File 23: The Best Eight assembled!

The next morning, Yusuke went alone in the forest. His face was still covered in band aids. He tried to fire a reigun but could not. He could not concentrate his reiki at his fingertip. He was soon joined by Kuwabara who had been looking for him all over the place. Urameshi asked him what he had come here for.

"Are you sure it's okay not to evaluate the first round, or hold any meeting for what's coming up?" The orange haired asked. Despite all appearances, he was a (relatively) serious boy. "I mean, really, everyone's bed is empty. Where the hell are they all wandering around at?" He complained.

"YOU wanna have an evaluation meeting?" Yusuke smirked tauntingly. After all, Kuwabara had been the only one who had lost his match.

"Whaddya mean by that you bastard?!" Kazuma cried in a high pitched voice. After a quick laugh, the team captain excused himself. He wanted to be alone, thus leaving his friend and rival to curse after him, swearing he would pound him up and down when the tournament was over. Urameshi went further into the woods, unaware that a small form wearing Chinese clothes and a mask around their head was intently watching him.

The audience roared in the stadium. On the ring a monster's head had just been cut. The winner showed the severed head to the crowd. Surprisingly the victor was another human: a quite handsome and well-built young man, bare-chested, with auburn hair and a cross-shaped scar on his forehead. He had emotionless red eyes, and a red demonic spider-like organism attached to his back like a parasite. Koto voiced the general surprise at the amazingly quick outcome of the match and declared M-3 the winner of the match as well as the 3-0 victory of the Dr. Ichigaki Team. The human male threw the head at the feet of his demonic sponsor who laughed with malicious glee and joined his teammates. There were two demons and two other humans. A teenager, around 14 or 15, with messy orange hair hiding part of his face, and rabbit teeth, dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, and a middle aged-to-old man with a mustache and his black hair in a braid and wearing chinese-style cloths. But it was strange. There was something strange.

The fourth member of the loser team was relieved that his life had been spared... until he was kicked away by a huge hoof. It was a five-meter-tall ox demon, standing on its hind legs... and the captain of the team. Dissatisfied with the situation he stepped onto the ring. He dismissed Koto's fearful attempt to remind him of the rules and charged head first like a bull. But he was taken care of in a few seconds by the three humans. First, M1 – the orange-haired boy – had cut its left arm with his Angel Chakram (razor-edged rings of energy), then M3 – the young man with auburn hair – completely crushed its right shoulder with his Hound Claw, the right arm also falling to the ground, and at last, M2 – the older man in Chinese clothes – sliced it all the way vertically with his Swing Crush.

The crowd noisily voiced their amazement. The small old demon and team sponsor in a white coat cackled an evil laugh. He was looking forward to team Urameshi, certainly they would be more of a challenge.

But it was strange. What were those three guys doing here? What about their master? Akari knew them as honest, hardworking, kind, and faithful men who loved their rei master more than anything. More than anything…

"I don't like it. I don't like it at all... Because of that kind of trash..." The girl said, her amber eyes burning with anger. Her fists were clenching the railings so tightly that the metal was now deeply dented. "Dr... Ichigaki... I won't let you have your way anymore..." She twisted the bar before breaking it like a twig and biting her thumb to the blood.

"Akari..." Kurama said softly. He had only seen her like this once. It was in the Makai, when they had learned about Keiko being targeted by Suzaku. She had this habit when she was trying to keep her cool despite her anger and frustration and franctically trying to find ways to counter her opponent and completely crush him according to his own rules. She knew these people, these three humans in the Dr Ichigaki Team, and liked them to some extent. That was why she could not bear to see them being manipulated like this. He put a reassuring hand and her shoulder. "It'll be alright. I'll help you out." He smiled warmly.

"Yeah. I'll be counting on you." Akari smiled back at him, placing her own hand on top of his. That fox was really something. Once more, just like this, with a smile and a few words, he was able to effortlessly ease her and the violence of her feelings. Then she looked back down, her smile turning into a strange mix of self-derision and gratefulness. "Well then, I guess I'll go see how these two are doing. Their state is more worrisome than mine." The girl gently pushed the hand away from her shoulder and she left.

