them. Yes even Hiei. The fire apparition was a part of her team, whether she liked him or not.

Her worried eyes eventually drifted to Kurama, as they always did, the beautiful kitsune decked out in a white Chinese fighting outfit. She was afraid at first that he would remember her impromptu visit to his room the night before; but like a true demon at heart, Kurama was focused solely on the fight. Hiei and Kurama slammed down upon a huge machine, obviously once powered by Dr. Ichigaki. Now, however, it was apparently controlled by one of Kurama's plants and Kagome found herself quite proud of her little sapling (Kurama, not the plant). He was obviously still as smart as he was as a child.

The next half hour of the fight consisted of Kuwabara throwing himself in the place of danger time and time again and Kagome found herself growing fond of the gentle human. On the outside, the orange-haired man talked a good game; however he was truly innocent at heart. She gave him a lot of credit, not to mention balls, for attending a demon tournament, simply to support his friends. He had grown up a lot, not anything like the little puff ball he'd been back in kindergarten. If there was anything that surprised Kagome more, though, it was Yusuke's reaction to his friend after each pointed hit. Yusuke continued to grow angrier and angrier until Kuwabara's final stand, in which the poor man was tossed none too gently outside the ring. Yusuke finally stopped his defensive strategy, spirit energy welling around his body and expanding to such a degree that it shocked Kagome and Genkai (who had been watching from the sidelines since the beginning of the fight, approving the way Kagome had maneuvered the fights to suit her team).

Kagome's eyes had gone ridiculously wide, extremely proud of Yusuke for accomplishing all he had. He was a truly gifted fight and better trained than some of the demons Kagome had met in the past. Her eyes had begun welling with tears, happiness filling her heart with delight and glee. It was in this moment that Kagome truly believed that her team would go undefeated. All of them, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama, they could do this. They could defeat Toguro…if given the right push. Kagome was disappointed to see the wall still present in Yusuke's eyes, knowing the young boy was blocking any and all emotions except pain, pity, and hate…and she was most likely the cause. After all, she was the one who had originally taught Yusuke that emotions were a weakness and could only get you killed. However, her feelings for Kurama and the momentous amount of time learning and growing in the past caused Kagome to regret ever telling Yusuke that. Emotions weren't a weakness. They alone gave you strength in your time of need. Now…if only there was a way to make that clear to Yusuke. Only then would he truly be capable of defeating a demon of Toguro's strength. But what was the key?

Kagome just happened to glance at the sidelines, spotting a grinning Rei, who was cheering quite loudly for the glowing boy with the amber eyes. Almost immediately, a cruel idea sprang to mind, but Kagome balked at first. However as the fight continued to drag on and on without Yusuke allowing his emotions to guide him, Kagome sighed dejectedly, knowing that in the end she was going to have to do something she really didn't want to do. It was only a matter of time now and she just hoped that Yusuke would forgive her in the end.

Okay, I know I didn't do the end of the fight, but I'll get to what happened in the next chapter. This was just a good stopping point, seeing as the next fights and chapter are going to be very hard to write. I have to use my brain people and try to come up with realistic situations, adding in Kagome and Rei, as well as using the other girls a few times. Let's see, some questions you might have. I'm sorry if I seem to be mean to Hiei, but you have to admit Hiei does not understand human emotion. Shuichi, at least the way I've written him, spent the first few years of his life immersed in it. Remember that his father died at a young age, causing he and his mother to be sad. Yoko did not come in until he was a few years older and his human influence is still able to tap into the moreemotionalside of himself. Also, I don't care if you like or dislike a character. This is my story and, like it or not, there are characters I am not fond of. I've had a few people try and tell me that 'so and so' is not 'like that' or ' doesn't do that'. But I'm writing this in my point of view and it is useless to try and change my mind. So sorry to those of you who actually like Keiko, Boton, Koto, Hiei, or even Kuwabara. But as you've seen I do not bash on Kuwabara. He's not a favorite of mine, however I'm also not making him as stupid as some fics make him out to be. I think he is a strong character and he is able to beat people just by sheer will. Someone commented that he was 'not useless' or something to that effect, offended that I had made Kuwabara out to be a scapegoat for bashing or something and I think she got a little bit confused. I wasn't trying to say Kuwabara was totally useless all the time. But, during the fight with Rinku, Kuwabara was not thinking clearly. He was thinking like a human and doing everything wrong; rushing in without thinking, not using his mind to defeat his enemy, and underestimating a child, forgetting the fact that the child was a demon. So in that particular fight, he was useless. Well, that's all I can think of for now. Hope it wasn't too bad or boring or something. I'll try to make the next chapter more interesting.

Ja ne.

Kura

P.s. Love ya', Kage-chan!