File 20: Kurama: human or demon?

In the air, Kuwa was trying to provoke his enemy into letting him down so they could have a battle man against man. But it didn't work so he chose to insult instead, as if Rinku would be a good kid and obey if he did. That merely made him retract his yoyos. The human boy was falling to his death...

But he was not done yet! He summoned a spirit sword and made it grow and embed itself in the ground, and supporting himself on his perch lept sideways from the recoil force, and using the momentum charged straight at Rinku. The demon complimented him on being so resourceful, but in the end, it was still only a straight course. Such a predictable attack would not be enough to beat him. He jumped sideways and sent his yoyos. Kuwabara invoked another spirit sword. But against his expectations, the sword lengthened and curved its way between the threads towards him.

"Rinku! Jump further back!" Zeru yelled, warning his teammate.

But he could no longer avoid it, and both attacks hit their targets full force and sent them flying outside the ring. They had taken each other out. There was a surprised silence.

"I-Incredibly, both contestants have left the ring opposite each other! They-they simultaneously struck each other out!" Koto exclaimed.

"Is that the result of your training?" Hiei asked.

"Yes, the purpose of his training was to be able to manipulate his reiki sword at will." Kurama answered.

"It's kind of obvious where that idea comes from though." Akari said, referring to the fox's rosewhip.

"Now then, I will start counting! 1... 2... 3..."

"The question is: which one took the greater damage..." The small fire demon wondered again.

"I don't know, both of them thoroughly hit each other. It could be a tie."

"I'm against it." The pink-haired frowned. "That wouldn't be any fun at all. I am for completely beating the enemy down."

"4... 5..."

It was then that Rinku managed to pull himself up on the ring. The audience was rejoicing.

"Who would've thought that I would have a hard time with him? Damn, I must heal myself quickly or it'll cause trouble." The child cursed. But the human had stood up too, and was going to climb back up on the ring when Rinku commanded hi yoyos to stop and hold him down. Koto continued counting to ten, and it was Kuwabara's loss, although after Rinku released him, he still climbed back and insisted to fight again, that he could still go on, and wanted him to wait for him at the gym. The demon kid was getting desperate at Kazu's persistency and seriousness.

The girls commented that they were not at school.

"Humph! No can do!" Rinku ran back far behind his team and crouched down, healing himself.

Kurama was praising his ability to control his weapons at a distance as well as his capacity to analyse a situation and respond to it correctly. Hiei merely said that the runt had been saved by the rules.

"Ooohh? So you DO believe in Kuwabara... how unexpected of you." Akari teased with a smirk, although she did kind of expect it...

"Shut up."

"Anyone who fights seriously when it's supposed to be for fun is a fool!" One of the member of the Rokuyukai team said. His skin was of a dark ashen blue colour, his spiky hair of an even darker blue, his ears were sharp and pointed, and his eyes really small, mean, and yellow with dark purple pupils. He was wearing a dark green trench coat and black pants and boots. Overall, a grim, weak and rotten looking guy with a wicked smile on his ugly face. He appeared brimming with useless confidence. "I'm going to win a lot more easily. Just watch." He stepped up on the ring. Whoever was going to be that guy's opponent he could end it in a second.

Kurama stepped up too. That promised to be a boring match. If it was a fair one, Kurama would toy with him a bit before finishing him. And even if that guy were to try dirty tricks, he would only delay his death and make it much more horrible. A fox was deceitful by nature, he was invincible in a contest of wits and his good looks were just another weapon. Or at least that was what Akari had learned from experience. You'd think he's just another pretty boy, that someone so cute couldn't hurt a fly, and you lower your guard. But he could be as cruel and merciless as he was cute, of course, without forgetting his resourcefulness and more than anything, his brains... Had he been just cuteness and kindness, he would not have been worth a second look. Oh well, at least she would get to see his beautiful and graceful movements for a bit.

"Kurama!" Hiei yelled. "Don't show him any mercy. You must finish it in one blow." He said wickedly.

"That's right, there's no need to go out of your way to toy with him. I'm bored so get it over with now and come back quick." Akari agreed. Kurama smiled. He knew it. A vein appeared on Hiei's temple.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, obviously aggravated at something. Probably the fact that she was sitting on his shoulders and using his head like a table to rest her arms on.

"What you said... I'm too bored to stand."

"Get down."

"Dun wanna."

"Get down."

"Dun wanna."

"I'll kill you."

