In the Wake of What Follows

Chapter Twenty-Six: Round One

If Terra thought the preliminaries were vicious, they paled in comparison to the first round of fights. For all their stages, only a few battles were going on at one time - platforms set together to give levels to each arena. For the preliminaries, it was about efficiency. For the main tournament, they were to drag it out. All fights were good fights, and the audience wanted their eyes full. Even Terra became entranced by the rhythm of the matches. The blood. The death. It twisted in her gut deeply anytime a contestant was killed, but it never made her look away. Now that she was indoctrinated into the demon world, Terra found she needed to know more than ever just what she had gotten herself into.

And maybe, just maybe, a part of her found it exciting.

If she hadn't sensed demons without knowing what they were, Terra would have been thrilled by the adventure of jumping a fence into private property. She tried to stay the straight and narrow. She tried to be good, to be normal, to be acceptable. But breaking rules had always been a bit exhilarating. This was different, of course. This was darker. This was death. But exciting all the same. The thrill of risking life. It was starting to make her finally, after all this time, feel alive.

Kurama placed a hand on her shoulder and she had to catch herself from zapping him. She had been so engrossed by the fight on the screen, Terra hadn't been able to tell him from any stranger in their midst for a moment.

"Yeah?" she asked, taking her attention away from the fight at hand. It was endless. There were six arenas now. Three matches had ended in bloodshed, and two by knockout. The one Terra was watching had been going on since the morning and didn't look to be won anytime soon. Once a fight ended, two more fighters were called to the ready in an hour's time. All six arenas were full again, the last just starting its second match of the round - Yusuke's. Non-stop. The sky had grown dark and Terra hadn't even noticed. It wasn't quite night, but above them was a motley purple that resembled dusk in the human realm.

"I must slip away, I'm afraid," Kurama told her.

"Oh." She looked around and realized all their friends weren't around. Some were resting up before their fight, others fighting. Suzuka was in the medic station, which sounded more helpful than it was. You only received treatment if someone was willing to take care of you after your match, win or lose. No one on staff, only friends of contestants.

Terra didn't think Kurama wanted to leave her alone, though. She was proven right when she was guided to a man in a Tuxedo Mask costume and a girl with swirly eyeglasses. "Botan?" The disguise wasn't more than a children's toy, so Terra wasn't sure why Botan was so surprised to have been discovered.

"What! No, no." She waved her hands in front of her face in a panic. "No Botan here."

Terra raised an eyebrow and looked at Kurama, who merely sighed at her behavior. "Stay with them until dinner. If I'm not back by then-"

"I can order room service if it comes to it," she assured him. Kurama gave a curt bow and disappeared into the crowd. Terra turned back to Botan and Koenma with skeptic curiosity. "Do I want to know what the costumes are for?"

Botan put a finger to her lips and shushed Terra very loudly. "We're not exactly welcome company in the makai," Botan whispered.

Terra looked around at all the demons watching the fights. None of them were paying Botan and Koenma any attention, and she doubted it was due to their attempts at blending in. Terra caught eyes with a yellow scaly demon a row behind them. The demon rolled their eyes and shook their head. Yeah. Terra was pretty sure everyone knew exactly who they were. They just didn't give enough of a shit to make a fuss.

"Right." Terra wasn't going to make a fuss either. She doubted either of them would listen to her on the matter. Might as well let them think they're fooling everyone. "Well, I guess I'm watching with you two, then."

Terra didn't have much to say to Botan. She hadn't gotten to know her like she had Keiko and Yukina and Shizuru. They weren't close, although Terra didn't have any issue with her. Koenma, on the other hand… Terra didn't know how she felt about the Lord of the Spirit World. The Prince who called Yusuke and Kurama back onto a mission despite their years away. Terra thought back to Keiko in the car and wanted to give Koenma a piece of her mind.

Terra also wanted to ask him questions. Questions she was told only he might know the answers to. Yusuke said he'd put in a word for her. Had he? Did Koenma remember? Terra wasn't sure how to broach the subject.

Just then, a familiar ring echoed across the stadium seatings and one of the many screens was framed in blue light. Another match was over. Terra stared at the screen to see Chuu victorious, smiling despite the blood that trickled down his face and weighed down his mohawk. He might have been missing a tooth.

A moment later, the next set of fighters who would take over that arena were announced, their match starting in an hour. Goro's name caught Terra's attention and she looked around as if expecting to catch sight of him. She didn't even know what he looked like, so it did little good, even if he were around.

