File 29: Last hurdle - the true Demon Slayer

"So then, I will now present you with a trial." Genkai told Urameshi with her usual raspy voice. She had returned to being an old lady. "It will be the final, as well as the greatest trial I shall give you." She declared gravely.

"A final... greatest trial..." The boy repeated. Genkai looked pensively at her wrinkled hands. In the sky, dark and heavy clouds were quickly gathering.

"Old age... huh? I can't even release as much power as that time." She smiled derisively. "The next time, I will have to risk my life. Old age befalls everyone. As the years pass, your techniques may become more polished, and your tactics may also grow shrewder... but as far as standing up to an overwhelming power goes, the day will surely come when you can no longer do so. For example, the kind of power Toguro has..."

"Baa-san, are you saying Toguro is stronger than you?!" The boy yelled angrily. Despite everything, he deeply respected the old master, her strength, her wisdom... as a human, and as a reiki practitionner. And he didn't want to believe than one could be stronger than her.

"As much as I've gotten older, he is stronger." The woman nodded. Yusuke made a cursing sound. "And there's nothing that can be done about it. I will live the way the flow takes me. And then I will die the same way. I believe that doing so is fine for me. So long as I can live my hopes up to the next generation that is." She smiled back at him. It was a tired but sincere and confident smile. Then she grew serious again. "Now I will ask you again. Is your desire to become stronger the same as it was before?"

"Yeah, even stronger than before." Urameshi affirmed.

"Can you withstand anything you have to do?"

"Anything at all."

"Good... in that case killing me... killing me is something you could do too, right?" The woman closed her eyes and passed him.

"Huh? What did you say?!"

"Unless you are able to kill me, you cannot pass this trial. I will be waiting in that cave up ahead. When you are prepared to kill me, come in!" And Genkai left. Yusuke watched her with a stunned and lost look on his face. A lightning bolt tore through the clouds and a heavy rain started pouring. Without a single word, without a single change in her closed expression, she had witnessed the exchange. But this downpour, this thunder and lightning, her small drenched form that looked even smaller due to the water that made her cloths stick to her body, and the liquid that ceaselessly flowed down her face like tears... were more revealing of her true state than her apparent lack of expression. Or so Yusuke thought. The girl left to join her grandmother.

Genkai was his master. And someone similar to a grandmother to him. She had given him what he needed to protect those he loved. She was someone he had come to profoundly love and respect.

Akari was his precious friend. And someone similar to a sister to him. She had saved him and those he loved a number of times. She was someone he had come to profoundly love and respect.

Genkai was Akari's grandmother and her only living blood relative. It was thanks to them that he had been able to come this far. Now he needed to become stronger still. And he had to kill Genkai to pass the final test?! How could he...?! Just what was he supposed to do?! And after a long time, Yusuke went in the cave.

"Have you prepared yourself, then? Well, come on already! Time won't wait for us."

"Baa-san! I can't do it. I just can't do it. The whole... the whole time, I stood out there, thinking... it was the most I've ever used my head in my whole life... But I just can't do it, even though I do want to become stronger... I guess I'm not qualified to become your pupil, huh?" The boy scratched his cheek. "Well, I'll manage something on my own. I'll at least bust his sunglasses, you'll see!" He concluded, lightheartedly talking about his own certain death, and left with a wave.

"Alright! You pass!" Genkai exclaimed. Yusuke stopped dead in his tracks.

"Huh?"

"What are you wearing that dumbfounded expression for? Come on in so I can present you with the trial."

"Hey! J-just wait a minute! I thought I couldn't do this if I couldn't kill you!"

"Did you think that I would just hand over my secrets to someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill me? But I don't like whiners either or those so untainted that they wouldn't even stop to consider it." She let out that annoying laugh of hers with that annoyingly smug face that really made people want to kill her. He growled.

"You're so annoying! I'm pissed off! Trial or whatever I'm ready for anything!"

"Don't forget those words you've just said." The old woman turned and looked at him severely, making Yusuke freeze for a few seconds. Then the three went further into the cave. She clapped her hands together and raised her reiki before pulling her hands apart and gathering her energy in the middle. "I must give you one thing. Only the inheritors of the reikohadoken can possess it." The ball of light shone and burned like the sun.

In his room, younger Toguro smirked and stood up from his armchair.

"What is it?" His older brother asked.