"I love you too."

A few more veins appeared on his head. But he was too proud to do anything and show that it did affect him and kept his arms stubbornly crossed, a scowl permanently plastered on his face. It was also true that he didn't know of anyone else, and especially not a girl who would actually dare pull this kind of stunt and actually get away with it. Well, it was not the contact that he disliked, far from that, but the fact that she could so easily toy with him and he could do nothing about it.

"Errr by the way, do you know where Kurama puts his rose whip? During training that intrigued me." Kuwa wondered. And seeing as her seat was sulking, Akari answered in his stead.

"It's just an ordinary genuine rose. He uses his youki to turn any plant into a weapon and make a seed grow into a rose and then a whip that can cut the hardest steel. Well, the fact that you couldn't get it means that you're still far from his level."

"What?! Come down and say that again!"

"Dun wanna."

Kuwabara growled, but there was nothing he could do either. Even worse, if he continued HE wouldn't get away so easily. Hiei's mood had also taken a turn for the worst as he was not the type to enjoy having people argueing on top of his head.

Koto announced the beginning of the fight Roto versus Kurama.

"I hear you're living with humans." The blue demon taunted. The fox remained impassive. "I can't believe it, but the word is you care for the humans around you."

Kurama's expression still remained unchanged.

"That long-haired boy is not ordinary." Shizuru commented. Keiko was surprised that she could understand something like that.

"If they died, I'm sure you would grieve!" Roto kept provoking his opponent, growing a large sickle from his right middle finger. He lunged at Kurama who easily evaded. The sickle dude slashed and slashed but it was nothing for the red head who did not even need to look to gracefully dodge everything by a large margin. It was almost like he was dancing.

"Nothing worth talking about. Kurama has him completely figured out. You were unlucky. It appears that Rinku who you fought was their Number Two." Hiei told Kuwabara.

"I would have won if it had been best-of-three!" Kazu shot back. Akari did not say a word. Her chin resting on her arms on Hiei's head, she was watching the match intently. Normally she would have just been mesmerized by Kurama's movements, but not here. It wasn't anything big, but something just didn't feel right.

In the VIP seats, Gondawara, the Rokuyukai's owner, did not hide his anger or frustration. Things did not go as easily as he had planned.

"Gondawara-san, is this the new power that is going to defeat my Toguro and go on to create your new dark mythology?" Sakyo scoffed while casually sipping his red wine, a leering smile on his face. "At this level they might not be up to the task."

The other member of the Black Book Club was sweating and twitching, unable to retort anything to the biting remarks.

On the arena Kurama dodged once again Roto's attack and sneaked behind him.

"You don't appear very good with that. I'll lay you to rest now." The fox said, ready for a sword hand. But he heard something that made him freeze for a second.

"I have your mother's life in my hands, Minamino Shuichi-kun!" Roto took advantage of his enemy's momentary and yet obvious confusion to slash at him. This time, the blow was barely evaded. Kuwabara and Hiei were surprised. Akari was frowning deeply. She had heard something she hadn't liked at all. Then she looked at Kurama and bolted upright, an expression of pure horror showed on her face.

Kurama's face... Kurama's unbelievably beautiful face... had a bloody scar under his left eye! Her anger flared up. How dared that disgustingly ugly and despicably pathetic excuse of a trashily weak coward mar Kurama's marvelous-looking face?! Damaging such a magnificent art piece was criminal! She painfully gripped Hiei's hair and was going to point and give that garbage that didn't know its place a piece of her mind but suddenly stopped, and looked more carefully.

Criminal... crimi... c... The girl's expression changed into a dreamy one. The wind in his long red hair, that divinely cold unaffectedness bordering on unreachability, the crimson blood on the fair skin of his fine face... how sexyyyy... It was true that handsome men were even more handsome when covered in blood... Oh well, no matter what dirty tricks that guy could use Kurama was sure to win. He was not so weak as to lose so gruesomely in the first round so might as well relax and trust him and enjoy the show he was going to put. Handsome, strong, and smart. That was how she liked men. She was too arrogant, conceited and self-centred? Not at all. Wasn't it natural to wish and claim the best for yourself?

"Do you see this?" The spineless youkai said, showing a switch in his hand. "If I press this button, my errand demon will devour your mother. You know what this means, right? You're a nice, nice, boy, Shuichi-kun." And indeed, Kurama had quickly caught on to what his adversary wanted and lowered his guard. Roto punched him as much as he wanted to, enjoying his power over the fox demon, until the latter threw a stone at his face with his thumb. Akari smirked. It was over already.

