File 24: Hesitations, Lamentations, and Salvation

"Weird dream..." Kuwabara muttered, waking up and ruffling his bed hair. He had dreamt about the martial arts students at the Mitamura Dojo and their sick master. They did not have the money necessary to pay the operation that could save him and were begging him to hang on, saying they would do anything to save him, their faces the very picture of anguish. But their teacher was smiling, merely happy that they were all there with him. It was evident that they all profoundly loved each other and that they were extremely good people. It was then that an old small demon had entered, introducing himself as Ichigaki and offering to treat their master for free on one condition. He spoke in a glib affected way and was obviously up to no good but as desperate as they were, they failed to notice and accepted his condition that three of them became his test subjects. The three chosen ones were a boy with orange hair and rabbit teeth, a young man with auburn hair and a cross-shaped scar on his forehead, and an older man with a black braid, a mustache, and Chinese clothes...

After stuffing himself at breakfast, Yusuke noticed that his friend was acting strangely while Akari was just looking out the window, her tray already empty of food. The two youkais had gone out somewhere. The tall teen tried to tell him about the weird dream he had had about the three martial artists but Urameshi dismissed his concerns.

"And you were blown to bits by these guys?" The black-haired boy cracked before laughing.

"Moron! Listen to me seriously!"

"How am I supposed to seriously listen to one of your dreams?" Yusuke brushed him off.

"Oh, yeah? I'm never going to talk to you about it, then!" Kuwabara retorted, ticked off, before asking where Hiei and Kurama could be, to which Yusuke had no idea. Kazuma was starting to freak out but his friend reassured him: these two were not the type to run away on them so there must be another reason. They were definitely going to come back.

In a corridor, Koenma in his teenage form greeted the three youngsters and congratulated them for having passed the first round. At first Yusuke did not recognize him. After all, in this form the prince was even taller than he was. Then he recognized the voice and the stupid pacifier still stuck in the mouth and realization downed on him.

"That's right, I take this form when in the human world. What do you think, pretty cool huh?" Koenma said, his nose in the air.

"If only there wasn't that stupid pacifier..."

"Drop it, you moron!" Then he turned toward the tallest delinquent. "Yo, Kuwabara, thank you for always helping Yusuke out."

"Well, yeah..." Kuwa replied with obvious fake modesty.

"Hey! I'm the one who always helps you out, right?" Urameshi looked at him, a little irritated.

"What?! You're-"

The prince calmed them down. Yusuke asked him what he was doing here. Naturally it was to lend them strength as the owner of the Urameshi Team. Then Koenma asked if Yusuke remembered the egg that he had kept for him. Of course the boy had no idea what he was talking about. The prince yelled about the spirit beast egg that he had lent him in order for him to come back to life. Yusuke pretended to know what he was talking about but Koenma was not fooled.

"Gee, here I thought you might be concerned and this is what I get. As I said before, you passed your trial and returned back to life earlier than expected. As a result, your egg didn't hatch and was returned to the spirit world where it continues to grow using your soul as nourishment. I devised that your egg will hatch in the next few days. The Reikaiju that is born should definitely be of help to you." Koenma explained. Urameshi did not understand a thing but was still glad it was worth the wait... though of course he just said that to go along. The prince asked how much he had learned from Master Genkai, glancing at Akari who was unusually silent. He thought he had gone quite far but no, he had just continued the basics of the reikohadoken. And with that the three teens left, leaving Koenma dumbfounded. He stared at Yusuke's back with a blank look on his face.

He's so slow... the tournament might not be such a bad idea after all... or maybe I am comparing them too much? His contemplative gaze slid over to the pink-haired girl.

Meanwhile in the forest, Hiei was heading toward the stadium, trying to ignore the pain in his right arm. However, nothing could escape the fox's eyes.

"Hiei, are you alright?" He had been waiting for him on a branch.

