Tari nodded to her brother then landed in the ring. Yusuke shrugged then walked away. In his place now stood the current youngest member of his team. Frowning, she opened her mouth to warn him of her strength.
Hoshi brought his hand up to stop her. "I can take care of myself."
"Okay then…Ready and fight!"
"Boy, you should surrender right now," she warned, "Your plants are no match for me."
A smirk flashed across his features. Now he was almost grateful that his sister was nowhere to be found. If she knew what he was about to do then fighting this woman would be the least of his worries. Slipping into a fighting stance, he tried to think of a plan.
"Alright I am going to make a gamble here. If you can injure me just once during this fight then I swear that I will surrender on the spot."
Blue cat eyes narrowed. Could he actually be serious? To do something like that would put him on defense permanently. Such an action was simply an idiotic attempt at suicide. But, the look in his gold eyes revealed how confident he was about this. Sighing she looked over her shoulder to see what her brother thought. Naturally, he had the same conceptions running through his head. Turning back she nodded her approval.
Upon doing so, a cage of vines appeared around her body. Calmly she swept her tail forward. After several taps, she found that touching the cage would only cause her further harm. With another sigh, she allowed her poisoned tail to drop back behind her. The boy was impulsive. This was an action that could quickly kill him in this tournament. Without thinking things through, he couldn't hope to win.
Summoning a quarterstaff to her hand, she sliced the vines. Once she was back out in the open she pointed the iron tip towards the sky. Over her head large amount of water began to form. Droplets fell from it to the ground, burning on contact. Cautious now, Hoshi eyed the water. Just one burn would mean the end of the fight. Then Tari brought her staff arm down.
Acid roared towards his body in a colossal tidal wave. Trying to dodge it was futile. The only hope he had was to somehow stop it from reaching his body. Nervously he reached into his hair…
He fell to the ground, hard. Wincing, he brought himself up to a seated position. A quick look around revealed that once again Bara was nowhere to be found. How was it someone that he was obviously stronger than was able to keep him down like this? Sighing he fell back once again. For now, he was content to give up. Soon he sensed his twin sitting there beside him.
"Why are you surrendering?" she asked, "The fight does not end until nightfall."
"Yeah but you've got me defeated. Where did all of this strength come from?" Hoshi questioned.
"Perhaps it is not strength but something more," she rose to her feet and extended a hand, "Come, we still have three hours left. Fight me."
A smile crossed his face as he hid his body under a plant covered in leaves. Just over his head he could hear the liquid rushing by. The crossbreed ignored the cries of the plant for a moment as he recalled the memory again. Something more, Bara had said. Something more. What could she have been talking about? Growling he felt his head begin to pound.
His sister had always been the more intelligent one. Not only that but she was sly and clever. She could analyze every move of a fight as if it had already taken place. However, she had one major flaw. This was something he made up for constantly in their mock battles. Yet, for some reason, her weak strength had continually dominated his. And her answer for this was always the same.
'I am not fighting you strength to strength. I am the clever fox. You are the strong cat. And yet we share common blood.'
For years now, he'd wondered what she had meant by that statement. Surely it had to be a simple answer. But until now the interpretation had evaded him. Above him the liquid was vanishing…
Tari observed the small hideaway he had created in such a short time. An interesting trick to use a durable plant. A trick that would not save him again. Glancing down at her empty hand, she called upon a small ki blast to draw him from his plant. Once she had her target in sight the blast smashed into the bush. Wilted leaves fell everywhere but the boy she was after was nowhere to be seen. Shocked she searched the ring for him.
"Looking for me?" a voice asked next to her ear. Horror flooded her face as she spun around to see her brother lying on his back. Blood covered the ground. Hoshi continued, "You see I figured out your trick right after the wave was dispersing. Through the leaves you scattered I saw another figure standing behind you. Tell me, did you use a type of acid to make me think I was only fighting one person?"
She barely nodded before clasping her stomach. Blood was now trickling down the vine that protruded from it. Gasping she fell to the ground. The countdown would end soon leaving her team on the losing end. Slowly, her eyes closed on the world around her.
Hoshi shoved a seed into the wound as he had done to her brother before leaving the ring. There his father stood smiling. Already he could see the question written in the green eyes. Sighing he waited for the inevitable to be asked.
"Where did you learn to fight like that? Last time I checked you battled with strength alone," Kurama said.
A new sigh passed his lips. "It was something Bara has been trying to teach me for years. Today, I finally understood what she meant."
Fuaiyaa then interrupted the father-son conversation. "Congratulations, Team Urameshi! Now come back tomorrow for an all new team, battles, and judge!"
Next Time on The Lover:
Well this is Kuwabara ready to tell you about the next fight. Only this time not only will there be faces we've seen before but Yusuke is going to fight the girlfriend of one. Now can he win in a battle where his opponent can easily lose control over her powers?
Hey this message is for Yavie Aelinel! I know I didn't focus on your male character much and I modified Tari's attacks slightly but I'm hoping that you'll still enjoy it. This had to be done in order for my story to work. Sorry I didn't warn you about this! -Neko