"Are you trying to show some slight resistance by throwing that pebble at me?" Roto asked, a little angered. "That's pathetic! Don't mess with me... From now on, I won't tolerate even the slightest resistence from you! Fold your arms behind you!" He ordered while pointing at him and smiling maliciously. "You are no more than a toy for me to beat on. Got that?"

Kurama did as ordered. But his green eyes had not lost their icy glint. Heck, he was even hotter now. And the other demon was unwillingly responding to the silent threat. He was sweating.

"What? You want to fight me, is that it? Go right ahead. But you see, I'll press this switch if I see you try anything funny."

Koto asked what could be happening to Kurama. The audience, sounding quite happy, said he must be under hypnosis. Kuwabara was starting to panic.

"That miserable Roto, using dirty tricks as usual." Rinku cursed.

"There won't be any second chances. Winning is everything." Zeru told him.

"I know." The child reluctantly admitted.

"You can't do it, huh? No, there's no way you could, huh? Or maybe you'd like to quickly cut off my left arm with that whip you're so proud of? Maybe the pain will startle me and I'll have the time to press the button." The dark blue youkai taunted, showing the switch right under Kurama's nose.

Gondawara was complaining that he was taking too long and he should hurry and finish him off. After all, he had made a huge investment in them. Sakyo scoffed at how unrefined the whole situation was. Georges and Koenma were also wondering what had happened to the kitsune. Koto suggested that he had lost his will to fight.

"Come on! Say something!" Roto kicked the Kurama in the guts who endured with a grunt. "This is great! I'm having fun!" The demon exclaimed, raining blows on his opponent, who, for reasons unknown to the announcer and spectators, was not fighting back and could only withstand. But then the Rokuyukai member suddenly stopped. "You're fucking with me." He said in a low voice. "I don't like your stare."

Indeed, Kurama had far from lost his spirit. Roto had tried to corner him and beat him into submission but it had utterly failed and he could not help but feel fear before that unbent green gaze and unyielding will. To an amateur or outsider, it might seem as if Roto had the advantage while it was in fact the contrary. He was the one starting to panic. He knew the difference in their strength and what would happen if the fox suddenly decided that he didn't care what happened to his mother and fight back. And that apparent calm was even more unnerving. It felt as if nothing he could do could reach him and he was just bidding his time. The marrowless demon tried to kick the scare tactic up a notch. He grew his sickle again.

"I want you to suffer and see your face seeped in humiliation. Got that?!" He pressed the tip of his weapon against Kurama's cheek, close to his jawbone, drawing blood, and slowly cut upward across the cheek toward the corner of his left eye, carving a cross-shaped scar on his opponent's pretty face. But the fox's expression remained unchanged, completely impervious to fear or pain, like an emotionless doll that would keep glaring at him. On the contrary, Roto was the one being overcome. He was sweating more and more. And suddenly, he could no longer hold it and burst out.

"Would you... stop looking at me like that?!" He yelled, violently slashing upward. Blood gushed out. The red head soon recovered his initial pose and poise. "My patience is at its limit. Don't think I will easily forgive this. First you will prostrate yourself and lick my boots." He lifted his left knee. "Once you've licked them clean, I will cut off your head. You won't refuse, will you? If you want to spare your mother, you, the kind Shuichi-kun..." Roto taunted again.

"I refuse." Kurama turned him down flatly.

"What?!"

"That's enough." The handsome youkai said, dusting himself. "If you want to press it, then press it."

"So you finally show your true nature! Put a little pressure on you and this is what happens, isn't it?! You hold your own life more dearly than your mother's, don't you?! Betraying her at the slightest difficulty!" He was pointing accusingly and laughing, but that was quite the nervous laugh. In the end, he was only pathetically trying to cover his frighteful and weak self with a useless bravado. "In the end, you're the same as us! As long as you alone survive, it's enough, isn't it?!"

"Go, push it!" The fox yelled with challenge and provocation. His beautiful green eyes burning like icily cold and merciless flames.

"As you wish! You're a monster like us who value nothing!" However, just as he was going to push the button, he could not move his thumb. And not just his thumb, his whole body was paralyzed. Kurama slapped his left hand and caught the switch.

