File 30: Anima
And so, judging Contestant Kuromomotaro unable to fight, Juri announced Hiei the victor, to the crowd's great displeasure. Koto commented about a great turnabout victory by sacrificing the flesh to cut the bone. However, despite his victory, the little demon looked twice as grumpy as before because of Akari's barb, and because of the pain of his shoulder injury. And watching him return to his side, Shishiwakamaru was smirking. Just as he had planned, Hiei's wounds were deep. The problem was that human elemental. She had noticed too, and overcoming his protests, decided to heal him.
Botan led the girls to a crossroad in the forest. She stopped and looked around, shielding her eyes. Keiko thought they were lost again. Yukina didn't want to miss Kazuma's match, especially since, as Shizuru said, they had gone and made it to that blood-boiling, heart-pounding semi-finals. If they were late, they'd regret it for the rest of their lives. The ferry-girl 'confidently' chose a path... that they had already taken before. And to think she had been the one who told them to leave it to her as she knew shortcuts... And so they decided to return to the hotel for now. While in the cave, Yusuke was still screaming, panting, sweating, bleeding, writhing... and refusing to give in.
In the stadium, Hiei wanted to appear again, just like Kurama... and unlike Kuwabara who wanted to appear last. He was the (interim) captain after all! Akari couldn't care less about the results. Unable to focus, she was thinking of her grandma and Yusuke. Shishi rolled the dice. The third match would be Kurama versus Uraurashima. The two contestants advanced. The remaining Uraotogi Team members appeared confident despite their apparent disadvantage. Fate had chosen well, all was working out in their favor. The first two had been for laughs, sacrificial pawns who had done well damaging Hiei, according to plan. And now Uraurashima... was the most ideal man for defeating Kurama. As soon as Juri announced the beginning of the match, the two demons started whirling their lashing weapons, namely a fishing line and a rose whip.
The original legendary character, named Urashima Taro, was a handsome young fisherman of average height with long black hair. He rescued a small turtle being bullied by children, and as a reward, was invited to the palace of the Dragon God under the sea where he learnt that the small turtle was in fact the lovely princess Otohime. They married, but after some time, he wished to return to his village and the princess gave him a strange box, the tamatebako, which would protect him from harm as long as he didn't open it. However, centuries had actually passed on earth and his home and village were gone. Stricken by grief, he opened the box, was engulfed by white smoke, and became an old man.
With that in mind, Uraurashima was the complete opposite. He was by far the shortest member of the Uraotogi Team. His body was slightly endomorphic and consisted of short legs, a rather stocky torso and a round face with a wide chin, and a small, slightly-protruding nose. His short jet-black hair, was slicked-back, leaving just a few small bangs hanging down the middle of his widow peak forehead. Personality-wise, he would certainly prove a merciless, dishonorable and deceptive coward.
Ura made the first move, quickly slashing his fishing line at Kurama, who blocked the attack with an immediate crack of his rose whip, thus commencing the combat. The short one proved unexpectedly skillful. Koto commented about an 'incredible exchange' and the wall of sparks between the contestants. However, all Hiei and Akari could see was Kurama playing around. He couldn't decide on a method of attack before he had determined the nature of his opponent. That was his bad habit.
And indeed, the fox was troubled. His enemy didn't seem to be putting his all into the fight. Soon, he received a telepatic message asking him to keep attacking while listening. Uraurashima had request. He wanted Kurama to kill him. Shocked, the kitsune asked what he meant. He replied that he and his team existed as the figures born out of the evil thoughts of nursery tale characters and were intended to take revenge upon those who, in the name of right and morality, closed their eyes all their inconsistencies and discarded them. Kurama too, must know the tale of Urashima Taro. Why was he given a treasure box that he was not allowed to open?! Those types of questions and complaints became the evil distracting thoughts from which they were born. But Uraurashima had given up on revenge. He could no longer go along with the way Shishiwakamaru and the others were thinking. Humans learned all kinds of things by reading their stories. That was where their role ended, and that was more than enough. In the next moment when he would go after him, he would lose his balance. Kurama was to use that to kill him and get it over with. Feeling empathic, the fox agreed to the plan, but not to kill him. Even though the reason for his existence had changed, he could live on. Kurama himself was proof of that. Ura thanked him for his kindness.
Soon, Ura pretended to trip. That was the cue. The kitsune cracked his rose whip, intending to hit his opponent just hard enough to drive him unconscious. However, just before the weapon made contact, the Uraotogi team member suddenly dodged the attack, shifting behind Kurama's back and slashing him with his fishing line. Slightly wounded and exceedingly shocked, Kurama lost grasp of his rose whip which turned back into a rose and fell to the ground. Uraurashima gleefully and maniacally laughed at Kurama's naivety.