In the forest, Yusuke was trying to apply what he had learned at Genkai's place and redoing his training from scratch (or almost). He was standing upside down on a boulder, with only one hand supporting all this weight while he kept the other behind his back. Sweat was running down his face from the effort as he was trying with all his might focus his reiki. After a time he decided to go further and let only his index touch the boulder like the time when he had been forced into this position right above a spike. He thought that a similar training would help him achieve similar results. But it was no use. He could not concentrate his reiki. He got back down. Suddenly, he felt a presence and waited, and from the bushes, an oval-shaped projectile was hurled at him. The boy jumped out of the way and with a back flip landed on a branch as the object destroyed the boulder.

"Urameshi Yusuke! Are you training in preparation for your next match?" A male voice asked mockingly.

"Who's there?!" The human demanded. The attacker revealed himself. It was a skeletal faced demon with pale-white skinned yet muscular body, dark magenta hair, gray shoulder pads, elbow pads, gloves, military green pants with dark blue boots, knee guards and a yellow visor, quite like that of Scott Summers' from X-men.

"Rugby." The tall youkai introduced himself. He was part of the Makaikyosenshi Team, and after having seen Urameshi's match the previous day, he wanted to have a contest to see which was stronger, Yusuke's reigun or his demonball. And without waiting for an answer (and indeed, he did not seem the type to take 'no' for an answer and his first attack had been a coward one) he made a rugby ball appear from his youki in his right hand. The human prepared to shoot. The demon kicked the ball. But even as the weapon was closing in on him, Urameshi was unable to focus his reiki and had to evade it and jump on another branch. The ball shattered the one he had been on, bounced down to the ground, then onto a tree and back toward Yusuke. Rugby explained that his demonball could sense the slightest amount of reiki and would follow him wherever he went before challenging him to fire his reigun. The human landed on another branch and using the wood as a shield, waited for the projectile to come at him and dodge at the last moment. However, he was a second too late. The weapon destroyed the wood and, off-balance, Yusuke fell and crashed on the ground. The ball bounced off a tree and was speeding straight at him. Surely he would not have escaped unscathed if a double-bladed axed had not destroyed it in its course before embedding itself in a trunk.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Rugby demanded menacingly.

"Rugby, what are you doing here?" It was another huge youkai, a few meters tall, dark-skinned, bald, muscular, overweight. "The time of the match approaches! Get to the stadium immediately!"

However, his teammate had no intention of obeying. Since they were going to meet Team Urameshi later on in the tournament, he wanted to kill the boy now so everything would be easier. Ougyoku – the tall dark-skinned demon – tried to stop him and warned him that he would not allow any unauthorized action. Rugby paid no heed and still went for the kill. He had made another ball appear and was going to shoot it at Yusuke, only a few meters from him, when he suddenly collapsed, a double-bladed axe planted in his back. With his serious personality, the captain of the Makaikyosenshi team could not forgive even his own teammate for such dishonourable behaviour.

"Urameshi Yusuke. I, Ougyoku, will defeat you in the arena in front of the spectators! Until then, don't get yourself killed by some trivial punk." And with that, the giant left.

Akari left the stadium bag in hand, and went toward the cliffs. The one there was in the worst condition by far, enduring unimaginable pain to recover the use of his right arm and become stronger.

'A dragon that doesn't soar might as well be dead'... huh?

Stubborn as he was he would certainly keep at it with no rest (or almost) until the next fight. It was true that he did not really have a choice in the matter and would really end up dying at one point or another if he did not succeed. He certainly wouldn't want her to come and see him in such a weakened state... since he was so proud. But working too hard and overdoing things was not good. So she was a little worried about that, but not about the outcome. That guy was as ambitious as he was small. He would never let such a thing as his own body hold him back for very long. He will definitely succeed. The female approached but stopped before she could see him. Of course the little demon had sensed her presence a long time ago but did not say anything. She left the bento just here on the grass with the note 'You can't fight on an empty stomach!' and turned back without a word. There was no need for words.