"Brother, it appears that this tournament is going to be even more interesting." The tall youkai chuckled in excitation and anticipation.

"To be honest, I think that you're too young for this. However, it is true that Akari passed this trial when she was much younger than you. But it is also true that she had been manipulating reiki for much longer than you and few can equal her tenacity and vitality. But we believe you are one of them. I had to give it to her then because she needed it for what she was going to do. Otherwise she would have gone without listening to me and died. She survived and became stronger. And today we are in a similar situation. So I will believe in you like I believed in her... and give you the Reikogyoku." The Spirit Wave Orb was a ball of reiki condensed to its very limits. The successor was examined by its own mind and body to see whether they are worthy of receiving the techniques. If his body was not up to the task of accepting this energy, which is like a small sun, then it will be torn apart! The pain of succession was beyond imagination and could go on for several days. In the worst case, the damage to the body and mind can prove beyond recovery and he would die.

"I suspect so. I'm thrilled." Yusuke smirked.

"Good. Here it is." She gave him the ball that entered his body. He glowed, then nothing happened for a few seconds. He even thought there was nothing at all until his vision wavered and a vein burst on his forehead. Blood gushed out. He was now trembling like a leaf, breathing hard and sweating a lot. He held himself as if trying to keep the pain rippling through his body as other veins burst all over him. It was like attempting to contain the power of the Niagara Falls in a water balloon. The boy whimpered and screamed.

Endure; endure this, Yusuke!

Akari stayed a little bit more and left. She walked slowly under the pouring rain, her head down.

In the lounge of their suite, Kuwabara complained that Yusuke and Akari still hadn't come back. Where the hell could they have gone? Kurama agreed. They were playing cards while Hiei was sitting at his usual spot at the windowsill. Next round would be the semi-finals. It seemed like they were going to fight in a different arena from this point on, and the rules were going to be more severe. The fox took a card from Kazu's hand and put two on the table from his own hand. Kazu acted all fired up but his enthusiasm abated when he took the joker from Kura's hand. It was then that Shizuru, Keiko, Botan, and Yukina came in with refreshments and Puu-chan. The human scolded them. They were having a serious talk here. Botan commented about the cards that didn't seem very serious and asked him to show her his hand. He refused but when Yukina arrived and inquired about his health he acted strong, offered her to play with him and showed his hand. That difference in treatement irritated the ferry girl but since she was nice, she let it go. Keiko asked Kurama about Yusuke since Puu-chan wasn't feeling well and she was concerned. Botan decided to throw a real blast for the semi-finals. Kazuma was again fired up and his big sis told him that he especially should enjoy himself since it might be his last day.

They all started a new party, expect for one. The fox teased Hiei. It was a lot of fun so he should play too! The little demon turned him down, aggravated. He adapted himself way too easily! But soon the door opened again. It was Akari. Her hair sticking to her face and her cloths sticking to her body, she was soaking wet. Water was dripping onto the carpet. Without even looking or noticing them, she went straight to her room, her head down. Keiko and Botan tried to say something but stopped. His green eyes still fixed on the door, Kurama put down his cards, told Hiei to switch with him and entered the room too, ignoring the fierce glare the little demon was giving him. The fire youkai was choleric. And not just because the fox had made such a request... The main reason was something else...

Kurama waited during the long time Akari spent in the shower until she got out. She had changed but she was still dripping wet. She had not even dried her hair and she still had not noticed him either. He took a towel and put it on her head. This time she felt it and turned her head to see the fox smiling worriedly at her.

"Kurama..." She remarked softly. She sat on the bed, her head down again, as the young man sat in front of her in the armchair he had moved and dried her hair. "Ne, have you ever had this feeling in your guts, like a certainty that something dreadful would happen and there was absolutely nothing you could do to prevent it? No, even worse, you see the events unfolding before your eyes, you feel you must do something but you can't. This is the order of things, you want to respect their wills, it is something necessary for these people, and yet... and yet... I know grandma must give her power to yusuke, and that it will weaken her, so she probably won't have enough strength when the time will come... and... and she will..." Fear, worry, sorrow, pain, resentment... so tightly wreathed together... She resented them, her grandmother for doing that when she knew where she was heading, Yusuke for taking her grandmother's power, and she resented her own powerlessness. Back with Randou, there was nothing to fear really... he was just another demon threatening her grandma... but now was different. Their opponent was different. And she was also worried about Yusuke as she knew the hell he was going through since she had gone through the same. At that time she had almost died. Genkai had tried to take back the orb back from her but she had stopped her... 'Don't you dare you bloody old hag! It's fine by me... I must get stronger no matter what, as strong as I can possibly be! If I can't even stand this much then it's better if I die now!'... was it? How embarrassing to remember with such details... And it was certainly going to be the same this time with Yusuke... Akari clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Then she was suddenly pulled forward in a warm and gentle embrace.