"To think that you'd trust me so easily. Your good-naturedness will prove fatal, you big dimwit." He stepped on the rose, crushing it underfoot, like he had trampled on Kurama's trust. "For someone as sharp as you are, you're pretty susceptible to tears and tragic stories, huh? Those of us from the Uraotogi Team who are born out of evil thoughts would never think of mending our ways!" He mocked, cruelly and sinisterly smirking at his seemingly fallen and hopeless foe. The fox spent no time lamenting on how he had been cheated and stood up. "Now, I'm going to take my time as I torture you!" Ura cracked his weapon.
The fox jumped out of the way and ran, closely followed by the lashings of the fishing line, until he reached the edge of the ring. The arena was surrounded by a force field supported by fishing lines.
"You finally noticed? All those attacks just now weren't meant to defeat you. They were to seal you up in this kekkai." And now, that the fox could no longer escape, Uraurashima produced another yami item: the gyaku tamatebako. If you knew the legend, the effects of this item of darkness, the reverse treasure box, could be easily guessed. Instead of making its owner older, this one would make everyone but him younger. "I hate those of you who are taller and better looking than me. Not to mention you're going out with THAT girl, aren't you?"
At this, the fox's eyes widened almost imperceptibly while Akari's became more like saucers... She had completely blanked out. 'You're going out with THAT girl, aren't you?' The words kept echoing in her head and her panicked mind raced frantically trying to find who he was talking about. She had seen many girls ask him out but he had turned down each and every single one of them. Was it true after all? Did it mean he already had someone? How come she didn't know about it while that trash did?! Was it someone she knew? Why had she never seen her?! Why did Kurama never mention her?! Who?! How?! Since when?! Well, given his looks and personality, it would be strange indeed if he didn't have someone... But still! He could have told her! Or was he scared of her reaction had he told her about his girlfriend? Why? No no no no no, more importantly, what was she feeling hurt and upset and frustrated and angry and fearful about?! She should be rejoicing!
"Having her as your teammate and as your woman, isn't it unfair? That's why I'm going to return you to an age even before you were a baby! Then I'll beat you to death!" He opened the box and the ring was engulfed in white smoke. No one could see anything.
"I can feel it! I can feel it! I can feel your youki rapidly growing weaker and weaker!" Uraurashima rejoiced maliciously... until he could no longer feel anything. How come?! His aura shouldn't have just vanished completely like this. And the second after he said that, he felt an incredible youki, cold, feral, vicious, merciless, overwhelming... the youki of a bloodthirsty beast... and he felt fear like he had never felt before... Just what was this terrifying youki?! He was sure he had sent Kurama back to before he was a baby!
Everyone in the stadium felt them... but few understood and rejoiced. And then... you could rejoice for different reasons... And through the smoke he appeared. Taller than before, with long flowing silver hair, slanted, ruthless golden eyes, a white sleeveless yukata, prominent silver fox and a silver fox tail.
"I never thought the day would come when I'd return to this form again..." A cool and deep voice trailed off. "... to my demon fox form..." A heartless and supercilious smile appeared on the cruelly beautiful man's lips.
"Y-youko?! T-then you're... the legendary youkai... the infamous, abominable and terrifying bandit... Youko Kurama?!" Ura stuttered fearfully and stumbled before falling on his behind.
"Now then, it's time for punishment. Your offense in angering me is a serious one."
Outside, Kuwabara was wondering who this acute youki could belong to. Hiei and Akari smirked. Of course it was Kurama's. The girl had snapped out of it at last when she had felt that youki. She should be concentrating on the match. Whatever the truth was about his girlfriend, that damn fox was going to get it later... But still... what nice youki... what agreeable spine-tingling shivers... had she been a cat, she would have purred... now if SHE could fight him on the ring instead of that trash... well she should at least be thankful that he brought such a box with such wonderful effects...
Kuwa couldn't believe this could be Kurama's innate youki. Even Hiei had no idea it would be this great, it made him wish to take him on once. Sentiment that was totally shared by the pink haired reiki user. They had the same expression on their face. Youko Kurama had been among the most feared thieves in the Makai. And then he had been seriously injured and forced to escape to the Ningenkai where he had merged with the body of the child who would be born as Minamino Shuichi. And the two began to live as one.