Akari returned in the forest to search for Urameshi. She arrived to see him being saved by a huge dark-skinned demon. She stopped. Here was a youkai that killed his own teammate so he could challenge Urameshi fair and square on the ring. Just what was Yusuke doing?! Even if he couldn't concentrate his reiki, it was not like he was completely helpless! Was that body just an ornament? His body was no longer so raked with pain that he could no longer stand! He should have been able to easily dodge every attack of that rugby dude instead of just waiting to get killed! Well, the scolding would wait. The two had finished talking. As Ougyoku passed her by, the girl bowed ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly, but respectfully to him for his fairness as an opponent. She was silently grateful, even though she knew he wouldn't live to fight them on the ring. That man, it was kind of a shame but he was going to die today.

Kuwabara was amazed at that guy who had so calmly killed his own pal. He then vehemently asked Yusuke why he didn't shoot the reigun. But before the boy could answer Akari stopped them. They were going to talk back at the hotel. It was comfortably set in the red armchair and settee of their suite with trays of food in front of them that Urameshi told his friend that it was not that he didn't shoot, it was that he could NOT shoot. It was true that up until then after he had used up his four shots, the power of each shot will have dropped the next day. But it was the first time he had not even been able to concentrate his reiki into his fingertip.

"That's because rapid volleys is an advanced technique. There's no way that someone like you who hasn't manipulated reiki for more than 6 months could properly pull it off." Akari explained disdainfully. "Geez, when will you learn your lesson? With this habit of running out of juice at the critical moment, at this rate you're really going to get killed-"

"Yusuke!" A voice cut her off. It was the little masked fighter, speaking with the voice of a young girl, very similar in timbre and tone to the hot pink-haired girl's (who was a little riled at having been interrupted but kept quiet nonetheless, knowing she would be ignored even if she protested). "Stop using the reigun for awhile. If you strain yourself anymore, you'll end up like someone else who can't use his arm." And the mysterious person left, their arms behind their back. Urameshi and Kuwabara looked at each other, clueless. Who couldn't use their arm? Akari sighed. If they didn't even know that, there was really no helping them.

In their room, Keiko and Botan, still in their pyjamas, were also having a serious conversation. The reaper was certain Keiko was going to give her childhood friend a good scolding (and most likely hit him too), but the young human had changed her mind. She did not want to be in the way. If she saw him now, she would ask him to stop. He had looked so happy then, he had such a good expression, more than she could have thought even a little while ago. So she wanted to try doing what Akari had said and watch him a little more.

"Eh, so you want to keep an eye on him... how sweet." Shizuru teased the brown-haired girl. "Alright! Let's drink!" She threw canned drinks at them.

"A toast for Yusuke's Team!" Botan agreed cheerfully.

"Cheers!"

...Even though Shizuru WOULD lynch her beloved brother should he lose again...

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting! We are about to hold today's fourth match!" Koto announced energetically. Today's fourth match... the Toguro Team versus the Makaikyosenshi Team. Of course all attention was focused on Toguro, the champion of the last tournament. Noone in their right mind would miss their first match. Everyone gathered. Urameshi and Kuwabara joined Kurama, Akari, and the masked fighter against the rail overlooking the spectators and the arena. The tournament had finally reached its best part. Koto reminded the audience of the seven teams who had made it this far: the Urameshi Team, the Dr. Ichigaki Team, the Mashotsukai Team, the Gokkai Rokkyo Team, the Uraotogi Team, the Gorenja Team, the Kido Sentai Team. With this last match, the Best Eight would have assembled. The contestants entered. However, to the general surprise, Younger Toguro had come alone. But even though his opponents were five demons of considerable power, he seemed to have no more consideration for them than for grains of sand on a beach. He turned his head to look at Akari and Yusuke who were standing side by side on the deck. They felt a tiny flash of youki from him and immediately and instinctively reacted. All their muscles tensed, their fists clenched, their teeth gritted together, their blood was boiling and their eyes widened before narrowing in rage and frustration, but also deep hatred in Akari's case. Their reiki was becoming quite agitated. Kurama placed his hands on the shoulders of the young pink haired girl, clamping them in hope she wouldn't do anything rash – for her own sake, as well as for his –. Toguro's lips curved upward in delight. That was right. Those guys might be his opponents now, but the only ones in his sight were Yusuke and Akari.

