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Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Only Kiharu, daughter of Yomi.

Violet Haze
Chapter Six: Eye of the Tiger

As much as she hated to admit it, Kiharu figured that if she really did get matched up to fight Hiei in the future, it was quite possible she would lose. The large screen that featured the tournament matches displayed Hiei fighting against a woman by the name of Natsume. Natsume was slender with long brown hair fastened back by a pink bow. She looked docile enough, but she fought fairly well against Hiei. She was agile, but Hiei's speedy moves far surpassed her own. As usual, Koto was doing her enthusiastic commentary on the fight.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt! With a killer punch to the ribs, Hiei sent Natsume flying backward!"

Natsume shot blasts of energy at Hiei but he dodged each and every one, then delivered an uppercut to her jaw. Clearly, Hiei had the advantage at this point.

"That blow was so hard it made me cringe! Looks like Hiei's got the upper hand here with his amazing speed. He's so quick that it's getting hard to follow his movements!"

Kiharu watched the fight attentively, Yomi off to the side. She cast her father a glance, then looked back at the large screen. He would never understand. Yomi would never understand how Kiharu, someone who had no soul, could fall in love. She had been ordered to defeat Mukuro's heir when she had first been created, since Yomi and Mukuro had apparently made some wager a while ago. She stared at Hiei, watching his every move. In the unlikely situation that Kiharu bested Hiei, could she go through with the kill? Before she had met him, she was convinced she would bring him to his demise but now . . .

Damn

She mentally cursed herself for thinking about Hiei that way. Kiharu tried to look away from Hiei's fight, but she kept watching him hungrily. The way his hips swayed as he gracefully dodged Natsume's attacks, the way his bangs fluttered in the wind, the way his lips curved into a smirk before he pulled an unexpected attack. . . . . She mentally recorded his gestures. Kiharu was mesmerized as she watched him. He wasn't cold, cynical Hiei on the battlefield. He was a pleased Hiei with romantic movements that were enough to make Kiharu's lip quiver. It was truly amazing, the way he stirred these emotions inside of her.

Such a beautiful person . . . but she knew she had no right to love him. Such a man could never love someone like Kiharu. Hell, she wasn't even someone. She was something. She wasn't a person but merely a thing. Hiei was a respected demon and she was just something that spawned from an incubation tank a few months ago. As soon as she was born, Kiharu beheaded her elder male counterpart, Shura. She only killed and fought because she had no other pupose. Kiharu had an artificial mind and heart, thus she was not worthy of a man of Hiei's caliber. Mukuro was.

She was a former demon lord and it was clear she was still very powerful. Kiharu cast Mukuro a glance, who smiled softly at her before turning her head. Mukuro was not ugly, though that she had a bionic eye and that her body was half-scalded was just a bit appalling. It made her look intimidating, which was most likely a turn-on for Hiei. The only thing threatening about Kiharu was her horns, which made her look like the devil's own daughter. Aside from Mukuro's scarier features, Kiharu had to admit her good eye was a very pretty shade of blue and that Mukuro had the potential to be very pretty.

Honestly, Kiharu thought her person to be much more alluring than Mukuro's, however. She had a long mane of sleek dark green hair and large violet eyes with tints of gold. Her skin had become slightly tanned from the intensity from the Demon World sun and her legs were rather shapely because of her muscular, yet feminine physique. Still, she couldn't help but feel that Hiei would choose Mukuro over her. Mukuro could offer him many things and what could KIharu offer him? Her body and her sham heart were the only things she could give him at the present time. But that could change.

"Hiei's got Natsume on the run! Looks like we've got a strong contender to become king, folks!"

If Kiharu could win the tournament and become Queen of Demon World, then she could offer him everything. She would be stronger than not only Mukuro, but all demons. She would be a queen, and surely that was enough to impress Hiei. Mukuro may have been a former lord of Demon World, but control of Demon World was divided into three parts, with Raizen and Yomi as the other lords. Becoming the sole leader of Demon World would mean Kiharu had a much higher social standing than Mukuro. But even with all these possibilities of how to impress Hiei, who was to say he cared about that kind of stuff?

Why'd he have to be born so good-looking?