"Akari, just put another step forward and give your all." The fox said kindly with such a tone that she couldn't help but feel 'it'll be alright. No matter what happens, somehow, it'll definitely be alright'.

"Kurama... when this tournament will be over, we will all laugh together, right?" She stared straight and deep into his eyes. Although there was still begging, she had also regained her some of her usual conviction.

"Of course, that is what I believe. We will all make it so." At first it might have sounded like an irresponsible thing to say knowing their opponents, but then, that wouldn't have been Kurama, and Akari would have sensed it. They couldn't think about chances and probability here. They should act with only one goal in mind: victory. And if everyone wasn't together, then that wouldn't be a real victory.

"Yeah!" The girl smiled sweetly and tightly hugged him back.

But...

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Hours later, in the dead of the night Akari woke up and bolted in a sitting position, screaming, sweating, tears flowing from her eyes, her heart pounding in her chest as if trying to break free, desperately reaching out to an illusion in front of her. "Grandma..." She whispered her voice soaked with fear and despair etched into her beautiful face, as if just mentioning that person would make her nightmare come true and infaillibly doom her to a certain death. And the worst was that conviction she felt down to the deepest part of herself that it was actually going to come true. However, her scream had woken her companion too. Kurama asked her what was wrong, his voice sick with worry. Her head between her knees, her fists clutching her pink hair, she was crying like she wanted to drown sorrow itself. Hearing his voice, she leant against his chest but still her tears wouldn't stop. The fox hugged her tight, whispered sweet words of comfort, stroked her hair to calm her down. She held him back for dear life like trying to anchor herself in this reality, like that man who was embracing her so strongly in his arms would be able to prevent that image burned in her mind from ever coming true. And like this she cried herself to sleep, against his chest, and the soothing, lulling sound of his heart beating.

Once the young man was sure she was asleep – although still whimpering – he laid her back down as gently as he could. And then, he saw her last tears falling. He brushed her right cheek with his index and her left cheek with his thumb, wiping the tears away, but his hand remained against her cheek. He gazed at her sorrowful and still lovely face... her closed eyes... her slightly parted lips... and before he knew what he was doing he was giving in, leaning in, and softly pressing his lips against hers. After ten seconds Kurama withdrew, and although very, very small, a smile was curving Akari's lips. The fox lightly smiled too. And it was not until ten seconds later that he felt another presence in the room. He sharply turned his head to see Genkai-shihan. She was smiling a kind and sad smile. Normally that kind of situation would be when he should start panicking after his weakness had been found out and he should fear both women's reactions...but that type of dread was nothing compared to the dread that smile had sowed in him... and in that case, then Akari...

"You love her, don't you?" The old master questioned and before the boy's reaction, she laughed. "Ho ho ho, I see, I see... well, then I'm entrusting my hopeless granddaughter to you. She might be like this but take good care of her." And she left. Slowly, Kurama registered what she had said, what it implied... he turned his sad gaze to Akari and held her tight, as tight as he could.

Genkai closed the door and walked a few steps before stopping, her hands behind her back.

"And the same goes for you. If you stay like this, you'll only hurt yourself. Keep acting proud and denying everything and it might be too late. But well, it's up to you whether you decide to take the chance or not." The woman smirked and walked away. In the darkness, fists tightened and red eyes slowly opened.

A number of Chinook helicopters landed on the island and all the bigwigs were escorted to the super creepy brand new stadium. At one of the entries, the usual green lizard was trying to sell his tickets and as usual nobody listened to him. When everyone had taken their seat, a spotlight lit the middle of the arena.

"Ladies and gentlement, thank you so much for waiting!" However, it was not Koto, but another pretty female demon, apparently some type of sea creature, given her webbed ears and her tail. She had mint-green hair in a low ponytail and tanned skin. As makeup she had blue lipstick and eyeshadow. She wore a tight black bodysuit with a hole in the front and back which exposed her belly, navel, and back, a small pink top, a matching pink skirt, and pink bandana, as well as red arm bands, leg warmers, a small red bowtie. "I will be serving as your referee from the semi-finals on. My name is Juri. It's a pleasure!" She smiled. There were some cheers. She seemed to be pretty popular.

