Inviting Eri To The Dark Tournament
It was a bright day as the sun was shining in the sky as Yusuke was out of school and wanted to go check on Eri at the hospital. He couldn't wait to see her, hear her voice, and be around her because he likes hanging around the little demon girl that was just so adorable and sweet to be around. When he reached the spirit world hospital, he enters the waiting room to see Hiei sitting there wearing his cloak that was fixed up after being damaged during the fight against Sensui.
"Hey, what are you doing here, Hiei?" Yusuke asked.
"I'm only visiting," Hiei replied.
"Oh, you came to see Eri too? Me too." Yusuke genuinely smiled as he glanced down to see a picture drawn and colored. "Who's the drawing for?"
"It's for Eri." He replied as glanced at the drawing to show it to Yusuke that it was all of them together. "She drew this back at your apartment before she got taken away."
Yusuke's mouth gap opens as he heard the nurse called for the two letting them go ahead to see Eri. These two were closer to her than anyone else and she trusts them too. As the two demons walked down the hallway, they found Eri's room as Yusuke opened it and saw Eri drinking out of a juice box.
"Hey Eri," Yusuke greeted the little girl as she waved at them and set the juice box aside. There was an empty dish right beside it as the two demons sat next to her on opposite sides.
"How are you feeling?" Hiei asked.
"I'm good. I-I'm happy to see you both here." She said in a soft squeaky voice.
Hiei held out the drawing she drew as her eyes widened a little. He spoke up, "I found this in Yusuke's apartment. It's a nice picture." He said with a small smile on his lips. "I brought it over so you can have it with you."
She takes the picture from Hiei replying, "Thank you."
The two of them talked for hours and Yusuke said, "Hey, do you ever feel like coming back with us?"
She looks up at him, "Going back with you? Where to?"
"Well, I mean you can stay with Genkai at her temple and I'm sure she won't mind." Yusuke insisted.
"She might even take care of you for some time," Hiei added.
The demon child said, "I'm not sure."
Yusuke lets a sigh escape his lips, "I wonder how long you have to be in the hospital. Recovering can take a while that I just want you to go outside and get out of this place. "
Hiei held Eri in his arms and adjusted himself in the bed with her. He kept a stoic expression on his face remembering that he wanted to see her smile. The poor couldn't feel what smiling was that he wished that there was something he could do to get her to smile.
"There are other things to worry about when we have a tournament coming up. A chance to see who will rule the land of Makai and become king." Hiei spoke up to remind his friend about the tournament he had requested as Yusuke nodded.
Before Yusuke could say anything an idea came to his mind. He glanced back at Eri as his mouth gapped openly halfway that it was going to sound ridiculous.
"That's it!" Yusuke exclaimed.
Hiei and Eri were both surprised by his outburst.
"What is?" Hiei asked.
"Hold on." Yusuke ran out of the room and a few minutes later he dragged in Koenma to enter the room, squirming around like a mad-man.
"Why did you bring me in here?" Koenma asked.
Yusuke approached Eri with a wide smile across his face.
"Eri! This is perfect and I think this will be great for you." Yusuke chimed.
"What are you rambling on about, Yusuke?" Koenma asked.
The detective faces back at Koenma replying, "Koenma, why don't we bring Eri out of the room. We can take her with us to Makai."
"Are you insane!?" Hiei and Koenma exclaimed.
"Not really. But this is a good chance for Eri to participate at the Dark Tournament."
Koenma glanced at Yusuke then back at Eri before replying, "I'll ask the doctor if it's alright for her to leave."
Yusuke grinned as Koenma left to go ask the doctor if it was alright for Eri to leave the palace due to her medical condition.
"What's a dark tournament?" Eri asked.
"It's a tournament for other class fighters that are ranked to enter in the ring. To fight and defeat their opponent." Hiei explained to the young girl patting her head gently.
"Yeah! I bet they even have delicious food right afterward." Yusuke chuckled with a huge grin on his face. "And I bet they'll probably have candy apples there."
"What are candy apples?" Eri asked.
"It's when they dip into some special sauce and makes it even sweeter," Yusuke replied as he and Hiei noticed the girl was drooling.
"Even sweeter..." She drooled.