"That dumbass is going to cost us Mukuro's legacy," a nearby demon grumbled. Mukuro's name caught Terra's attention. "Goro's going to lose this thing and if Yomi has his way…"

"He's already started," a female voice complained faintly. "Subordinates who knew they weren't going to fight this thing are pushing against our west border."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Birds," she said as if she spoke to them directly. Perhaps she did. Terra wondered what kind of birds were in the makai.

"Alaric needs a strong general, or we're going to lose our land no matter the next King," a third demon chimed in. "And Goro's a sap."

"I hope Hiei kills him."

"He should have done it months ago."

"You think if we all just collectively ignore Goro in favor of Hiei, our beloved Lord will take the bloody hint?"

The three demons broke out into laughter.

As much as Terra wanted to learn more about whatever turmoil was stirring in the demon world, she doubted she had much time before Chuu found his way to her in the stands, and she didn't know when else she might be left by Koenma's side. It could be her only chance to talk to the Prince.

"Hey, Koenma?"

"Not so loud!" he hissed. He tugged at the lapels of his jacket and cleared his throat. "You can call me Mamoru."

Terra couldn't help the amused sound of disbelief at the name. "You're a fan of Sailor Moon?"

Koenma's cheeks blushed under his mask. "Since the first issue."

Terra shook her head. They were already so off-topic and she hadn't even started. As much as she wanted to question the man who ran the afterlife about his manga preferences, she had more pressing things to know.

"Anyway," she said, "what I was going to say, or ask rather, I, um." Terra cleared her throat. "I was doing a lot of research on my family, and you know, my great grandfather fought alongside Genkai and the Toguro brothers in the Dark Tournament."

Koenma nodded. "That does sound familiar, yes." His tone of voice was annoyingly asking what her point was.

"I was just curious, is all. After learning about the Toguros." She took a deep breath. "How was it that they were turned into demons? It's just something I've been trying to wrap my head around."

Koenma was silent for a moment, his thoughtful frown on prominent display below the mask around his eyes. "Funny that, I don't know. The only wish I had ever been consulted on was negotiations for a better afterlife once or twice and then bringing back Genkai after Yusuke's win. Otherwise, it was entirely on the committee's backs to fulfill the winner's wishes."

It was a slap to the face. Terra had assumed Koenma would know. Of course he would. Even if he weren't involved, there would be a record of the event, surely. This was a human turning into a demon. This was big. Spirit world would keep track of that. Of the how. But despite how much they liked to act like they knew everything, the spirit world was far from omniscient. If Koenma didn't know, it was just a dead-end to her investigation. If there were records, the spirit world wasn't a place she could just peruse like the local library.

It was disappointing. She tried to shake it off, the unsettled feeling that sat behind her breastbone. It wasn't a mystery that needed solving, after all. Only to satiate her curiosity.

Besides. If she ever wanted to pick the thread back up again, there was still one more person who might have an answer for her.

It was longer than Terra expected for Chuu to find her in the stands. He took the time to wash up first, hair no longer matted with blood and face clean of all grime. When he grinned and called her name, she was able to see he had, in fact, lost a tooth.

"I won my first round! That's cause for celebration." Chuu wrapped one of his muscular arms around Terra's neck and pulled her close. "What do you say, little mulga. Let's get drunk and do something stupid." He waggled his eyebrows at her in a suggestive yet mostly joking manner.

Terra laughed and pushed at his shoulder lightly. Admonishing his comment more than suggesting he let go. "I'll toast with you, but I think that already counts as something stupid." She leaned into Chuu's hold, the side hug surprisingly comfortable. He reminded her a lot of Conner. If Conner had gotten into wrestling instead of Cheetos. And we're a demon. They had the same kind of humor, a similar essence. It was the easiest friendship she had fostered since losing him. "What was that swill you had me drink last night? Pure acetone?"

Chuu laughed, full-bellied and positively gleeful. "I'll find you the top shelf stuff tonight. Stuff we can appreciate instead of chugging so fast it doesn't touch our tongues."

Terra was going to reply, words on the tip of her tongue and lips parted to speak. Before she could voice her complaint that there was no top-shelf liquor in demon world, a blur of motion caught the corner of her eye.

"They're going to think you're fair game to go after if you let anyone hang over you like that."

Hiei.

She turned to see him standing on the guardrail that dissected the stairs in their section of the stadium. Behind him, and surely all around, the demons from Alaric who noticed him began to whisper among themselves, pointing when they dared. Hiei didn't seem to notice them, although he was probably well aware of their attention. He ignored them in favor of glaring daggers at Chuu. Terra couldn't feel a lick of his icy energy, so it couldn't have been that bad.