"What are you talking about?" The fire demon asked defensively and aggressively in the same time, feigning ignorance.

"Your arm. You know that it'll become increasingly difficult for you to win with only one hand, right?" Kurama replied, frowning but otherwise unfazed by his tone.

"Hn. It's not like I had or have a choice, right? That guy with the black sunglasses said so, didn't he?" He was in a delicate situation to say the least... and yet found it all the more interesting and worthwhile because of it. And his smile could not be more wicked or confident. Then both Urameshi team members felt something. Two youkais had come from the stadiums to kill them... or at least hold them back...

In the stadium, where the two opposing teams had gathered on the arena, the crowd was voicing their surprise: two members were missing in each team. And Kuwabara was astonished. These guys in front of him were the same ones he had seen in his dream. Decidedly, his powers were growing stronger. Koto requested both teams to come forward and choose their manner of fighting.

"This is fortuitous. Both sides have three people, huh?" The old demon cackled. "How does it sound? Three-on-three, that's fair?"

"We don't mind. And you, you're just going to watch from a distance?" Yusuke asked severely.

"I am only the team's alternate and adviser. The ones who will be fighting are my adorable experience materials. I love experimenting on humans. Humans are splendid animals. My dream is to create a perfect biological weapon! Fearing nothing, being bound by nothing, and completely obeying me, the perfect killing machine! And those three are my prototypes."

"I've had enough of your talk!" The boy snapped.

"Well, hear me out to the end. I am very interested in the three of you. How about it? To make this match more thrilling I have a suggestion. If I win, give me your bodies. This will allow me to continue my research..."

"And if we win, I'll kill you!" Yusuke shouted, obviously wishing for nothing more than to be able to kill him right now, just there where he stood. The scientist agreed with a laugh. Everything was going according to his plan. But Akari also had a proposition. She wanted the match to be a six-person battle to settle this once and for all. The old demon was suspicious. But after some mental calculation, he readily accepted. Chance of success: 85.8%. Those guys didn't have 15% chances to win even with her in the team. When his three experiments fought together, they were infinitely stronger than what they were worth individually. And it was the contrary for Akari. If she had to protect her teammates she would not be able to display her full power but then again, it was not like she had a choice...

They did not have a choice however, as Yusuke could not use his reigun. She told her companions that she knew these three guys to be the favoured pupils of a great martial artist whom they loved and respected with all their hearts. In short, they had been brainwashed. They no longer had any conscience and were forced to fight against their wills. And if they wanted to save them and not just defeat them without getting themselves killed, it was going to be a really close call.

Koto announced the beginning of the match. And as soon as she did, the three lunged at the Team Urameshi, the auburn haired in the head. He thrust his open palm toward them. Akari immediately leapt backward. Noticing that her friends were merely standing there, waiting until he got close enough to counter, she imperiously yelled at them to jump back. They obeyed, and as M3's hand approached the ground, it started shattering in a one-meter radius as if from a shockwave. The crater was deep, but the boys did not have the time to get impressed as something of an invisible force that felt like a bar caught them in their midsection and smashed them back down; the Chinese man appearing as if he had swung something at them. Urameshi skidded on his feet, and Kuwabara on his back. They had been attacked by something they couldn't see. If they had not dodged, they would have taken a direct hit!

M1 immediately attacked with his angel chakram, throwing numerous disks of reiki at them. They were visible however and could be dodged relatively easily with a little concentration. M2 flung Kuwabara towards the exterior of the ring but the boy managed to keep himself on the arena by planting his reiken into it. M3 rushed at him to finish him off. Yusuke aimed at him but he was still unable to focus his reiki. Koto wondered if it was because there was something on his mind. M3 jumped but was kicked aside by Akari. The humans of Team Urameshi joined. The girl told them that these guys could refine their reiki enough to make it invisible. Her teammates might have spiritual powers too but their level was too low to allow them to perceive anything. They asked how they were supposed to fight then but she didn't know.