'So, she has a sweet tooth.' Hiei thought, and he'll have to remember that and he would have to give her a candy apple. If he or Yusuke could find one in the demon world that is.
4 Days Later
"Eh? You got her new clothes?" Yusuke asked.
"Of course. She isn't going to wear that horrible dress like last time."Hiei replied.
"Gotcha."
They walked down the hallway to go to Eri's room and when they entered she was wide awake eating breakfast.
"Hey, Eri!" Yusuke greeted the little demon girl as she glanced over to see Hiei and Yusuke.
She was eating and swallowed the food down her throat. Her eyes lit up that she was happy to see them.
"Hi, Yusuke. Hi Hiei." She greeted them as they took a seat.
"How are you doing? Are you excited about coming with us to the tournament?" Yusuke asked enthusiastically.
She nodded, "I-I am. I'll support you and Hiei when you're fighting against other competitors in the tournament."
The two grinned as Hiei handed her the new clothes he bought for her to wear.
"I've bought these for you. I remember you telling me that your favorite color is red." Hiei said, hiding a blush as Eri takes the clothes.
"Thank you." She squeaked.
"Hurry up and eat, and change so we can take you to the tournament," Yusuke says with a cocky grin on his face.
"Well, here we are." Yusuke grinned as he glanced behind his shoulder. "This is it Eri. Welcome to Makai where the dark tournament will be taken place. Don't worry I have a couple of friends that are going to really like you."
Hiei was holding Eri's hand as she glanced up at the fire demon with the wind blowing through her hair as she was in 'awe' at the huge place. Eri's outfit is changed to a white dress shirt with a frilled collar and a plain red pinafore with two large, golden buttons on either side of her chest. Under this, she wears gray tights and a large set of tan boots, and a small dark red messenger bag with the strap sitting over her right shoulder, and a little floral pattern decorating one of its sides. Her hair also looks to be better cared for, appearing straighter and neater than it was during her time with Sensui.
How could Hiei afford a dress that looked so expensive not to mention he bought a cute small purse to go with her outfit. Hiei actually asked Kurama if he could borrow some money to get Eri some new clothes since she last went shopping that he remembers her favorite color "Red" came into his mind. So, he bought her a pair and brought it up to the demon world a few days ago to give to her letting the demon girl wear it. She looks so cute in them that he did a good job picking out the right outfit.
"Hello, I'm glad to see you made it on time." The three turn their heads to see Kurama as he stood there with a warm smile on his face.
"Hey Kurama, happy to be here too." Yusuke grinned.
Kurama gazes down as he saw Eri in her new clothes and smiled, "My, Eri you look really beautiful. Hiei must have picked out a cute outfit for you."
"Quiet. I'm just doing this for her." Hiei mumbled as the two snickered at the fire apparition.
"Hey! It's Yusuke!" They heard voices coming running over to them as they met their old pal from the previous dark tournament. His old friends approached him and noticed someone was with them that they didn't recognize before.
"What's with the little kid?" Asked Chu.
Yusuke smiles down at Eri responding, "This is our friend Eri and she's really sweet and kind."
Eri hides behind Hiei's leg clutching his pant leg. Hiei rests a hand on her head before grabbing her hand to pull her gently from behind him to let her introduce herself.
"Well, she is adorable. Hey! You even got a horn too lassy." Jin exclaimed with a wide grin on his face as he pointed up to his head. "See? Just like your small one."
Eri soon met Chu and Rinku smiled down at her too. Rinku comes up to her making Eri blush a little at how close he is which Hiei was standing right behind her glaring at the boy. He doesn't want any boys to hit on her. Ever.
"She's kinda cute," Rinku smirked.
"T-Thank you."Eri squeaked out.
There was a waiting room for them to talk in privacy without being interrupted. Eri was sitting between Hiei and Yusuke listening to them discuss this and that.
"So, what's the little one's spirit energy?" Jin asked.
"Well, Eri's spirit energy is to rewind things to their natural state using the horn. This allows her to heal injuries and undo bodily modifications. She even revealed the ability to rewind someone's body to a point before they existed." Yusuke explained to his old friends that were slightly amazed at how strong and powerful that Eri could use her Spirit Energy like that.
"Wow! That's incredible." Jin exclaimed.