"Now the semi-finals are about to start! From the semi-finals on, I, Koto, will be be concentrating only on delivering play-by-play!" The ex-referee had been relegated to being a commentator. Certainly because she had challenged the executive committee's decisions. Then Juri introduced the Best Four: The Gorenja Team, the Toguro Team, the Uraotogi Team and the Urameshi Team. The first match would oppose the Uraotogi Team and the Urameshi Team. The spotlights focused on a triangular door. It slid open to reveal Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara and Akari... with Kuwabara trying to look like an all important boss with his arms crossed and his jacket drapped over his broad shoulders. Another spotlight fell on the triangular door opposite theirs. The Uraotogi Team came out. Everyone noticed a certain person's absence. Just where was Urameshi Yusuke? Everyone wondered about it except Koenma, Akari, and Kurama... although only the prince and the girl knew the whole circumstances. Georges was worried since the opponents this time was a team that had easily made it to the best four... so unlike Kazuma who was overflowing with self-assurance, saying those guys were going to be a walk in the park even without Urameshi. He marched forward. Akari sighed. That last victory and Yukina's presence had sure made him overconfident. He would certainly lose in the first 30 seconds... though it didn't really matter as long as he didn't die. She, Kurama and Hiei would take care of the rest. But that said, she wasn't motivated at all. She couldn't concentrate at all. Oh well, she could just leave things to Hiei.

"But man, it's so stuffy and gloomy in here, I wonder if I can just blast the ceiling..." The little pink haired one complained.

"If it's you, that doesn't sound much like a joke..." The fox remarked with a smile.

"That's because I'm serious."

"Anyway, please behave for the time being." He sighed but he was still smiling lightly. Outside, it was still raining. Normally he would have found her soaked form quite alluring but he wasn't sure he wanted to see her like a drenched kitten again. The strength and fierceness of a tigress or a lioness suited her much better. Although no matter what form, she was still Akari, and his feelings for her would not change from this.

"I know, I know." And they stepped on the ring with Akari faning herself using her power over wind.

The two teams were face to face. Koto commented about the absence of the all important captain of the Urameshi Team, Urameshi Yusuke. Did it mean two out of contestant Hiei, constestant Kurama and contestant Akari would have to fight twice each?

"Y-you, stupid! I'm more than enough to handle these guys!" Kazu acted tough although of course not one person believed him. Shishi chuckled slightly and confidently.

"It seems we are being looked down upon. What happened to Urameshi?"

"He said you guys weren't worth it." Kuwabara provoked them with a smirk.

"Well, truthfully I wanted to skip too but Kurama still made me come even if only to watch." Akari added resentfully. The enemy poster boy glared at them. Juri asked them to decide the manner of the fights. Hiei wanted to hurry and finish them all by himself. And indeed lately he had been in a foul mood with all the stress building up. Wakamaru chuckled and produced two dice – one for each team – and offered to decide the match ups with those. One of their names was written on each face of the dice and if 'free choice' was rolled, the team could freely choose their warrior. As long as you were alive, you could fight as many times as your name came up. Naturally, Hiei said he would be the one to fight if Yusuke's name came up. Juri announced the decision in her mike and Shishi rolled the dice. The first match would be between Hiei and Makintaro. The little demon told his opponents that their cheap tricks had backfired. Makintaro called him a runt who was all mouth.

At the referee's signal, the fight began. Hiei unsheathed his sword, slashed, and stepped back. Kurama said the match was over. Kuwabara was clueless. And Akari complained again. Why had she come? There was really no need for her here. The audience told the contestants to hurry up and start. Apparently none of them had noticed anything, not even Makintaro himself, seeing as he was still boasting. Talk about a bottom-of-the-pit level... the dark-skinned demon challenged him again, however, Hiei had already completed his attack long ago... and as proof, he showed him the dark-skinned arm he had severed. The Uraotogi team member ooked at the stump of his left arm and blood gushed out as he screamed in horror. He freaked out and helplessly ran around for a time, waving his stump.

"Idiot, he took him too lightly." Shishi voiced his irritation and contempt at his teammate's loathsome weakness.