In the forest M4 lunged at Hiei and Kurama but was cut to pieces in an instant. Such things were not quite enough to slow them down. They then turned to M5. He was going to die too. He didn't want to however, and informed them of a 'change in the team'. A cyborg demon, twice M5's height, revealed himself. Gatasubal was an early prototype designed by Dr. Ichigaki. Its entire body was covered with a hybridized metal combining steel with living cells. It did not have the ability to feel pain or fear. And it was Ichigaki's masterpiece... M5 – himself a hybrid between a lizard and a tiger – ordered Gatasubal to kill Hiei and Kurama. The monster attacked by extending its arms, which could actually stop and change direction in midair in order to track its target. The two demons evaded. Hiei tried to retaliate in the same time but a sword was no use against it. The tiger-lizard youkai taunted him and boasted about its specially-made armor. Falling for the provocation, the fire demon tried to dispose of M5 first and lunged at him. But having lost his cool he had also lost his focus and an armored arm crashed against him from the side and smashed him against a tree where it held him captive. Kurama cried his name.

"Useless! You're nothing more than a miserable pile of meat!" M5 disparaged him again with a malicious and contemptuous laugh.

"Don't mess with me..." Hiei warned through gritted teeth in a dangerously low voice, maddened to the point he no longer cared how and what he had to do to utterly destroy that trash. Dark flames were gathering around his left hand...

"Hiei, don't!" The fox yelled, noticing the mistake his friend was going to make. They could not afford him to lose his other arm. Taking advantage of the fact that the monster's arm was still chasing after him, Kurama ran back to where Hiei was and leapt on the one restraining him. He was careful to stay low enough however, using his arms to shift his weight forward and do a somersault. The mechanical right 'hand' that had been aiming for his torso instead collided with the mechanical left, tearing it apart from the tree and setting Hiei free. The two arms went after the red-haired demon to crush him. The small youkai yelled his name. Everything was hidden by a cloud of dust. M5 was certain of his victory. But when the dust cleared, all Kurama had was scratches. And his whip was coiled around the cables inside the hole that had been made when the two arms had violently connected.

"He should have at least taught this thing pain. In both machines and living beings, small injuries can prove fatal. It really wasn't that difficult to discipline him. Now what will you do? Obey us, or die?" Kurama looked with cold and merciless green eyes at the demon who was slowly backing, an expression of extreme fear on his face.

On the ring, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Akari were still struggling to avoid their enemies' attacks. But because the two boys were focusing on the rings of reiki that could be seen, they would easily fall prey to the invisible blows of the two others. What more... their combination was even more precise than a machine's! From the sidelines, Ichigaki was already enjoying his victory. In a normal one-on-one battle, the chances would have already been in his favour, but now it was impossible for him to lose, not with those devices fixed on their backs that gave him total control over them! Their eyes became more crazed, their attacks more vicious, they kept muttering "kill...kill...kill...kill..." After a time, as once more Urameshi managed to dodge M2's strike, while he was in the middle of a handspring M3 lunged at him with incredible speed, ready to crush him with his hound claw. Akari, who was closest, was able to kick Yusuke out of the way just in time, taking the blow instead of him, blow that propelled her out of the ring. Koto joined her against the wall and began the countdown.

Kuwabara was now in front of Yusuke, covering for him too with his reiken.

"Wake up, damnit! This fight isn't yours!" He tried to reason them. But it was useless. There was nothing neither of them could do. The scientist had them entirely in the palm of his hand. By controlling their blood, he could control their brain and turn them into mad killers. Urameshi and Kazuma cursed, it wasn't these guys they wanted and needed to defeat! Kuwabara was going to get hardly hit by the 'swing crush' when Akari kicked the enemy aside. After a back flip in mid-air she kicked down M3 on his chest before also kicking M1 away. All that without touching the ground. She landed in front on her friends, her back to them.

