-
"What do you want?" Yuiko asked, her voice trembling.
How could he be here? He died . . . didn't he?
Toguro stood in front of her, in warm flesh and pumping blood, no scars or wounds adorning his body, no signs that he had ever been killed.
"I want you to go to the Dark Tournament. I'll give you a real fight there. I threw that last match to you because of a bet. Sakio said that if he won the bet, he'd give my brother and me fifty percent."
"What's the Dark Tournament?"
"It's a fight between demons, usually. But humans aren't forbidden to participate. Your team can be the guest team."
"Why are you telling me this? Why not fight me now?" she yelled at him, her legs trembling; why was she feeling so scared?
What was so significant of him coming back?
"I know you're Genkai's student. I know you're not at the top of your potential. I want to fight you at your best so I can prove that she was wrong."
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"
"Come to the tournament and I'll tell you."
Yuiko's fists clenched; her fists were the only part of her not trembling.
"THAT'S NOT A GOOD ENOUGH ANSWER!"
She ran at him and threw a punch. He caught it and clamped his fingers around her fist. He tightened his grip.
"AAAARRRGH!"
Yuiko fell to the ground, crying out in pain and holding her hand.
"See what I mean? I'll see you at the tournament."
He disappeared after that.
-
"Kurama?"
"Yuiko? Is that you?"
"Yeah. I need you to come with me to this tournament. It's called the Dark Tournament. I was told you'd know where it's supposed to be."
"How do you know what that is?"
"So you know where it is?"
"Yes, but that's not the point."
"Okay. In a month we'll meet up at the docks then."
Click. Silence.
"Yuiko! Yuiko! Why'd she hang up?"
-
"Hello?"
"Kuwabara?"
"Yui-chan? Hey! How's it going?"
"Fine. In a month, I'll need you to show up at the docks. There's this tournament you have to come with me to. It's called the Dark Tournament."
"Sounds morbid. You sure?"
"Yeah. You'll be there?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"Good. See you later."
-
"Hiei, I know you're out here."
"Hn. What do you want, Detective?"
"I want you to come with me to the Dark Tournament. I want you to be part of the team."
"How do you even know about it?"
"It's a long story, and I know you probably don't want to hear it."
"Humor me."
Silence. Hiei stepped out of the shadows and moved toward her.
"Something the matter?" he asked.
His eyes widened at the sight of her bandaged hand.
"What the hell happened?"
Brown eyes locked with crimson irises.
"You coming or what?"
"Only if you tell me why you're going."
"Remember that big guy with all the muscles who was in the way of us rescuing your sister?"
"Yes."
"He's alive and is forcing me to go. Something about Genkai and wanting a real fight."
"Did he do that to your hand?"
"Yeah. He's stronger than I thought."
"Hn. That's why you don't just blindly pick a fight with people, Detective."
"Are you coming?"
"Hn. I guess."
"'Kay. Meet me at the docks in a month."
"Detective?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't get yourself paralyzed. I want a rematch someday, too."
She smirked half-heartedly.
"You got it."
-
"Genkai-sensei?"
"Yuiko-chan, what are you doing here? You're training was finished."
The elderly woman turned around and gasped at the girl's hand.
"Do you know a man named Toguro?"
". . . . How do you know about him?"
"He wants me to enter the Dark Tournament. He wants a rematch, and something about proving you wrong. Please, you have to make me your pupil again. You're the only person to ever really teach me anything. I need you to teach me how to beat him. S-something about him . . . scares the hell out of me. I – I need help overcoming that. I can't fight if I'm scared out of my wits. Help me, Genkai-sensei. Please."
Genkai stared at her for a minute then nodded.
"Yes, I'll train you once again. But I won't go any easier on you. If anything, I'll go harder on you. Meaning there'll be no more fighting-coming-easy-for-you stuff."
"Yes, sensei."
-
Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara stood amongst other Dark Tournament fighters, waiting for Yuiko to arrive. Hiei lounged up in a tree, Kurama leaned against the tree Hiei was in, and Kuwabara sat on the ground next to Kurama.
"Where is she? This Dark Tournament was her idea. What is it, anyway?" Kuwabara asked.
"Hn," Hiei grunted. "You really are stupid. You agreed to come when you didn't know what it was?"
"Hey! She wouldn't ask me if she didn't need my help! Besides, she's having a hard time at school and questions are getting on her nerves more and more!" Kuwabara retorted.
"Why is that?" Kurama asked.
"Keiko – Yuiko's best friend – has been trying to get information on what she's been doing lately, meaning the detective stuff." Kuwabara said; this instantly got Kurama's and Hiei's attention. "I mean, sure I know, but I know on accident. Yui-chan didn't tell me or nothing, I found out all on my own because I had wanted to be Genkai's apprentice when Rando was trying to become her apprentice. Anyway, Keiko's been really worried and wanted to know. But Keiko-chan is really persistent and sometimes won't take a 'No, I won't tell you' for an answer. It got to the point that Keiko-chan threatened to end their friendship if Yui-chan didn't tell her. She didn't mean it, of course, but Yui-chan won't admit it but she's always had a fear of that, so she thought she did mean it, so she said 'Fine, like I care!' and walked off. They haven't talked to each other since."