Hiei was remembering Goki's first meeting with Kurama in the forest. It had been the time when they would decide whether they would form a team to steal the Shadow Sword, the Orb of Baast, and the Mirror of the Forlorn Hope. Goki was mocking Kurama's current form. How pathetic, possessing a pasty human to survive after having been chased by that hunter... If he didn't show his original self, he would never believe it. Kurama had smirked back.
"Unfortunately, that's impossible. It's closer to say that we're merged together rather than I'm possessing him. So while I'm Kurama, I'm also Minamino Shuichi."
"Don't make me laugh! This huge job has us stealing the treasures of the Reikai! Do you think I'll be fine if we team up with that bastard?! Huh, Hiei!"
"Why don't you test him out yourself to see whether or not he has the skills, Goki?" Hiei smirked back.
"That's a good idea. I haven't seen any blood recently. Right, Kurama-san?" Goki mocked again, but he soon lost his smugness and the color of his face when the fox had let out his youki and bloodlust. It was true he didn't have the same degree of youki as before, but in exchange, he had found himself with something to protect. If it was for those people, then he would become stronger than before. He held out a rose, and as Goki still was not convinced, he turned it into a whip and, in a second, passed him by, cutting all the trees around him. Goki claimed he had just been joking and they should get along just well with each other.
"Kurama, you're far stronger now than you were then." Hiei affirmed, his red eyes intent on the smoke that covered the ring.
"Now, how shall I cook you?" The youko wondered, his tone and expression beautifully cruel.
Since the audience couldn't see a thing, Koto asked a commentary about the situation from the referee. But all they could hear was a baby girl's voice saying it was impossible for her. The kitsune took a seed from his long silver hair and fed it his youki and a horrible red plant burst from it. Shokuyou shokubutsu, demon-eating plant, a red root-based plant with a huge fanged mouth at the end of almost each root. One had coiled around Kurama's strong arm for stability. Drool dripped on the ground and there was a swishy sound and smoke as it burned.
"This thing has acidic saliva, you see. It will likely dissolve your bones and such in less than a minute. It appears to be in a bitter mood because it is so hungry. Shall we let this apparition-eating plant devour your body?" The demon fox coolly suggested. Ura scrambled back hurriedly, begging for his life.
"I'll do anything you want, just spare my life, please!"
"Then talk! What is the secret of this smoke?!"
"I don't know!" The roots crept further until they were right before him. "I swear I don't! I got it from Shishiwakamaru! He must know!"
"Tell me everything. If I feel that you're lying I will sic this on you without mercy!"
"I-I'm not even Urashima! I was taken in by these guys who said that if I won, I could get something I wanted! I-it wasn't just me, Kuromomotaro... and Makintaro... they were the same! All of it-..." Suddenly, a sword pierced the kekkai before piercing through the imposter's throat that transformed back into its real self: a pig-like illusion beast. The plant vanished. But for someone to be able to break through the forcefield that easily...
Because of the hole, the smoke started clearing away. It was Shishiwakamaru who had thrown the sword and killed the beast. They stared at each other for a time.
"W-what is this?" Koto commented. "Appearing inside the smoke is a fearsome yet handsome silver-haired youkai! And down on the ground... a-an illusion beast!? Neither of them is of the same form they appeared at the beginning of the match. Which one of them is it that has won?"
Kuwabara was amazed at Kurama's original appearance. Hiei had his eyes narrowed, probably wondering what would happen if they fought each other. Youko Kurama turned his golden eyes toward Akari and bore into hers.
You've been pierced by my darkness, it is a thorn you'll never pull out.
Her breath caught in her throat as a strange smile appeared on his lips.
My eyes aren't the only thing that you stole. I'm imprisoned by a love that is cruelly beautiful.
He closed his eyes and faced forward again as he returned to the appearance everyone else were familiar with. Same with Juri, who announced Kurama the winner. At 3-0, the Urameshi Team was leading by far. Shishi jumped on the ring and took his sword back.
"Not only were you useless but also a traitor, huh? Well, as an illusion beast face with that much youki, I guess it couldn't be helped. So then, shall we continue the matches?"
During that time, the girls were still walking around in the forest... Botan said the matches had already begun, Shizuru wondered if the boys had lost already, although if that were the case Akari would save them only to kill them herself... Yukina was concerned about Kazuma-san... and Keiko was lagging behind when she noticed Puu's very worrisome state. He seemed to be in extreme pain, and since he was supposed like a clone of Yusuke's soul, then right now Yusuke too was... and indeed, he was. Suddenly, Puu broke free out of Keiko's arms and flew away under her anxious gaze. She whispered Yusuke's name. She couldn't know about it but whether he would live or die, the answer would be soon.