"What are you wavering for, you big idiots?! By holding back, losing, and dying, do you think those guys are going to be saved?" The beautiful female warrior turned her head back to them, her large eyes like two glowing embers. She was calm, in control. Suddenly, a member of the Dr. Ichigaki Team fell on the ring. The body bounced off. It passed by Koto, his head severed from the rest, and went to crash into the fence. There was a loud rumble. A small part of the 'bleachers' crumbled. When the dust cleared, Gatasubal appeared, along with Hiei and Kurama. They had heard everything from that guy: how those three were the beloved pupils of a famous martial artist, and as a condition of healing their master's disease, agreed to have their bodies used in experiments, not imagining they would be turned into killing machines... Furthermore, they had learned that even the master's illness had been a trap set by the professor...

Ichigaki cackled again, knowing that the more they hated him, the harder it would be for them to fight those three. He decided to pique them even more. He had indeed utilized their teacher as bait to trap them so he could experiment on them. Why try to defeat an enemy when you can make others fight for you? Why put your body in any danger? If only you could control them, you'd be able able to create perfect killing machines. And that was why they couldn't afford to be worried about what would happen to the members of his team. Even if to him they were just scraps of data and pawns to be disposed of, if the Urameshi team did not focus they would die. That was assuming they even had the ability to stand up to them to begin with. Unless they just wanted to become his guinea pigs too...

The boys cursed and insulted him. Of course Akari thought no less but instead of exploding, she merely glared in cold, calculating, and contained anger. Thanks to that blow from earlier, the blood had gone from her head and she could properly think again. That man had cleverly upset them so they'd lose their cool in order to make it easier for these three to defeat them. As expected, Urameshi and Kuwabara flew into a rage and lunged at the doctor, surely not noticing they were tossing the match to kill him. But 'luckily' they were violently struck back onto the ring by M1 and M2. They stood up again and demanded why they'd protect that trash. Ichigaki answered for them.

"It is because I have control over their bodies. I control the minds and hearts of these three. They don't know what they're doing. Even if they died, they wouldn't know why. Their lives and fates are in my hand!" He even taunted them by explaining how he controlled them. It was thanks to these humps fixed on their backs, and if they were removed, they would die. They had been set to priviledge his life over theirs. If they wanted to kill him, they had no choice but to kill them first. And after a few seconds to let it sink in, he ordered his three test subjects to kill the others while they were confused. Yusuke and Akari escaped. But Kuwabara remained standing there. He remembered, and understood the reason of his dream. Their consciousness had flowed into him. Their primary consciousness that was sleeping and crying deep in a corner of their hearts and had sought his help... They weren't entirely controlled! Yusuke screamed his friend's name who in turn yelled at the three, begging them to open their eyes. They had come to him for help, and he wanted to stick with them. Seeing through his intention, Hiei, Kurama, Akari, Yusuke, they all tried to help. But he stopped them. Koto told the two demons that they could not participate as the fight was three-on-three. The combined attacks hit him full force. Blood gushed out from his external injuries and his mouth, due to the internal wounds caused by the hound claw.

"One down." Ichigaki said. Koto talked about a pointless and inevitable death. Akari and Yusuke rushed to him. He started cursing the three when he saw something he had not expected. They were crying. Tears of blood were flowing from their eyes and dripping onto their hands, and anguish was etched onto their features. From their whole bodies the same yearning was emanating: they wanted to be killed.

"Yusuke, they missed his vital points. They could have easily done it properly but they flinched at the last moment. They are still human." The young girl said after a quick examination, reassuring both him and herself. She had given him first aid with her reikohado. Somewhere, in a corner of their minds, they were still fighting against themselves, and against Ichigaki's commands. The demonic scientist only found the situation even more interesting: even if their human souls still existed, they could not defy him. He let out a gleeful and evil laugh.