He faced forward again and stepped on the ring. And imitating what the young female rei master had done, the Demon Realm Crazed Warrior Team, consisting of impressively huge guys, let their youki explode to show off their power. Even if they were up against last time's victor, they would not go down without a fight! The crowd voiced their amazement.

"If possible, I would like to fight this match alone." Toguro once more surprised everyone. This request also made his adversaries furious. To think they were being belittled so much...! "Our guys have many troublesome things to attend to you see..." The lone warrior explained himself with still that annoying smile on his lips. His teammates were certainly lazy. Well it was certainly troublesome and meaningless for them to appear now. Knowing him, he had certainly handpicked some insanely strong people. Could you really say that that level power of power could be reached by just being lazy?

The Makaikyosenshi Team mocked him: was he saying he wanted to fight them five to one? The idea was so ridiculous to them it was laughable. But for Toguro, whether they proceeded by elimination or a five-to-one fight did not matter. The team jeered again. Despite their relative power, the fact that they were not aware of their opponent's true terror and acted like that was proof of their ineptness. And because of that weakness, they were going to suffer a gruesome dog's death within five seconds of the charge. Koto insisted, asking if it was really alright with him, but it was no use. Four of the team members surrounded Toguro, their weapons ready, smirking confidently. The announcer escaped to the edge of the arena and called. The fight started.

The sumo-like warrior clapped his hands once and assumed his low wrestling stance, meant to give the charge its great momentum. He stomped his left leg and the ring sank a good dozen centimetres on the side and made a small crevice appear that was still about thirty centimetres deep. He then stomped his right leg with the same effect, setting the ring straight again. That was some nice power indeed. Kazuma wondered if Toguro could withstand a kick with that much power behind it. Even the masked fighter and Kurama were impressed. The fox noticed that this power did not only come from the ridiculous brute strength, there was also a tremendous amount of youki. Akari kept quiet, her attention focused on that man. She knew how it was going to end. The challenger crouched lower, his fists resting on the concrete in front of him. In acknowledgement of his bravery, Toguro was going to do him the honor of fighting at 45% of his power. His youki and muscular mass as well as his sheer power increased dramatically. The sumo wrestler sprang forth and lunged, his palms thrust forward. Toguro slightly lowered his stance to absorb the impact and litteraly punched his opponent through his guts. His back exploded in a fountain of blood, bones, and entrails, and he fell lifeless on the ground. He had litteraly blasted a hole through him with his punch. Akari's eyes narrowed when her teammates' widened in surprise. The next one to attack suffered the exact same fate, and so did the two others who attacked simultaneously, foolishly thinking they might have a better chance if they did.

Now, the captain, Ougyoku, was the only one left. He had only watched emotionlessly as his comrades were getting killed one after the other. Like his name implied, his heart seemed to be as pure, hard, and cold as the topaz. But now, his expression was just as hard. Once more, his youki blazed through the stadium, strongly, fearlessly. Even though he was alone, it did not matter. Everyone was rightly impressed. And with a savage howl, Ougyoku lunged at his opponent and ceaselessly slashed at him with his axe at great speed. However the other was effortlessly evading every single strike by lightly hopping backward, until the tallest monster took a big, especially powerful swing. The blow fell on Toguro who had stopped moving. Every spectator jolted, taking a breath. Ougyouku smirked, certain of his victory, but his expression changed when he saw that the opposition was alright. The ferocious attack had not fazed him the slightest. On the contrary, he was now the one smiling wickedly, axe blade in hand.

"Today is a bad day to be a large guy, huh?" He taunted. He was quite tall himself, by human standards at least, but the dark-skinned demon was twice his height. Toguro attacked, throwing fives punches so rapidly that it had looked like a single blow, each blasting a hole through the body of his opponent in a line. The severed halves fell with a thud, splashing blood on the ring. Koto announced Toguro the winner. Thus the eighth team was going to be the Toguro Team. Sakyo was smiling, satisfied. The opposition was just too weak. Most of the audience was cheering, but not the Urameshi Team. Kurama was staring gravely, that man was really strong. Kuwabara and Botan were scared, and no emotion showed in the eyes of the masked fighter. Yusuke was trembling, fearful, frustrated, clenching his teeth. Right now, he had no power. And even if he had, against Toguro, he would only last as long as these guys with a hole in their abdomen. And he knew it.