Hiei's fight soon ended, said demon not surprisingly the victor.

"With powerful and quick strikes, Hiei's on his way to the top!" rang Koto's voice across the stadium. "Our next fight is between two newcomers! First up, the daughter of the great Yomi, Kiharu!"

Applause burst from the audience, though it was mostly directed at Yomi; Kiharu cnoticed this when she heard chants of "Yomi! Yomi! Yomi!" erupting behind her. Obviously, they were loyal followers of some sort.

"Her adversary is a star on the rise of the tiger demon clan. Ladies and freaks, give it up for Nurui!"

There was a loud burst of cheer, but there were many male demons wolf-whistling. Apparently, this Nurui was a beauty. Kiharu walked over to the chrome door that would teleport her to the arena. Shoving Koto over, she stepped inside, the chrome door slamming shut behind her. A brief flash of white light and the soles of Kiharu's shoes stepped onto the dusty ground. This arena was far different from the one she was in when Kiharu clashed with Touya.

The earth was dry and sandy and there was no vegetation around, save a few rare spots of grass. There wasn't a lake like the last arena. In fact, there was not a drop of water to be seen anywhere. There was no trees around either, but there were tall, rigid mountains that erected from the sandy earth. It was then Kiharu looked straight ahead to see her next adversary

Nurui was beautiful. She had sleek black hair with small tiger ears poking out through her mane. She had gentle cheekbones, a thin mouth, and a slightly upturned nose; her face was absent of whiskers. The tigress before her was wearing a gold dress that showed off her slimming figure. With the sun shining down on her, she looked like a goddess . . . a goddess with a twitching tiger tail. But there was one feature about Nurui that was not beautiful.

Her eyes were the color of steel and they were empty. There was no emotion whatsoever. She was like a porcelain chinadoll. She had a beautiful face but her eyes were soulless and bleak. Her thin mouth was not frowning but it was not smiling either. Not even the slightest bit of affection could be seen on her face.

"BEGIN!" rang Koto's voice.

Kiharu immediately took on a fighting stance, expecting Nurui to charge. She didn't. The tigress stood there, her tail lazily swishing back and forth. Looks like I'll have to make the first move.

Within a split second, Kiharu had dashed for Nurui, her fist drawn. Nurui just stood there. Could she not see Kiharu was about to attack her? Kiharu was face to face with Nurui and yet the tigress still did not move. Kiharu pulled her arm back and was about to follow through with the punch.

"Eye of the Tiger," said Nurui monotonously.

Kiharu felt her entire right arm tense up. The tense feeling spread throughout her body. Kiharu's fist was two inches from Nurui's cute little nose. Kiharu tried to move her arm. No good. She tried to wiggle her pinky finger. Nothing. She couldn't even blink her eyes. It was then she noticed Nurui's eyes had gone from the color of steel to dull gold, but they were still as blank as ever.

"Amazing! Nurui has stopped Kiharu in her tracks!"

Kiharu tried to speak, to ask how this could be happening, but she couldn't. Her jaw had become locked up as well. "The Eye of the Tiger is an ancient technique," explained Nurui, as if she had read Kiharu's thoughts. "It has been in the tiger demon clan for many years. All it takes is for you to look into my eyes and then your whole body becomes paralyzed." Kiharu gritted her teeth, trying to carry out the punch she was going to use to smash the pretty tigress's face.

"Try as hard as you like," she said in that emotionless voice of hers. "You cannot move so long as you look into my eyes."

"I . . . don't believe it folks!" came Koto's voice on the loudspeaker. "Nurui has Kiharu right in front of her but she isn't attacking! What could be going through the lovely tigress's head?"

Nurui's tail coiled itself around Kiharu's ankle, lifting her up into the air. Kiharu's eyes were still forced to stared into Nurui's. With a speedy flick of her tail, Nurui hurdled Kiharu backwards, causing her back to hit against one of the rocky mountainsides; a protruding rock jabbed into her lower back causing her to wince. Kiharu, along with a large chunk of the mountain rock, fell forward to crash onto the earth. Kiharu knew she couldn't possibly land on her feet, so alternatively she edged her now mobile body to the side and rolled out of the way. The giant rock mass that was falling behind her hit the ground and shattered into thousands of smaller rocks. Kiharu got up, wobbling as she rose. She wiped at the dusty sand that clung to her brow.