"Having to be controlled by such a lowlife as you, I'd want to shed tears of blood as well! I'd rather be dead too, you bastard!" Yusuke raged. His fury was reaching unprecedented levels, and fuelled by his anger, his spiritual power was rising in consequence. He too, just like Akari, was the type whose emotional state would significantly affect his power, although she would do her best to control that tendancy. He was glaring fiercely. Urameshi lunged and heavily punched M2. The young man with auburn hair attacked him with his hound claw but this time Yusuke was able to see the reiki that largely surrounded his opponent's hand, and properly dodge it by leaping backward. He avoided the rings of reiki and kicked down their user. He discerned the bo-staff-like weapon that the mustached-man in mandarin clothes wielded and jumped out of its way. All the attacks that had been invisible to him until then, he could now see perfectly.

"This is amazing! The tables have turned! Urameshi had undergone a rapid change and is moving as if he was faking the tight contest up until just now!" Koto commented, ecstatic. Ichigaki was completely baffled. He had not taken Yusuke's anger into account, let alone that it would make his spiritual energy rise to this extent. He needed to recalculate his chances of winning. He took his calculator. 50,725%. The number had lowered so much!

"Gotten so that you can't calculate in your head?" Hiei taunted.

"Psychological strategy by the manual is okay, but you can't understand the strength of human spirit." Kurama explained, cold, and mercilessly contemptuous.

"This is some kind of mistake! Kill them immediately!" The professor ordered, obviously freaking out. With his reiki-active fist, Urameshi punched his adversary. Enough of his spirit energy had returned for him to fire a reigun. But for him to recover so quickly... she would almost laugh out of self-derision. There was something much more important however. Yusuke had resolved to kill them! But Akari could not let him do it. There was still a way to save them! The boy jumped. His reiki gathered at the tip of his index.

"I'll send you a proper apology in hell!" He prepared for the shot that would make him a murderer and free them from that monster's control. But before he could fire, a hand grabbed his arm.

"Don't." Akari told him simply with that tone that would not allow him to reply anything.

Uhh...! I can't move my arm...! Urameshi remarked with shock and horror. They landed in that same position and the girl let go.

"I know what to do. Just leave it to me."

Akari stepped forward to face the three of them. Ichigaki laughed mockingly saying there was no way she could kill humans who were just being controlled. Yusuke looked at her, wondering what she was going to do. Closing her fists, leaving only her indexes and middle fingers joint and erect, the female rei warrior chanted, gathering an impressive amount of reiki around her hands. Believing it to be only bluff, the demonic professor ordered his 'minions' to kill her. They lunged at her. Once they were close enough she crouched down, formed an arc of energy above her head. When her four fingers touched the ground it became a half sphere that spread and acted as a barrier, pushing Yusuke backward and stopping and paralysing M1, M2 and M3, no, En, Ryo, and Kai, in mid-air.

"Light!" Akari yelled, leapt and, in an instant pierced their chests right above their hearts with her joint index and middle finger. "Fight!" She commanded imperiously as she pulled her slightly bloody fingers from En's torso. Their eyes had regained their original colors and liveliness and right now had surprised expressions. The humps exploded in showers of blood. They fell on their backs. Akari landed gracefully. Yusuke looked in shock. In a single attack...

"In an instant, she snuffed out their reiki..." He whispered, amazed.

"And their lives as well..." Hiei muttered, his arms crossed, and apparently expressionless.

"What a technique..." Kurama commented. He too was very impressed but confused in the same time. He doubted Akari would or could have killed these people and yet there wasn't any sign of life coming from them. And he wasn't sure what to feel for this Akari if she could really kill fellow humans – people she appreciated – like this.

"I-impossible! Sh-she killed them! And she did it so easily! That's impossible! According to my data you shouldn't be able to kill fellow humans!" Ichigaki accused.

"Humph, don't underestimate my skills." Akari snorted contemptuously. Urameshi tightened his fists.