Then Toguro looked at Akari with his usual smile. She stared back at him. Those black sunglasses, that smile, that red blood on his hand, that red blood splattered everywhere... She was remembering that day, when red had been splattered everywhere and his red hand was sticking out of her mother's back... and the only thing she could see was that man, and the only thing she could hear was the thumping of the heart and blood, and the only thing she could feel was that all-consuming white hot hatred surging from the depth of her soul and flowing through her veins like a fire burning the remnants of herself like burning the dig holding a raging river back during a storm. And the lightning that had caused that fire was that man. Their eyes were connected. They were tied by an unbreakable bond neither could or wanted to sever until one of them was completely consumed and absorbed by the other. And along with that hatred and the turmoil of her emotions, her murderous reiki was continuously and dangerously rising... when suddenly, there was darkness and she was turned around. Kurama lifted his hand from before her eyes and his worried green gaze bored into hers, as to extinguish that hellfire and give them their sweet and warm radiance back; as to convey all his feelings without needing to speak them, and form an even stronger bond. That path was not one she should take. He forced her face toward him. He would not avert his eyes, so he could not allow her to avert hers. He would withstand because he had to make her understand. She was not alone. Not anymore. And slowly, very slowly, the strength of his will and deep concern for her seeped through. The raging waves calmed down, and she allowed him to envelop her in his gentle, firm, and warm embrace. She slumped down against him, her arms down, her left cheek and ear against his chest. He had saved her again. From herself, and from him. She had become stronger. That's what she had thought. She might have improved her abilities, but before him, nothing mattered, and her heart was as weak as ever.

Why? What was she lacking? What did she need to win against him? What did she need to break not only his body but also his resolve? What did she need for her resolve to be stronger than his? Her hatred... was it that she did not have enough? Or was it not enough? Or...

Later, Hiei had taken Kurama aside. He needed to talk to him.

"What are you doing?" He asked the fox.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you always holding her back?" The fire demon was referring to how Kurama always calmed Akari down when she was affected by Toguro, or any other that would anger her. Something he clearly disliked. She was the type whose power depended on her emotional state. What good would it do to reduce their firepower?! But even though that was the reason he gave, and it was indeed true, that was not the real reason he resented the fox's actions and the girl's reactions to them. He just wanted Kurama to stop. The tall red haired teen silently looked at him for a time. Hiei had sensed her ki when she had watched the fight against the Makaishyousenshi Team.

"Eh... so you were aware of that... I didn't think you were THAT attentive to Akari and her state..."

"Answer my question!" The small youkai shot back, flustered. "Why are you always holding her back?!" With this, both were more aware of Hiei's attraction to the human girl, and both resented that realization. Again, Kurama took time before answering.

"O Anger! Turn to heat, dry up my brains! Tears seven times salt, burn out the sense of virtue out of mine eyes. This mad thirst for revenge must be quenched no matter how cruel and merciless I must become."

"What do you mean?! Stop talking in riddles!"

"Each time she sees Toguro, her soul is tainted by him more and more. At this rate, she's going to lose herself, and to lose to him. She seems somehow aware of it and is trying to fight back, but at this rate she probably can't make it. And I don't want that to happen. I can't let it happen. I don't want to lose her to someone like Toguro, and I'll do whatever it takes to save her from herself and from him. Even if we won, it would have no meaning if she crossed to the other side and replaced him. That is why I won't let anyone get in my way." The fox's resolute and unyielding green gaze bored into his comrade's red one. That was true. But again, that was not the whole truth. And even if it was not said, Hiei keenly felt that truth etched onto Kurama's eyes. He wasn't just being protective of a friend and teammate. It was more, much more than that...

And so, the Best Eight was assembled. And after an impartial drawing, every concerned party received a copy of the results...

Before their participation in the finals, the Toguro Team only had one match, which would be against the winner of the Gorenja Team VS Kido Sentai Team.

On the other hand, the Urameshi Team first had to win against the Dr Ichigaki Team, then the Mashotsukai Team and then the winner of the Gokkai Rokkyo Team VS Uraotogi Team match before being able to face the Toguro Team at last...

... Just how was that impartial?!