(3rd person POV)
The staircase was longer than they had anticipated and after a while, they stopped for a moment so that the two humans could catch their breath and Yusuke shot a look at Sayuri. "Are you okay? I saw a lot of those stones hitting you during the fight", he said, honest concern in his soft brown eyes. The vixen smiled warmly at him, "Thanks for your care, but I'm perfectly fine: I used the energy I stole from Genbu to heal my wounds and I'm fully capable of facing another fight". "No way!", Kuwabara intervened, "I will face the next fight!".
"But if you were an inch from shitting yourself until fox girl defeated that rocky asshole", the black-haired boy commented and his friend started with a slight blush. "Slander! I was just a bit worried, that's all!", he stated, standing to his full height and placing his hands on his hips, "For your information, I trained like crazy and I've made lots of progresses, while you were having fun at master Genkai's dojo! Look at this!", he raised his right hand in front of his chest and focused, a faint white light surrounding it for a moment, the he grabbed his wrist with his other hand and shouted, "Spirit Sword!".
And sure enough, a bright yellow sword made of spirit energy sprouted from his fist, the blade looking a little like a shot of lightning. "Wow", Sayuri's eyes widened and her ears twitched as she took a step closer to better inspect the unusual weapon, fascinated and intrigued, "I've never seen anything like this in my life…It's awesome!", she exclaimed with open delight and the ginger beamed and let out a laugh that was in equal parts proud and shy, blushing crimson. "Heard that, Urameshi? I'm awesome!", he preened like a peacock.
Yusuke merely rolled his eyes, "She was talking about your sword, not you", he commented, but Kazuma wasn't listening. "I don't gotta use the hilt of that sword to make it work anymore. It's just my pure energy and I bet it can kick the crap out of your spirit gun". "That depends on what finger I use", the detective replied without missing a beat, flipping him the bird. Hiei smirked, but inside he was seething with anger without even knowing why, "Well now and here I thought you were a fool, only good at boasting", he spat and Kuwabara shot him a glare.
"If you're looking for trouble, you found it, shrimp!". "I'm shaking with fear", the fire demon deadpanned. "Damn you, I'll…", the human moved to attack, but was stopped by the vixen. "Hey now, we shouldn't fight among ourselves", she said, giving Hiei a warning glance, "We are a team and we should act as one". "Tsk! These humans are not my team". "Yes they are, at least for now, so leave Kazuma be". "Or what?". "Or I'll give you the communicator and put you in charge of speaking to the reaper from now until the end of the mission", she said and had to hide a grin at the look of utter horror that flashed in his ruby-red eyes.
"Hn. Fine", he grudgingly said, then glared at Kurama, who was quietly snickering a few steps behind. "Good", she smiled and turned to the ginger, "So, what else can you do with your spirit energy?", she asked, tail flipping back and forth with excitement. Kuwabara brightened immediately, "I'm glad you asked! Look at this", he focused and held his sword upright and in a moment, the blade lengthened until it pierced the ceiling, causing Yusuke and Kurama to gasp in surprise. "What? Now it looks like a spear!", the former exclaimed.
"I can make it longer or shorter at will, cool, uh?", Kazuma preened, reabsorbing the weapon into his palm, "It's true that I was a little nervous before, but you can't blame me, I mean that Genbu was really a monster, but now I'm back to myself and I'll show you how strong I am…", he trailed off as his legs gave way from under him and he would have fallen, if the vixen hadn't caught him in time. "Easy there, you used too much energy at once", she sighed, "Seriously, kit, you shouldn't overexert yourself like that outside battle". Yusuke gritted his teeth, "You're really a moron, Kuwabara!", he growled, "And all that only to show off in front of a hot chick!", the shrill sound of the communicator broke out and he took the small object out of his pocket.
"Emergency!", Botan shouted before he could even say a word, "Red alert! We're in trouble!". "What's wrong, Botan?". "Oh, it's awful, Yusuke! While I was patrolling the town, I found a lot of insects from Demon World on the outer wall of the kindergarten!". He started, "What?! Did you really say kindergarten?". "Yes, I did!". "But you said that those bugs could only affect depressed adults!", he protested, his voice heavy with worry and a sliver of anger. "I know, that's what I thought, but I discovered that they can affect children too and that it usually leads to their death!".