"Give up already." Hiei said boredly. He turned back and carelessly threw his enemy's arm over his head at Juri. She caught the object instinctively but squealed and threw it away when she saw what it was. And then, his rage overcoming his pain and shock, Makintaro raised his youki, regrew his arm and transformed it into an axe. He charged and sliced the fire demon in half. Or so he and his teammated had thought. He had only cut an afterimage, and his opponent's cloak. In fact, Hiei was crouching on his back. "Die." And he stabbed all the way through his head. He jumped down, and Makintaro fell, dead. Everyone was amazed. Even Shishi didn't hide how impressed he actually was. Juri declared Hiei the winner. Koto commented about his overwhelming and instantaneous victory.

"Now, then, roll the dice! I have a feeling my name will come up again!" Hiei, smirking, pointed at Shishiwakamaru who no longer looked as confident as before. However, he soon recovered, and rolled the dice. 'Free choice' and Kuromomotaro.

In the cave, Yusuke was still writhing in agony and enduring a torment worse than hell. And running, exerting himself or punching the rock did not alleviate it. The boy fell, rolled, and stopped, curled up. He was losing consciousness. Worried about him, that as she had thought, it was too soon for him, Genkai took back the reikougyoku. But he stopped her. He had regained his senses due to the momentary absence of the ball of condensed energy and yet he wanted to accept it again. The old master tried to dissuade him. If he didn't have the capacity, his body would be blown to bits. It was impossible for him now. But it was a battle for survival. He knew that the way he was now, it was 100% sure that he'd lose against Toguro. So he was going to endure it! And so he forced the shining sphere into his body again. And just as he did, blood flowed from his mouth and veins burst all over him again. The odds of him successfully completing this trial were 50/50. His mind was stable for now, but how long was it going to last?

In the hotel, Keiko woke up screaming. She had dreamed about Yusuke... a very bad dream. Her screaming had woken Botan up. She stood up and saw the room bathed in daylight. She regretted having played cards all night. She hurried and woke Shizuru (who had an empty glass of alcohol in hand) and Yukina-chan up. The matches had begun already! Keiko threw her sheet over and left to dress without noticing the cloth had fallen and covered Puu-chan.

For the second match, Hiei naturally choose to do it without consulting the others. Kuromomotaro asked Onji whether he was sure Hiei couldn't shoot the Kokuryuha. And the elder was 100% sure it was impossible. He couldn't even if he wanted to. He was still suffering from the aftereffects from when he had first used it and it had emptied his energy. In other words, he was still convalescing and out of gas. And he was not a natural jagan master either. He didn't have enough experience taming the flames of the Makai here in Ningenkai. Hiei could probably use techniques other than Kokuryuha, but that level of techniques should be withstood easily. And once Kuromomotaro's body memorized the ensatsu-ken, the victory will be his. Hearing that, Kuro was relieved since he thought Hiei was just an ordinary pipsqueak without his black dragon wave. He spat his chewing-gum and stepped forward. Hiei advanced too.

"Don't be too pleased with yourself just because you defeated Makintaro. He was unworthy of appearing among us." Peachy pulled the sword out of his dead comrade's body before kicking the corpse away. "I am different from him." He licked the blade. "This is a fine sword!"

"If you like it I'll lend it to you. The rental fee will be your life." The fire user replied coolly. His enemy thanked him and cut his own arm with it, shocking everyone but his teammates. Blood flowed. He uttered painful sounds. This blade cut really well.

"Now I have memorized the sharpness of this sword." He took a ball with a black peach from his belt. "Yami item: Kibi Dango!" Dark item: millet dumpling. He crushed it in his hand and smoke rose in ominous billows from the smashed object. He sucked it up and not only did his arm heal but he had also transformed himself. Brown fur covered his arm, most of his torso, his neck, and his cheeks and chin as well, like a beard, giving him an ape-like appearance. Buju Soukou: Maen no Sou. Warrior Beast Armor: Demon Monkey Guise. His youki had also increased significantly. He threw the 'toy sword' back at Hiei, claiming it would no longer work against him. The jagan master caught it.

"Funny. Let's try and find out."

