Nanashi sat with Hiei and the others, watching the twins fight against each other. It irked her at first to see both of them display their energies fully against each other until the volatility of it exploded in their faces. She had told them to only use their dragons as a last resort, to save their energy. She did breath a sigh of relief to see that neither of them were harmed and they rose to feet in laughter.
"Clever," Kurama commented next to her.
Nanshi looked at him as Kuwabara asked, "huh? What do you mean?"
Yusuke gave his own two cents. "In a way, they're showing off," he commented. "Showing off just how strong they can be. But given how young they are and the fact that they are half human, it shows that they are opponents to be reckoned with. Someones who should be taken seriously."
"Hn," Hiei grunted on her other side. "Hikari should have figured that out first, but likely Izo did."
Nanashi let herself have a short moment to laugh at that. "She's still smarter than Yusuke," she told him softly.
"Hey, I heard that," Yusuke griped. "Do you expect your third little miracle child to be as strong as they are fourteen years from now? Given that he's human blooded and not demon blooded like they are?"
The mention of Kaze made Nanashi miss him, but the tournament was not a place to bring him. He certainly did not seem weak. He was a goodly child, even at only a few weeks old. Slept a lot, hardly fussed. It was odd when compared to how Hikari had been, screaming and angry and loud every two or three hours for months on end.
"Only time will tell," she answered, turning her focus back to the fight between the twins.
They were only fighting with their fists now, no energy, no dragons. They were saving their energy like they should, good.
They were actually fighting just like they had been in training. Hikari would try fight close while Izo would try to keep distance so each could use their size effectively against the other. Izo also was being cautious not to hit Hikari in a way that could make her bleed.
"Come on," she heard Hiei murmur when Hikari got close enough to deal Izo a rough blow to his torso. Izo blocked it at the last second, making Hiei click his teeth.
"When they fight like that at home? Like over stupid stuff, who usually wins?" Yusuke asked, eyes watching the fight.
"If they fight like that outside of training, neither," Nanashi responded.
"Duck," Hiei said to himself.
Nanashi looked up, seeing Izo's fist land full force across the side of Hikari's face. She winced involuntarily at the sight of it. Hikari staggered and fell to the ground clumsily. Her legs tangled beneath her torso.
The count down started: "one... two..."
Izo had backed away from her, keeping his distance, but not taking his eyes off of her. Hikari did not stay still for long. She brought her hands underneath her shoulders, pushing her upper body off of the ground.
"...three... four..."
"Get up," Hiei breathed.
'Even if she gets up, she's in no state to fight anymore,' Nanashi thought to her wind dragon.
'Izo didn't look like he held back on his punch,' her wind dragon replied.
"... five... six..."
Hikari had brought her right foot underneath her waist, but it was crossed over to the left side of her body.
"...seven... eight..."
Shakily, Hikari brought her left leg up, trying to get it underneath her to stand up, but ended up tangling her legs together beneath her, causing her to fall over again.
"... nine... ten..."
Hikari was still trying to stand up, even as Koto, the announcer, declared Izo the winner. She moved as if she had not heard the announcement.
After a few more attempts, Hikari finally managed to get her feet underneath her in a wide stance. She shook as she lifted up her upper body to face Izo.
Once she was standing, Izo stepped over to her, placing two healing hands around her head. He was healing her injury there.
Yusuke heaved a sigh, drawing attention over to himself. "So now that the wonder twins are finished, whose fighting next?"
Nanashi looked over at the lists on one of the screens. Enki was listed next to the name "Anonymous." Nanashi frowned in puzzlement. "What demon would not want his identity known?" she asked no one in particular.
Hiei growled under his breath next to her. He reached his hand down to hers, pulling her with him as he stood up and began walking briskly. "Let's go get the twins," he flubbed out. Something in his tone was off.
She heard Yusuke and Kuwabara call after them, but she kept following Hiei anyway. She cast them a confused look. To herself she thought going after the twins was unnecessary. They were not injured severely, so there was no need for that. They could find them in their own time. They knew where they and the others planned to sit. Hiei's behavior was just... odd.
Instead of leading her towards the healing tent, he lead her down a deserted hallway and then stopped abruptly. He turned around, pulling off his headband in the process. She still had not said anything, but she frowned at him, feeling silence was necessary.
Mentally, he dead panned, 'you don't like secrets and I'm not keeping this one from you, even if he doesn't want you to know. It's Hayate.'
"What?" she breathed. "Why-"
She was halted mid-word with his hand over her mouth. He shook his head. 'He wants it kept silent,' he thought to her. 'Secret. Minha wants the crown back in her family and after all the years, has finally convinced her mate to go after it. She's been pushing for it for nearly two decades.' He pulled his hand off of her mouth. 'He's worried about what would happen if he and his motives were known. Not all the demons of this world want the monarchy restored the way he and Minha intend. Nor does he want retaliation against the clan should he fail.'
'Is he going to end the Demon King Tournaments after this one?' Nanashi asked silently, worried that the end of the tournaments would destroy the peace Yusuke started and Enki continued throughout the Demon World. She shuddered to think what would happen if war were to break out all over again. Demons needed that violent release or entertainment to sate their blood lust. It was the way of this world.
Hiei shook his head. 'Minha understands how necessary they are at keeping the peace in the world. Why would another demon go to war with a rival when he could just beat him up at the tournament? Or become king and take away everything the rival holds dear.
'As for the tournaments, if Hayate wins, the plan is to name the next highest ranking combatant as hand of the king. Like a king's right hand or assistant. Someone who will have near equal power to the king and influence over how affairs will run in the world. The two of them hope that will assuage any risk of war or conflict after this tournament.'
'So he's going to be one of the three men from my prophecy,' Nanashi thought. 'I think you're one too. So that leaves one more mystery man...'
'Will you keep quiet about Hayate's identity in the tournament?' he pressed. She nodded in agreement. He closed the gap between the two of them, stood taller, and kissed her firmly on the lips.
After that, they went and found the twins, with a broody Hikari finishing up being healed by Yukina. Yukina chatted pleasantly with Izo while she wrapped up with Hikari.
Nanashi noticed the wet and blooded wash cloth on the table next to them. Before Yukina healed her, she must have cleaned Hikari cuts and scraps carefully. While Hikari had been demon blooded, same blood type as Hiei, she was prone to blood infections the way humans were. Possibly she was worse than some humans. Nanashi and the others had found this out when Hikari was young. Healing her without cleaning a wound first could lead to infections that took some time for her to shake. Nanashi remembered one terrifying sickness that left her bed ridden for days. Kurama had to bring strong antibiotics for her from the Human World to help her get better.
When they wrapped up there, the four of them went back to the stands and watched Hayate's match against Enki. It had been over in less than two minutes, much to Nanashi's shock. Without mortally wounding him, Hayate charged and overwhelmed Enki, shoving him out of the arena before the giant of a demon could even think twice about how to counterattack.
"Who the fuck is that?" Yusuke asked, shocked himself.
"I..." Nanashi stuttered out. "I don't know..." she lied with a tongue that felt thick.
Intentionally, she kept her eyes trained on the video screen instead of looking over to Hiei like she really wanted to. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Izo frown the way did when he was thinking hard. Part of her wondered if he had already figured it out too.