"So she's lost a friend," Kurama inferred.
"Yep," Kuwabara confirmed.
"Hn. Whatever. You humans are emotionally fragile," Hiei said.
"You take that back!" Kuwabara shouted, standing up and raising a fist to Hiei.
The fire demon glanced at him, piercing the human teenager with his crimson stare. Kuwabara refused to back down, though. No one insulted Yuiko and got away with it if he knew about it.
"It's true, you buffoon. Human girls are the worst. They break down crying every time something horrible happens to them. At least you human boys have more backbone."
"I'll show you!" Kuwabara exclaimed, moving as though he was going to climb up the tree to get to Hiei.
"Calm down, you two. What I was thinking, leaving the three of you alone together, I have no idea, but I'm here now so you guys cut it out," said the voice of the boys' favorite female.
"Yui-chan!" Kuwabara said, looking in her direction. "Gah! You look horrible! Who'd you train with? A grizzly bear?"
Yuiko laughed good-naturedly.
"Nah, I trained with Genkai-sensei," she explained, rubbing the nape of her neck sheepishly.
"I see your hand is healed," Hiei commented.
Kurama raised an eyebrow at Hiei.
"What do you mean her hand is healed? When was it injured?" Kurama inquired.
Hiei didn't respond. In a blink of an eye, Hiei lunged at Yuiko with his sword. Their actions were blurred so barely anyone saw what happened, but when it ended, neither was injured and Hiei sheathed his sword. He smirked.
"I see the old woman taught you well," Hiei commented.
She grinned foxily.
"Yep! Genkai-sensei is awesome!"
"I've been wondering who our fifth member is. The team needs five members. There's only four here," Hiei said, changing the subject.
"No, there's five," Yuiko said, jabbing her thumb in a direction behind her.
The three boys looked into the shadows and saw a short person with a rag for a mask.
"What? He's shorter than Hiei!"
"That must mean he can kick your ass, buffoon."
"HEY!"
"Shut up, you two," Yuiko said, "Come on, we have to get on the – yyyyaaaawwwnn – boat."
-
The boat floated atop the sea, bobbing up and down. Kuwabara barfed over the side of the boat. Kurama, the masked fighter, Yuiko, and Hiei sat against the side of the boat. Yuiko had fallen asleep and was leaning slightly on a disgruntled Hiei. He tried pushing her off of him, but he failed miserably.
'How much does she weigh?' Hiei thought to himself, the feeling of breath on his neck making him uncomfortable. The sensation caused a rather embarrassing reaction that Hiei didn't even know he was capable of. That reaction was an erection.
Now, did Hiei feel real emotions for a weak human? Of course not! Right? That was ridiculous! Right? Wasn't it?
He forced the blush that wanted to work its way onto his face to disappear. It was stupid for fall for the detective. She was a weak human who just happened to be lucky enough to kick his ass. She didn't mean anything to him. All he wanted was to defeat her and move on with his life. That's all he wanted . . . right?
"Attention passengers! All the teams are you fight for the guest team status! Take one of your team members and put them in the elevated ring!" rang the voice of the captain through a speaker.
"I thought we were the guest team," Kuwabara said.
"We are, but apparently these others have other plans," Kurama replied.
The masked fighter stood up and walked up to the ring.
"I say that we just kill them all and be done with it," Hiei muttered.
"Hiei! We can't do that! That's - !"
"Against your honor code? You're going to get us all killed someday," Hiei retorted.
"Why you!"
"Meh, stop arguin' wit' Hiei, Kuwabara," grumbled Yuiko in her sleep. Her boys looked at her. "You're distractin' me from trainin'." A snore was all that came from her after that.
Kurama, Kuwabara, and Hiei all glanced at each other then looked back at Yuiko.
That was a bit scary.
-
Kurama, Kuwabara, the masked fighter, and Hiei (who had been stuck with carrying Yuiko) walked into the hotel. Kurama went to talk with the man at the front desk. Kuwabara gaped at how many rich people were there. The masked fighter stood near Hiei, never taking her eyes off of him. Hiei glared at the masked fighter, still fighting off a blush because his 'damn body' wouldn't calm down.
"She likes you, you know," the masked fighter said suddenly in a surprisingly high feminine voice.
Hiei turned his head in the masked fighter's direction, his face showing how unexpected that was.
"She likes you more than you probably deserve. She thinks of Kurama and Kuwabara as brothers, did you know that? But she thinks of you differently. But she thinks you wouldn't care. She's most likely right. Cold-hearted assholes like you never care, not really. She's better off without you."
"Hn," was all Hiei would say to that. Stupid, weak, infuriating, stubborn, hot-headed, beautiful detective. Wait, beautiful? Where the hell did THAT come from? Maybe he needed his head checked.
-
Red Roses2: See? Lots of Hiei. Please review.