Juri announced the beginning of the match. The words had barely fallen out of her mouth that Hiei instantly closed in on Kuromomotaro. He slashed, but his sword harmlessly shattered against his opponent's furry arm. He quickly backed away. Then a hand-to-hand combat began with the fire demon always nearly avoiding the blows. However, he could not win by only defending. He took a hard punch in the guts before he was struck down on the head by his enemy's two hands joined into one fist. The force made him slam into the ground and slid until he crashed through a wall. Hiei, that Hiei, had been blown away. The ecstatic audience started chanting 'kill him' kill him' 'kill him'.

Kurama understood that each youkai of the opposing team possessed their own specific dark item that enhanced their abilities. And then, Kuromomotaro carelessly disclosed the workings of his own powers. His body completely memorized the offensive abilities of an opponent by the damage it took. He cut his arm with the sword to memorize its power. And in order to overcome it, he ate one of his kibi dangos which increased his strength and endurance. With that, Hiei had no chance of winning... The Uraotogi Team and most the audience were sure of it. Kuwabara and Kurama grew quite worried for their comrade, but Akari trusted him. Hiei will win, even though this fight might prove more difficult than the previous ones.

At the foot of the hotel, Botan was pressing all the girls. The matches had already begun, if they were any later, they would miss them! However, one did not feel the slightest bit in a hurry. Shizuru had returned inside to tranquilly drink some juice to sober up. And just as the ferry girl was trying to remind her it was not the time for that, Keiko remembered she had forgotten Puu-chan in Yusuke's room. She ran back and uncovered Puu who had not moved a single step from under the sheet. She picked him up and apologised. It must have been uncomfortable. However, it was not for that reason that Yusuke's bunshin was looking so bad. She did not know but it was because Yusuke himself was in a terrible state after withstanding Genkai's trial for so long.

Peach Boy tried to goad the 'puny bastard' into using the jaou ensatsu-ken. The little youkai fell for the provocation. He stood up and walked forth before taking off the cloth covering his third eye. The jagan opened.

"If you like fire so much, I'll let you have it." Black flames surrounded his small body. His youki rose tremendously. And yet that wasn't quite like when he had fought against Zeru. Kuwabara just wanted his teammate to use to reduce that arrogant and selfish bastard to ashes and shut him up. But the fox knew the kokuryuha couldn't be shot. For him to summon the black dragon which could be seen as the embodiment of the Demon World hellfire, he needed to use his own youki as bait and continually release a vast amount in order to lure it here in the Human World. In his fight against Zeru, Hiei had been in his best condition, and still he didn't have enough youki. As a result, his right arm had been nearly devoured. Right now, his youki was only betwwen 60 and 70%.

"60%? You're saying that with that much incredible youki, that's guy's only at 60%?!" Kazu exclaimed, incredulous.

"It's impossible for him to summon the Black Dragon in his current state even if he wanted to. And even supposing he could, he would not be able to withstand it and would likely be devoured." Kurama explained. That was the exact same conclusion Onji had reached. Nonetheless, Hiei lunged and shot the Ensatsu Rengoku Shou (Immolating Purgatory Scorch). Kuromomotaro's abdomen and left face were very, very badly burnt.

"Hn, I don't need to call the makai flames for the likes of you. The earthly flames are enough." The small youkai was scorning his opponent, but it wasn't over. The ape-like demon started laughing smugly and maliciously. Now he had assimilated the pain they inflicted. He crushed another sphere and sucked the smoke up and transformed again and blue scales and golden feathers covered his body. Machi no Sou, Armor of the Demon Pheasant, with this, Hiei's mortal flames could no longer work against him.

And so, Kuromomotaro leapt, dived at his opponent and punched him across the face. The Urameshi Team member was sent flying but soon recovered and spat a little blood. He dodged another blow and tried to confuse his enemy by running around him at high speed and attacking suddenly from behind. The tall demon swung and missed, and using the opening thus created, Hiei made a wall of fiery punches that crashed on his adversary's torso. However, Peach Boy suffered very little damage compared to the power behind this attack. He had really reinforced himself. The fire youkai barely avoided a punch that made a hole where he had been not a second earlier. But suddenly, Kuro appeared right behind him and kicked him down. The member of the Uraotogi Team started gloating. Whether in speed or offensive power, Hiei was no longer a match for him! He was nothing! The small demon stood up with difficulty. He had obviously suffered quite a lot but nontheless told his enemy to stop dreaming.