"Damn . . . that smarts," she mumbled to herself. She turned her head and spat out blood. And Nurui stood there, stiff as a statue. The Eye of the Tiger was her advantage over Kiharu. If Kiharu charged for her, the second Kiharu looked into her eyes Nurui would use her Eye of the Tiger and gain the upper hand. As far as Kiharu could tell, that was Nurui's only advantage. And miraculously enough, she knew a way around it. Regaining her composure, she headed for Nurui to deliver a blow.

"You're going to try it again? You are foolish, aren't you?" Nurui's face did not change expression but Kiharu could tell from her tone of voice she was mildly surprised. But Kiharu paid no mind. There were more important things for her to worry about now. Kiharu was almost within range of Nurui. Nurui stood there, as still as she always did, waiting for the right opportunity. Kiharu drew her arm back . . .

"Eye of the Tiger."

Within a second, Nurui found herself on her knees, wheezing for air. Kiharu had just delivered a powerful blow to her stomach. Her breath coming in pants, Nurui managed to say, "N-no way. I enabled the Eye of the Tiger before you hit me. So . . . how . . . ?" Nurui looked up and scrutinized her opponent. She gasped as she looked upon Kiharu's face.

"Would you look at that, folks? Kiharu's defended against Nurui's Eye of the Tiger by simply closing her eyes! Now it looks like the playing field's even!"

"Hmm . . . you are clever," admitted Nurui, causing Kiharu to smirk boastfully. "However, you can't keep your eyes closed forever. Once you open them, I will unleash Eye of the Tiger and you'll be helpless."

Kiharu chuckled. She couldn't help it. The tigress obviously was underestimating her. "True, true," said Kiharu in a pleasant voice. With three graceful flips, she managed to distance herself from Nurui, eyes still tightly shut. She groped at her arms and ripped off her long sleeves, then tied the cloth around her eyes. "That's better."

Nurui sounded dumbfounded. "I . . . I don't understand. You're willing to blind yourself in order to avoid the Eye of the Tiger?"

Kiharu nodded. "Yes . . . but don't think I'm putting myself at a disadvantage. I'm not that stupid."

"You intend to fight without your eyes?"

Again, Kiharu nodded. "You see . . . I've had a lot of training in my life." Well, I'm technically not even a year old but there's no need to go that far into my past. "I was trained by my father, Yomi. As many demons know, Yomi was robbed of his eyesight many years ago and is now blind. But still, my blind father fights with such strength that it is rare to find someone as powerful as he is. And thus, he taught me how to fight without the use of sight and since I don't need to use my eyes, your Eye of the Tiger is useless."

There was silence for a moment. Then Nurui spoke in her dull, monotonous voice. "Well, that makes things more interesting. I hope you know that the Eye of the Tiger is not my only weapon. I can fight without the use of it."

"Good, because the only people who resort to cheap tricks as their sole power are weaklings. And it makes me more excited to fight you knowing you aren't as weak as I thought," scoffed Kiharu.

"Well, let the games begin, then."

Kiharu immediately charged into action, locking on to Nurui's aura. Kiharu prepared a roundhouse kick to Nurui's head, who blocked it with her right arm and then swiped her claws across Kiharu's chest. Before falling, Kiharu managed to send out a blast of demon energy, tossing Nurui up into the air. Kiharu sensed she hit the ground some twenty feet away. Kiharu got up, wincing from the slash marks across her chest.

Kiharu stood there but did not sense Nurui coming for her. Rather, Nurui stood in one place, like she always did. "Hey, tiger-lady! Get your ass in gear and fight!" barked Kiharu. Nurui did not reply. "I'm serious! If I beat you, I want to at least know you tried to win! I didn't come this far for a piss-poor fight. Attack me or I'll kill you with no remorse!"

"Looks like Nurui's lack of movement has got Kiharu's blood boiling! What's the tigress going to do in response?"