Hiei had won his first-round match some time ago, having been in the first slot of contestants. She honestly wasn't expecting him to show up after how long it's been since he left the ring. It was questionable that he would do so now.

If Kurama had actually managed to spur a sort of jealousy in Hiei, it was only more reason for Terra to be displeased with the fox. It has been a long time since Terra was caught between a pissing contest and she didn't look to relive the experience. Men were stupid and she didn't know why she bothered with them. Too bad emotions didn't follow any kind of logic she could find, even after all the textbooks she had read on the matter. Four years of college and all she learned was that Sigmund Freud was a piece of shit, but that was a tangent for a different day.

"If anyone touches me against my will, they're in for quite a shock," Terra said, stepping out of Chuu's arm. "What's up?"

Hiei took the briefest pause to look between Chuu, Botan, and Koenma before settling on her. "Yusuke's likely to be a while. It's a near-even match. And I noticed the fox has gone off on his own."

Terra nodded when he fell silent. "Yeah. Yep. Which is why he left me-"

"With two morons," Hiei cut in. "Three, now." Their company protested, but Terra didn't pay them any mind. "They'd probably let you forget that your human body needs food."

"Are you asking me to dinner, Hiei?"

Hiei's glare was tempered by the fact she still couldn't feel any chill from his energy. "I'm reminding you that you're supposed to eat. I know how often you put off that practice."

He was being an asshole about it, but Terra couldn't help but feel warmed by his attention. It had been so long since her time at the temple, since Yukina had to monitor her meals and Hiei has to make sure she didn't overwork herself. She was healthy right now. Her neurotic tendencies were under control. She hadn't so much as skimped on a meal in months. But Hiei had no way of knowing that. And a part of him, however masked behind rude comments and angry glares, worried over it.

"Okay," Terra said breezily, humoring him as if Hiei had won her over on the matter. "Let's get dinner then. Chuu, you coming?"

"Just fought with all my might! I could eat a wildebeest."

She asked Botan and Koenma, but they declined. Hiei didn't seem happy with Chuu tagging along, but he didn't speak up against it. For his part, Chuu seemed completely unaware of the tension. He was too excited about sharing his favorite spirits with Terra to pick up on how uncomfortable Hiei was. Then again, Terra wondered if she would have noticed had they not spent so much time together in the past. To the average bystander and even friends like Chuu or Jin or Shishi, Hiei was his usual displeased self.

When they entered the dining cabin set aside for contestants, Chuu told them to snag a table as he raced off to the bar to ensure their drink order.

"He's more of a moron than Kuwabara."

"Don't speak ill of family, Hiei," she teased, looking around for an empty spot. It seemed most of the free fighters had decided now was a good time to grab a bite while one of the arenas was still empty, and Yusuke's fight would last long enough people wanted to be full for it. "Come on. I think I see a table over there."

They made their way through the crowd, Terra doing her best to push back all the spikes of energy from the various powerful demons around her. One moment she was squeezing between groups of rowdy drunks either mourning or celebrating their matches, and the next, just as she reached for the empty chair to sit, Hiei was in front of her - sword drawn and against the throat of a stranger.

"Touch her and you'll regret it," Hiei seethed.

The stranger was taller than either of them, though not quite as tall as Chuu. But he was broad and fat and something about his face reminded Terra of a toad. The blue-green color of his skin only added to the likeness. His energy was slimy and repugnant. He smirked and his lips parted with spittle keeping them connected and showing off rotten yellow teeth. It was only then that Terra noticed how close his hand was to her neck, sharp nails reaching for her skin.

"Are you threatening me, Hiei?" His voice was deep and full of dark humor. "What exactly are you going to do? Contestants can't fight outside the arena once the tournament begins, in case you forgot. You'll be disqualified. Banned from future tournaments. Your pet here is fair game, though." He laughed and it stirred something twisted in Terra's gut. "You'd give up your chance for the crown for her?"

They were silent for a mere moment. Then Hiei smirked, confident and calm, before pulling his sword away and sheathing it slowly. "Not a threat, Goro. A warning. You will regret touching her, but I won't do anything." His sword clicked firmly into place at his belt. "She will."

Hiei's sureness of her ability to defend herself made her heart swell. It rushed out any emotion that came from learning that this demon was the damned Goro. The demon in question didn't seem as impressed by Hiei's statement.

"You think this little human could hurt me, the slayer of Lord Mukuro?" He laughed again, and it only served to anger her and Hiei both. "She can't be stronger than a B class demon," Goro huffed.

"And yet. You would regret it. I don't want you dying before I get the chance to kill you myself," Hiei spat. "And you still have a match to beat before then."