Kuromomotaro, just like his teammates, was certain of his victory. Not the sword, nor the flames could work against him. He could use up to three dumplings in one fight, the monkey, the pheasant, and the dog. Today he had used two, which meant that Hiei was really tough. Even so, in his current form, he could kill that Hiei without haste. However, they shouldn't take that chance. It was best to eliminate him before he could react. Peachy taunted his opponent again saying it must feel terrible not to be able to use his Kokuryuha, but he still won't go easy on him. He will finish him with his final dumpling! He crushed the third sphere, sucked up the smoke, and transformed again.

In Keiko's arms, Puu-chan was feeling very unwell. The girls were worried about him since he's been in pain for several hours. Could something have happened to Yusuke? And indeed, Yusuke was still rolling on the floor and writhing in pain and puking blood because of Genkai's trial. The old woman was still here. No matter how it pained her emotionnaly to see her disciple suffering so much, it was her duty to watch him to the very end. He must not forget he wasn't alone. She and Akari had gone through the same pain, his comrades were also thinking about him, and there was Puu.

Kuromomotaro's feathers disappeared to be replace by brown fur again through different that the ape's. His ears, fangs and claws grew and became sharper and pointier. His hair turned silver and grew and his face elongated and became more canine and muzzle-like. Maken no Sou – Demon Dog guise. He had powered up again and was going to rip his body to shreds with his claws and fangs! Hiei dodged a few attacks, although one made tears in his light blue top. He closed his eyes and opened them again, a rather grumpy (but kinda childish and cute) expression on his face.

"Well, well, I never thought I would have to use that technique." With a tap of his foot on the pommel of his broken sword, he made the object fly into his hand. His opponent told him to stop with the worthless psychological warfare. Bluff won't work. "No. It's a crude technique that bears such an unpleasant image that I seriously don't want to use it." He continued, looking a hundred times grumpier.

"A technique so terrible that even Hiei is reluctant to use it?!" Kuwabara began.

"Just what kind of technique is he planning on using?!" Kurama agreed. Akari kept quiet but she had this feeling in her guts like a certainty that the punchline of this situation was going to be quite ludicrous as it almost always was.

"Those will be your last words in this world!" Kuromomotaro pointed and charged. In an instant, he gripped Hiei in his claws while his fangs closed on his shoulder and neck. Blood flowed from the fire demon's wounds but also from the other youkai's back. A flaming sword was sticking out of Kuro's back. Hiei slashed and broke away. The chunks of his enemy's body fell like a pile of cubes and went up in flames. In Japanese folklore, Momotaro was born out of a giant peach sent by heaven and allied himself with a dog, a monkey and a pheasant by giving them dumplings before going to slay a band of marauding oni. And here he was the true demon and was slayed. What a turnaround indeed.

A sword of flames. But that wasn't an ordinary one. As Kurama pointed out, Hiei had mixed his own youki with the flame, instantly making it sharp enough to slice through Kuromomotaro's toughened body. Kuromomotaro was dead before he even reached Hiei. What an incredible fighting sense he had... Kuwabara noticed it looked a lot like his reiken but the power was incomparable.

"Hm? Hey, look there, you! Are you saying that my reiken is crude and bears an unpleasant image?!"

"Hn, what do you think?" Hiei smirked back at him. Kazu immediately flew off the handle, and for once, Akari chose not to make things worse (by telling Hiei that he was asking too much of Kuwa by telling him to think) but actually decided to comfort her fellow human.

"Now, now, leaving the crudeness and image aside, there's no question about the effectiveness, right? All that matters is that it works. It's because he's too picky that he had such a hard time." She patted his shoulder with a sweet smile. That said, she had not denied the crude part and used the chance to take a dig at Hiei while she was at it.

And so, judging Contestant Kuromomotaro unable to fight, Juri announced Hiei the victor, to the crowd's great displeasure.


Author's note: I could finally take some time to post. As every single person who answered my question concerning Akari's love interest chose Kurama and he also has my vote, Kurama will be the love interest. But I'll still keep Hiei as jealousy issue. That drama should keep everyone on their toes :3

Well, I'm sorry to say this but I'll be taking a break from YYH for now. The part of the story I'm currently writing on word (the last match against Toguro) is very important since I'm putting in something really nice and I don't want to mess it up. So I'm distancing myself for a bit so I can have a fresh outlook. I have no idea how long it'll last but it shouldn't be -too- long. Anyway, no YYH chapters for a time. Meanwhile I'll be concentrating on Gundam Seed. Sorry again for any inconvenience ^^.