Again, there was that annoying silence. Nurui was mocking her. Standing there calmly in silence . . . how she despised that tigress! "Fine . . ." said Nurui placidly. " . . . I'm only in this thing to die anyway."

WHAT?

Kiharu kept her guard up. Was this some kind of trick? If it was, she wasn't falling for it. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said: I'm here to die."

Kiharu was still puzzled. Suspiciously (though at the same time, curiously), she asked, "Why do you want to die?"

Nurui was hesitant to answer. Kiharu sensed Nurui's aura go faint. "Because . . . I'm done living."

"Give me a better answer." I don't trust her. I bet she said this to all her opponents and then killed them when the timing was right! Well, not me! I'm gonna win this thing and take her out.

"May I question why you care?"

Kiharu bit her lip, searching for an excuse. Unable to find a suitable one, she just said what was on her mind. "If you really were here to die, then why do you fight back? If this is suicide, then why have you not let anyone kill you if you want to die so badly?"

". . . I may want to die, but I don't want to just throw myself to the lions. I want to be killed by someone who is better than me. I want to be slain by someone is capable of doing it even when I'm at my prime. Yes, you could call me suicidal because I'm here to die but at the same time I want to go down swinging.

"There is nothing left for me in this life. I have no purpose. And since I have no purpose, I may as well just die. Living with no purpose is like living with no soul. And when I die, I want to die with honor. Just waiting for someone to kill me is cowardice."

Kiharu felt a sharp pain in her chest. And it wasn't from her wounds. No purpose in life . . . no soul . . . fighting with honor? "Heh . . . Nurui, perhaps you and I are not so different after all," surmised Kiharu. Even though she couldn't see it, Kiharu was sure Nurui was either smiling or smirking.

"Yes . . . but even so, only one of us is coming out of here alive."

Kiharu nodded. "Yes . . . and that's going to be me." Shivers went down Kiharu's spine as she felt Nurui's aura flare up. All of a sudden, it seemed like she'd been injected with enthusiasm for the fight.

"We shall see about that, Kiharu."

Nurui lunged at Kiharu, almost nailing the small demon. Luckily, Kiharu managed to dodge Nurui's attack and landed a kick to her ribs. Nurui's breath hitched but then Kiharu felt Nurui's tiger claws sink into the flesh of her shoulder. The tigress withdrew her claws and Kiharu sensed her still in front of her, about to punch. Kiharu blocked all of these punches and was about to throw one of her own. However, her wrist was stopped.

Nurui's tail had wrapped around Kiharu's wrist. Kiharu felt her feet leave the ground . . . and then . . .

SLAM!

Kiharu's body was smashed against the ground. She went up in the air again then was slammed hard against the earth, causing her teeth to bite into her lip, and thus, drawing blood. Being lifted into the air again, Kiharu's wrist flung back and then was released. She soared through the air and began to fall. She made it to her feet but was still being forced backward. To slow herself down, she crouched and after lengthening her fingernails, she thrust them into the earth. Her fingernails scraping the rocky dirt managed to slow her down a bit, but it made the skin on her palm become torn up from rubbing against the jagged rocks.

Kiharu hissed as her palm stung and she kept her elongated nails out. "Is that all you've got?" taunted Nurui. "I assumed by being Lord Yomi's daughter that you'd put up more of a fight."

Why you!

"I'm just getting started!"

She placed her hands together. "Bondage of the Damned!" She felt the earth rumble beneath her feet as large, metal chains sprung from the ground.

"That's Kiharu's Bondage of the Damned, a move we saw in the preliminaries!" rang Koto's voice. Kiharu heard the announcer giggle over the loudspeaker. "This is gonna get bloody!"

Kiharu sensed the chains wrapping around Nurui's slender frame, the tigress struggling a bit. Kiharu smirked as the chains squeezed her adversary tighter. By this point, Nurui had stopped struggling. Kiharu grinned triumphantly. But then it faded when she heard Nurui laughing. "So we're done with fists, eh? Fine by me!" What happened next was surreal. There was an explosive burst of demonic aura. Kiharu heard her chains snap and felt Nurui's aura flooding throughout the battlefield. For someone who wanted to die, she was sure putting up one hell of a fight.