Goro looked between them but didn't keep his hand out towards Terra. "Oh, I'll win my match, alright. I'll win all of them. Too bad you won't live to see me crowned. You won't make it past round two." He snarled and turned to walk out. Terra and Hiei stayed standing, watching his retreat in silence until Goro was no longer in sight.

"I think his breath ruined my appetite," Terra said.

"Eat anyway," Hiei said, slamming himself into a seat.

Chuu arrived moments later and Terra finally took a seat. It was easier to forget the disquiet of the moment with Chuu and alcohol. Hiei didn't speak for their entire meal, and Terra was decently sloshed by the time she made her way back to her room. Chuu promised to make stupid decisions later when Hiei insisted Terra not be out in the demonic public in that condition, but then Hiei left her alone in the suite. Alone and a little drunk and full of so many mixed emotions. She turned on the TV and set it to Yusuke's match and tried to let the alcohol lull her to sleep.

Terra was having a nightmare. The feeling of being trapped in place, no matter how far her feet traveled, was a familiar one. The scenery shifted around her in her dreams, and she was fixed to the spot.

It was a familiar nightmare, one born of the night she tossed the ring Jeremy gave her off the cliffside at the temple. She watched the diamond glitter as it arched across the sky, and this time when she ran for it, no one stopped her. Pain seared up her body as her legs snapped, but she kept running as if a broken bone didn't impede her movement. The forest morphed around her, and Terra saw the shadows move as the moonlight leaked through the leaves. And just out of reach, holding the ring, gutted - bleeding - beyond pale and eyes like glass, was Jeremy.

Terra startled awake, drenched in a cold sweat. It was dark out and Yusuke's match was still on the TV. Her heart was racing like a hummingbird, and Terra had to take a moment to recover from Jeremy's scream that had echoed faintly in the world of her dreams. She clutched at the empty spot around her neck, a phantom weight in her palm. Moving on was hard. Burying the ring at Jeremy's grave wasn't something Terra regretted. Jeremy was more than a year in the grave, and she didn't want to be someone too caught up in her past that she lost what life she had by not living. Terra knew why the nightmare was resurfacing. While burying the ring felt like closure, throwing it off the mountain felt like betrayal. And she loved Jeremy. She always would. But now she felt like she was betraying him again. Some part of her psyche thought she was also betraying herself.

Terra showered and put on clothes she could reasonably call herself dressed in while still using as pajamas if she wanted to. Kurama wasn't in his room when she checked. Still out, she supposed. Terra hoped that he hadn't met any trouble.

After her nightmare and nursing the slightest bit of hangover, being alone in the suite didn't feel very comfortable. She knew it could be dangerous out on her own, but the area was still plenty active with the matches still going on. Terra would be safe enough in the one place she wanted to go.

The top floor of the hotel was laid out the same as the floor Terra's suite was on, but when Terra found the staircase, it didn't have rooftop access. Terra groaned. She looked around until she found a lone hallway window. It should have been too high up to open, but the makai didn't seem to care much for safety precautions. She was able to slide it up and peak her head out. There was enough of a lip outside to stand on. She looked up. It didn't seem any further up that Genkai's roof was from the statue she used as a step ladder.

It was a long drop to the ground, but Terra wasn't all that worried about falling.

At least, not until she was standing on the window ledge. "Fuck." Well, she granted Chuu's wish of drinking and doing something stupid. She could probably get up, but she was having a hard time making her legs move. Her grip at the top of the window was white-knuckled, and she wasn't willing to let go even if it was to slip down back inside.

"What are you doing?"

Terra craned her neck back to see Hiei staring at her from the roof above.

"Going to sit on the roof."

"You've been standing at the window for five minutes."

Terra scowled, fighting off the burn in her cheeks. "Are you going to help me up or not?" In a blink of an eye, Terra was sitting on the roof, gracelessly dumped onto the flat tile with Hiei a solid arm's length away. She frowned at the distance but didn't comment. "Thanks."

Hiei let out a little huff. "You're an idiot."

"I've been accused of worse," Terra said. She settled herself and leaned her weight onto her hands. "The sky's weird here."

"We don't have stars," Hiei said.

Even in the city with smog to cloud the sky, Terra would still be able to see a star or two at night. But here, the sky was a deep purple without a single light. No clouds covered up the distance. It was just… empty.

"The suite was making me feel, I don't know, stuck," she told him. He hadn't asked for an explanation as to why she wanted to be up there, but Terra felt the need to explain. "Are you nervous? About fighting Goro?"