Without her help I would have been fucked... but...

"Hey! What did you kill them for?! I thought you had a plan!"

"I don't want to hear that from someone like you who can only rush in head first without thinking and get himself killed." The rei master coldly retorted, her arms crossed. "Well, you're alive so you can whine as much as you want, as long as it's not in my ear..."

Yusuke could only clench his fists and teeth tighter. There was nothing he could do or say. There was nothing he had been able to do. He owed her. He owed her... but... how he resented her attitude... ! How could she be so cold and unfeeling?! Was she really human?! Weren't they her friends?! Simmering rage and frustration was settling in his belly... along with a deeply hidden, latent, and unconscious fear that someday she might try to kill them as coldly and emotionlessly as these guys...

After the count, Koto announced the victory of the Urameshi Team as well as their qualification for the next stage. But Yusuke hated this... He hated this aftertaste in his mouth... He hated this sort of victory... He approached Doctor Ichigaki and threatened him: he was going to pay for this! The demon tried to save himself saying that if they killed him their master would die as he was the only one who knew the antidote... that was not the case however, and Kurama pointed toward Mitamura-sensei, still unsteady on his legs who was approaching, holding himself against the fence. Ichigaki was even more incredulous, but as Hiei pointed out, his assistant had recounted everything to them and the fox wasn't bad at making remedies. Kurama even suggested teaching him a lesson on poisons. Akari's eyebrows twitched, having been reminded of an incident she would rather forget. Yusuke threatened him again, and seeing he could not talk his way out, the professor took a syringe filled with a strange liquid that he injected himself. He was laughing maliciously, saying there was no way he would be done by the likes of them and that he would show them true terror. The small demon transformed into a huge monster several meters tall. The skin changed color, and the muscle mass increased several times. Like Gatasubal, his arm extended to impale Yusuke who easily dodged. This game lasted for several seconds until the detective wrongly calculated his escape and a claw grazed him, drawing blood. His body was more tired than he had anticipated. He refused any help, though, and this time faced his opponent head on.

The monster threw his right arm at him. Urameshi barely stepped out of the way and caught the arm under his. Believing it would succeed this time, Ichigaki repeated his movement and the human caught the demon's left arm under his right. The boy's spiritual energy rose again and he crushed the arms he had caught. There was a cry of agony. He pulled the monster to him, ran, leapt and gave three explosive kicks to the chest and face, breaking other bones. While the demon was on its knees trembling and holding its chest in pain, Yusuke ragingly punched its face, each blow falling heavier than the hammer of justice on the wicked, for these three, for their master, for Kuwabara and for himself. He hit the monster's jaw with his most powerful uppercut, sending it high into the air and crash down in the middle of the audience. The booing of the crowd stopped, awed by that punch that had blown that huge monster away.

"S-still, even by defeating Ichigaki, it will not bring those three back..." Mitamura cried. "En, Ryo, Kai... What can I say to you to apologize..." He closed his eyes and hung his head, tears streaming down his face.

"You don't need to cry or apologize." Akari smiled and nodded toward the three who had woken up and sat up, perfectly alive and themselves again. The old master hurried onto the ring on his unsteady feet, trembling from relief and joy and looking as if such thing was almost too good to be true.

"C-crazy! I thought they were dead!" Yusuke recoiled in shock before sharply turning to the pink-haired girl. "Hey! You! What does that mean?! If you could do that then why didn't you do it earlier?!" He pointed at the guys.