"As disgusted though I am, I'm going to give you some advice, which I give to the whole world. Your bet was quite audacious. The easiest solution is the most ungrateful. Earlier, I planted a Shimaneki seed on you. Its roots have finally developed and spread throughout your body and now there's nothing you can do." The red haired explained. Roto looked at his own chest and saw that a plant had started to germinate. He remembered the time when Kurama had thrown a pebble at him and finally understood that it was only to divert his attention. "A single word on my part, and the plant will grow explosively and pierce through your whole body. It's a good thing that you're so rotten: I can be merciless to you without any reservation." The fox began to leave.

"W-wait! We're both youkais, aren't we?! I was just joking earlier! I was wrong! I apologize, so just spare my life! P-please! Forgive me!" The demon begged pitifully. But it was no use...

"Die." Kurama looked back at him and said flatly without a shred of mercy or hesitation. And according to his earlier description, the plant burst out of Roto and in sprays of blood, and bloomed into beautiful large pink and indigo flowers.

Akari was watching, a smile on her face, her chin resting on her right palm, and still sitting on Hiei's shoulders.

"It's ironic. The more evil the blood, the more beautiful the flowers it produces." Kurama said again. He was smiling too.

That cold, cruel, and unforgiving attitude of his constrasted well with his usual kind, cute, and gentle self. Roto had tried to appeal to both his human side and demonic side. He had tried to use his head, and that was good, albeit completely useless and very poorly done as he had failed to see Kurama's true nature. He was a human AND a demon. The two personalities were tightly interwoven and impossible to dissociate. And it was that seeming contradication, both hidden and apparent, that made him so appealing.

Koto announced Kurama's comeback victory and the equalization of the scores.

"What a stupid bastard. It's the same as if he had said 'kill me'." The little fire youkai said.

"Don't worry though: his errand demon disappeared at the same time that he died." Akari reassured him.

"You two had noticed, then?"

"But you took your sweet time huh?" The pink haired complained.

"Sorry." The fox smiled.

"Now that you're done, would you rid me of that limpet while you're at it?" Hiei asked, his voice barely contained.

"Who's a limpet, huh?" The girl asked threateningly while pinching and pulling his right cheek. Both she and Hiei were frowning, and both had veins visible on their head.

"Then what? A leech?"

"And who's a leech, huh?" Akari was now pinching and pulling hard both of his cheeks. And more veins had appeared on both of their heads.

"Now, now." Kura chuckled. He came down and walked to them.

"Ku-chan!" The young human grinned ear to ear and reached out her slightly open arms toward him, inviting him, waiting for him to take her in his arms. After all he was so much nicer and compliant and willing to indulge her... usually. Well, it was true that it was contrary to Hiei's personality to do so. Heck, it would be creepy if he became all cuddly and lovey-dovey and submissive. The fox put his hands on her waist lifted her, and put her down. She stared back at Hiei, pulled down the skin of her eye and stuck out her tongue at him, making more veins appear on his head. Everyone else was sweatdropping.

"But still..." She looked at what remained of Roto. "I'm a thousand times prettier, so does it mean I'm a thousand times more evil?" She wondered.

"Akari, if you compare yourself to that thing again, I will be angry." Kurama smiled, cupping her chin and tilting her face toward him. The girl froze for a second. She knew she didn't want to make him angry. Because she knew he was kind of scary when he was angry. Yes, even to her, maybe, probably. She closed her eyes.

"W-well, you're wounded aren't you? That bloodied look does suit you but I don't want you to scar so it's treatment time." She grinned and let her hands hover over his cheeks, not noticing that – his – hands had not moved from her hips. "But for someone so cute you can sure be scary."

"Thank you." The boy smiled at the compliment. "But shouldn't that be said about you?"

"Of course, if I couldn't be scary, I wouldn't be able to take a step in the street or in this tournament now, could I?" She smiled back at him.

"True." Kurama tightened his grip a little, still smiling.

Kazuma grumbled about some damn scary lovebirds.

"You said?" Akari threatened him with a scary look indeed.

"No-nothing."

It was then that Koto announced the next match and called the third challengers to step forward. For some reason, Hiei was greatly irritated at something and was itching to fight and vent a bit. But that was also true for his opponent, Zeru. Both climbed on the ring. The black haired demon planned to make the other pay for their encounter the previous evening and firmly intended to turn back the match in their favor and affirm their superiority by completely crushing the enemy. Both were fire demons. This promised a very intense fight!