It had to be a big deal. This was the demon who killed Hiei's former partner, after all. Goro had won his round one match by the time Terra got out of the shower. His fight against Hiei was a sure thing now.

"Nervous? Don't make me laugh. He's pathetic."

Terra nodded. "Excited, then? Finally getting revenge?"

"He doesn't matter. It's just another fight."

Terra looked over at him and didn't believe a word of it. "Right," she scoffed. They were silent for a moment, Terra trying to make out the fights on the big stadium screens from the angle they were at. "What are you going to do once he's dead?" There was a finality to her question. Assuredness that Hiei would win the match, that he would kill the slimy toad looking demon who had tried to get his hands on her earlier.

"Go onto round three," he said with a shrug.

"That's not what I mean and you know it."

"Then say what you mean."

In that moment, Terra did miss her necklace that carried the engagement ring. She didn't know what to do with her hands. There was nothing to keep herself distracted so she could think clearly.

"With Goro dead, Alaric is without a Lord." She turned to look Hiei straight on. "I've been hearing it all around the crowds. Your people want you back."

"They're not my people."

"They don't see it that way."

Hiei growled and a shiver ran down Terra's spine. She hated the cold of his energy as much as the space between them.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Hiei snarled.

"I know that Yomi is taking advantage of the fact Yusuke isn't around to keep him in line and that Goro must not stand a lick to Mukuro because Yomi is pushing on the Alaric border without you in charge."

Hiei looked at her, startled, his red eyes wide and shining brilliantly in the ruddy darkness.

"I'm not an idiot, Hiei. I may not be from here or understand all the political nuances of your world, but from just the little time I've been here, it's become obvious that Yomi is trying to slowly shift the scales of power in his favor. He's trying to make the tournament obsolete in case he doesn't win."

His eyebrows lowered from shock to suspicion, a look familiar to the ones he so often gave her in their first weeks of acquaintance. There was less hostility behind them right now. More curiosity. "I wonder about you sometimes." Terra mirrored his look, confused about his statement. He smirked, and suddenly Terra's heart was hammering. "Maybe you are a spy after all."

She shook her head and chuckled softly. "You're dodging the topic," she scolded him with a smile. "Seriously, Hiei. If you don't come out of this King of the Maki, what are you going to do?"

They stared at each other for some time. Terra felt as if her heart were in her throat and she didn't know why.

"I've already told you," he said, breaking eye contact. "I gave up my right to that position when I left Mukuro to her fate."

"If you kill Goro in your next fight, won't you have claimed that position back?"

Hiei stayed silent and Terra sighed. Distractedly, Terra cracked the knuckles in her fingers one by one as she thought. When she gave up trying to make her pinky sound off, she dropped her hands in her lap.

"When I first saw you fight, I was shocked. Unprepared. But it wasn't unexpected once I was able to process it. Watching you the second time? When the fight took longer than two seconds?" She let out a long exhale and forced herself to look into Hiei's eyes. "It was like watching a dance. I felt it. You live for that. And, I don't know, maybe I'm looking into things too much, but…" she shrugged. "You seem happy here. Settled in yourself like I've never seen you before."

"This world is a verifiable wasteland," Hiei said after a beat.

Terra hummed, not quite agreement but not quite arguing the matter. "But you love it."

"Love is a strong word," he scoffed.

"Hiei-"

"Why are you so invested in this?" he questioned, a frown creasing his brow. "Why do you care what I do next? If I take over as Lord of Alaric or remain a rogue?"

"Because I care about you, Hiei," she snapped. He pulled back, surprised by her statement or her outburst she couldn't be sure. "Because I thought, at the very least, we were friends and I want you to be happy! I know what it's like to wander around aimlessly and I'm only just starting to find myself again. I don't want you to be denying something important to you because of something as stupid as self-sabotage." Terra took a steadying breath. "If you don't want it, you don't want it. But if you're staying away because you think you made a mistake that should prevent you from going back, then you're just making another mistake. That's all."

The shocked expression didn't leave his face for so long Terra grew nervous. She didn't want to say anything more. She wasn't sure what would come out of her mouth if she were to open it again.

"Kurama's almost back to the hotel. You should be in the room when he gets there."

Terra nodded, too tired to bother pushing the blatant change of topic. "Yeah."

"Is your window unlocked?"

"I think so, why?"

Before Terra could finish the last word, Hiei had scooped her up. Wind whipped at her hair and stung her cheeks, and before her stomach could flip-flop from the sudden sensation of chasing gravity, she was being deposited onto one of the chairs in the suite's living area. In the moment it took to gather herself and twist around, Hiei was gone. Only the flutter of drapes at the open window was left in his wake.