"Because I thought you could recover your reigun like this." Even though it was mainly because I couldn't remember it... it's a good thing that it actually worked... as the granny had only showed me how to and I never had to use it in a real situation... and because I was busy trying to remember I couldn't focus on the match... but I'd rather die than tell him... "Besides, I told you not to underestimate my skills. There was no way I – the Great Akari – would allow things to follow that trash's plan now was there? I know it can't be helped if you're moron but blaming me for your stupidity... how unmanly of you..." She taunted him condescendingly. As usual, the boy fell for it and, growling and screaming her name, attacked her. The young girl made him fall face first and held him down with her foot on his back, her fists on her hips. "Now that you know my greatness for saving your ass, giving you the possibility to regain your reigun, preventing you from becoming a murderer and even giving you the fatty portion, you can show me your immense gratefulness by grovelling before me! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

A tyrant. There was no other way to describe her attitude as once more her despotic laugh echoed and Yusuke was unable to sweep her legs away or raise himself from the ground. Was there even a limit to how conceited she could be?! But both Hiei and Kurama were smiling. She might be behaving like this but there was no mistaking it. That beaming, radiant expression, that sheer, genuine, sincere happiness was written all over her face. As extreme, unusual – and provoking for some people – as it may be, that was her way of showing love and joy. But then, their attention was diverted. Mitamura-sensei had called his students but the latters had turned around, refusing to face him or that he came closer. Even though they had been controlled, they had committed crimes for which they could never fully atone. If only they could have died then...

"Band of fools!" Their teacher yelled angrily.

"Stop saying stupid things! And stop trying to run away! Don't forget that it's all over when you die. If you want to atone then work while you're alive! The technique I used is one of the five grand techniques of the Reikohadoken method: the secret Shunouken strike of discipline is a harsh technique whereby judgement is passed on your own heart. If your hearts had been corrupt, your bodies would have been destroyed. On the other hand, if your hearts are pure, the evil part of your body is cleansed. Be proud. You defeated those humps and freed yourselves on your own. All I did was give you the chance to do so." Akari turned around so they would not see but they could still clearly glimpse the corner of her lips curved in a proud kind and gentle smile.

"En, Ryo, Kai," The recovering master began, "I have always believed in you, that you have the most noble souls. I know that your bodies have been defiled, but your souls are still pure! I expect that I understand that better than anyone. You are not justified... in wishing your own death... Now come to me. It's been a long time since I've shouted at you."

And shaking from the emotions, the three rushed at their master and took each other in their arms. And along with them, Yusuke, Botan, Keiko, Koenma and Georges all started crying too.

"Good work, you did well." A voice gently praised the young girl who felt a hand on her head ruffling her hair affectionately. She turned to see Kurama smiling at her with a kind and warm expression on his handsome face.

"O-of course that goes without saying." Akari stuck her nose in the air away from him, her cheeks rosy red. She and Yusuke went to join Kuwabara. The battle had ended in a dramatic way with dramatic consequences as the boy was injured and unable to fight and it would take time for him to recuperate despite Akari's care. It was then that Kai ran to them and took Akari's hands in his. He had a favour to ask. He wanted to take responsibility and fight as a member of the Urameshi Team instead of Kuwabara. Yusuke and Akari were glad he felt that way but Kazuma would be really mad. Besides he wasn't dead. They already had one alternate and the substitution could only occur if somebody died. Those were the rules of the tournament. More importantly he should catch up with the lost time with his teacher. He deeply and strongly thanked them, especially the girl for having saved them and for everything, and left after his master and friends.

That was the cue for the demon spectators to start whining and showing their discontent. Not one of them had died! They wouldn't be satisfied until at least one bit the dust! When suddenly, there was an announcement from the administrative office... the third round of the tournament was now going to be held. The competing teams were the Urameshi Team and the Mashotsukai Team. At this, the crowd's complaints changed into cries of joy. After all, they would be easier to kill since they were tired. Yusuke jumped back on the ring and gave Koto a piece of his mind. But the referee had nothing to do with it: the chairmen were the ones taking the decision, she only obeyed their orders and she wasn't told this kind of stuff in advance. The Urameshi Team could not believe it, a series in their current state... but they had no choice in the matter. And Yusuke was still worked up about Ichigaki... Alright... if that was how they wanted to play it, they were going to play with them...!