"Yeah, but the one problem is that she doesn't know how to control it. So, when Eri is fully recovered we can start training her." Yusuke said.
"That's fascinating. She could do all of that with her horn? Wow!" Rinku exclaimed as Eri leaned back watching the boy's enthusiasm as Yusuke ruffles her hair smiling down at her.
"Hey, Eri put a smile on yer face," Chu said with a wide grin.
Eri tried to form a smile only to fallen back as she looked down.
"That's what we're trying to get her to do," Hiei said as she hunched her shoulders a little upward lowering her head. "Eri doesn't know what smiling feels like."
"Eh!? She doesn't know how to smile?" Jin exclaimed.
"It's complicated. She's been through a lot and we're going to try to make her smile since we'd agreed to bring her here to watch the tournament." Yusuke chuckled scratching the back of his neck anxiously.
"Well, I if you're going to try to put a smile on her face. Then I will help you too." Jin said pointing at me with a huge grin on his face.
"Count me in!" Rinku said along with the Chu who wore a quirky smile.
Yusuke glanced down at Eri saying, "See Eri? You got more friends that want to help you smile."
Eri merely nods up towards the spirit detective as she felt Hiei wrap an arm around her to keep her secure. He was very protective over Eri and he can't end up losing her again, however, he knew that Yomi and Mukuro heard about her and what she can do. Eri isn't a curse. She's an angel that he would call her after growing close to her.
Eri P.O.V.
As the dark tournament was about to start, I was going to be watching the fights and who was going to be competing. My little legs carried me to see what was happening that was when I saw a demon taller than all the rest that appeared. He had only two ears, his eyes were shut so he must be blind, he gained four more as his body was forced to adapt to a sightless existence. He has long, black hair and two prominent horns that jut down from his forehead but appear to frame his head. Additionally, he has four horns on his head, two on each side, and one jutting from the back of his head, giving him a total of seven horns. He also wears a light garment underneath red robes and has a defined musculature.
I was hiding behind Yusuke's leg as he glanced down at me, "Oh, I guess I forgot that I mentioned you to him. Eri this is Yomi."
My eyes looked up at him as he glanced down as he sensed my presence saying, "This is the child I heard about known as...a curse." I gripped onto Yusuke's pant leg and felt Hiei rest a palm on my head to assure me that I shouldn't listen to him. I'm a blessing.
"Say what you want or what you may have heard. This child isn't a curse." Hiei protested.
Yomi let out a small grunt and said, "Of course. But with the amount of the child's power that is indeed a dangerous threat to the society."
"Say what you want about her. She isn't like you would think she is." Kurama said.
My eyes scanned around to see a woman hiding underneath a talisman as I approached her. I pulled her pant leg as the woman looks down to see me as I looked up at her to see there was one eye-popping out as I went over to her tilting my head to the side.
"Why are you hiding underneath that?" I asked.
She replied in a high pitch voice, "I wear this for a reason to hide my identity."
"But why hide when you are not revealing your true beauty?" I asked as she looked at me a little taken back after what I just said to her. It didn't seem right for her to cover herself like that because it didn't matter what she looked like.
"Eri!" I heard Hiei calling after me as he came over before nodding at the woman. "Come, the tournament is about to start." He took me by the hand to drag me behind as I glanced over my shoulder to see the woman was looking at us as I turned back around. "Who is that woman?"
"That's Lord Mukuro. She is one of the three kings that are very powerful ruling her own empire." Hiei replied.
I hung my head down asking, "And what about that man? Yomi? H-He thinks I'm a..."
Hiei grunted, "Don't let that get into your mind, Eri." His eyes glanced down at me as he said, "You're a blessing. You are an angel that we view in our eyes and no one doesn't see that. They need to understand how your power works before misjudging what happened back a month ago."
"I-I'm an angel?" I asked as my cheeks turned pink as Hiei chuckled. He bent down on one knee to pat my head gently as I stared up at him as he returns his gaze to me.
"You're my angel. I won't let you suffer and I made a promise." He said as he pierces his lips to a line. "I will tell Yukina the truth after the tournament is over."
I nodded up at him as he stood back up and grab my hand to meet with the others for the tournament to begin.