He opened his mouth to speak, when Sayuri roughly took the communicator from his hand, "You stupid girl! I hope for your sake that no more of those kits end up dead because of your incompetence, because if even one of them does, you will answer for that to me, is that clear?!", she roared, her delicate face twisted with fury. "I…AH!", Botan let out a loud shriek and the five members of the team heard her quick footsteps, "One of the possessed adults is tailing me!", she yelled.
"Then beat him black and blue with that bat of yours, you idiot! We'll get rid of the bugs as soon as we can", the demoness snapped the communicator shut and handed it back to Urameshi, then stalked forward with her fists clenched at her sides, seething, her ears flat on her head and the fur on her tail puffed out like that of an angry cat. The detective blinked and turned to Kurama, "What's wrong with her?". The fox sighed, "Yuyu has always had a soft spot for children, it doesn't matter whether they're demons or humans and knowing that there are some of them in danger enrages her. You should have seen what she did to an aquatic demon who tried to eat a child more than two centuries ago: when she was done with it, there was nothing left but a handful of bloody entrails scattered around the whole meadow. I don't know if the poor child was more traumatized by that deranged octopus or by its gruesome death", he added under his breath.
"So she likes children?", Kuwabara looked at the retreating female with heart-shaped eyes, "Does she want a big family maybe?". "I...Don't think this is the right time to ask her about it", the redheaded demon said cautiously, "Let's go, shall we?". The ginger nodded, but after a few steps, the whole corridor started shaking and they heard what sounded like a powerful roar in the distance. "What the Hell is that?", he asked, shaken. "Oh, no!", Kurama's forest-green eyes widened in alarm, "It's Byakko's roar and he sounds like he's in a very foul mood!".
"RUN!", Urameshi shouted and they all sprinted ahead while the corridor collapsed bit by bit behind them, until they emerged on a platform which was connected to a larger one by a narrow stone bridge. At the far end of the bigger platform stood what appeared to be a huge white tiger standing on its hind legs: he was at least ten feet tall, with enormous muscles in his arms and legs and a prominent belly, he was dressed in a single-strap sleeveless tunic made of leopard fur and he had long green hair that reached his middle.
"Ah, so this is the infamous Byakko", Sayuri commented, looking him up and down and arching an eyebrow, "Ugly like a donkey's ass, just as I thought". Her companions couldn't help snorting with laughter at that, even Hiei, though he tried to hide that with a fake cough. "You made me come down here to fight me. Well, here I am", Byakko said, revealing a rough and scratchy voice with an odd echo, then he roared again. "Was that a roar or a burp? It wasn't clear", the vixen piped up and at that joke, the guys relaxed even more and she smiled to herself: her plan was working. As long as the humans could find some humor in the situation, they would not be overcome with fear.
It seemed to work especially well for Kazuma, who slowly stopped trembling and straightened his back with more confidence than before, "Well, I'm going to face that overgrown cat, on my own!", he stated, walking forward. Unfortunately, Byakko roared more loudly and glared at him, causing him to stop dead in his tracks, "Don't you think you can defeat me like you did Genbu! I'm stronger! And I'm sick of being trapped in this Castle by Spirit World", he growled, yellow-orange eyes hard, "I can't even get myself some good food! It's unacceptable!". "Well, judging from how fat you are, I'd say you could use to diet for a while", Sayuri quipped and the tiger narrowed his eyes at her. "How dare you, you bitch!".
Hearing that word, Kuwabara's fear was replaced by outrage, "HEY! That's no way to speak to a lady, you lout! Now I'll teach you some manners!", he shouted, quickly closing the distance between him and the Saint Beast…Just in time, because Byakko's next roar was so powerful that it caused part of the bridge to collapse, until the passage was reduced to a width of barely a couple of palms. "I will eat you and the other human. Hiei, Kurama and Sayuri will be fed to my pets instead!". The ginger-haired boy gulped, then steeled his resolve and summoned his Spirit Sword, "Enough talking! Come here and fight me, or are you scared?".
The tiger laughed his head off and ripped a small lock of hair form his head, "You're not worthy to face me. My pets will suffice", he said, then blew the hair and when they touched the floor, they transformed into four odd creatures with dark green-brown fur, two short spiraling horns and spherical blue eyes, looking like a very ugly mixture between a tiger and a boar. Kazuma frowned, "What the Hell are these things?". "Probably the result of a tryst gone wrong", Sayuri commented from the other side of the bridge, "They're even uglier than their father!". He chuckled and adjusted his grip on his weapon, "Well, all right, here we go!", he exclaimed, readying himself for the fight.