Shishiwakamaru cast the dice. He would fight for the Uraotogi Team while it resulted in a free choice for the Urameshi Team.
"Finally, it's my turn, eh? Well, who is it going to be? Who will be first to die?" He confidently walked forth. It was then the female members of the audience went crazy and started squealing like mad and banners cheering on 'Waka-sama' appeared all over... then again, some wished he wouldn't kill 'Kurama-chan' since he was hot too, although they were called fickle.
"Shut up you lousy floozies! What the hell do you take this hall of fighting for?!" Kuwa yelled in both jealousy and genuine annoyance, though of unknown ratio.
"Hey, you there, with the goofed-up face." Shishi pointed at the loud punk.
"Eh? You mean me?" The orange head cluelessly pointed at himself. At his right, Hiei was turned in the opposite direction, his arms crossed. And at his left, Kurama had also turned away, his hands in his pockets.
"Right, I mean you. Isn't it about time for you? You've just been standing there so you're free, right?"
"Hey, who are you calling a goofed-up face?!" Kazu almost climbed onto the ring to goof up the poster boy's face.
"Nicely put." Hiei said.
"He may be our opponent, but that was a fitting expression." Kurama confirmed.
"Even if that's the truth, you should keep quiet. You're fellow guys and teammates, aren't you?" Akari scolded them, though that wasn't exactly what could be called a 'follow-up', especially given her careless tone and sleepy face. Kazu fell down. Usually, the fox's and the girl's roles would have been reversed, but here, Kurama had a reason to be like this with Kuwabara. He was in the way. He couldn't let him fight Shishiwakamaru. But that was the case for both guys. Hiei wanted to fight since he seemed to be the most challenging one. Kurama said he'd be the one to go to allow Hiei to recover his youki for the finals. But the small red eyed youkai knew that the true reason behind the kitsune's wish to fight was so that he could get the secret of the smoke out of his opponent, however, this could become a distraction that would trip him up. And Kuwa couldn't let himself be insulted without doing anything.
"You're fools if you plan on beating me." The contestant of the opposing team commented with a condescending smile. "Or Akari, will YOU fight?"
"I'll pass. This whole round is too boring for me to go out of my way to come up when my name hasn't appeared... you... just like the guys the before you... and the one after you..." Akari turned around and yawned, a tear at the corner of her eyes, her arms behind her head.
"What did you say?!" The blue-haired demon bellowed. She smiled innerly when his expression changed. Well, she admitted he was better than the others by a hair's breadth and that he was indeed reasonably good-looking. But whether teasing him or fighting, he was still not enough to take her mind away from her grandmother, Yusuke, Kurama, or herself. The others agreed. That was no place for her to come out. They (one) would be more than enough. She better stay out of this. And so on.
The way they would phrase it annoyed her an awful lot, but again, not enough for her to come out and go (although she nearly did just to spite and taunt them). So she let them quarrel before the fox decided to peacefully settle it with Janken. Kuwa, as he was extremelly good at it, was more than happy, and even more so when he learned that Hiei didn't know about it and was able to taunt him to his heart's content... – to the little one's anger and irritation - ... until Kurama explained the rules... though Kuwa still tried to confuse him (and was told off by Kura who wanted a fair match) and then cheat during the actual match... however in vain as he was unable to escape Hiei's sight. They had another (proper this time) match and another, and after a few dozens ties, one was eventually won by Kuwabara Kazuma.
On the other side, Shishi had also made his preparations and unveiled a transparent veil. After winning at rock-paper-scissors, Kuwa was itching to fight, and his opponent tired of waiting. Kuwa was also angry at the yapping fangirls. He was for quality over quantity. As long as Yukina was there, somewhere in the stadium, watching over him, he would definitely win. He almost fell again when Akari told him the other girls were not here yet, including his Yukina-san...
... Yukina-san who sneezed somewhere in the forest. Botan immediately made a cat face and started talking like a cat. So even Ice Maidens sneezed? The Koorime confirmed with a smile, although for the ferry it was definitely not because of a cold that her friend had sneezed... They started walking again. Keiko stopped. Shizuru went back to her and tried to reassure her. Yusuke was a strong boy so he was certainly alright. There was no need to worry. Besides, he had Keiko-chan to think about him so much. Keiko too agreed with a smile, although a rather gloomy one compared to Yukina's utterly clueless one.
Yusuke kept writhing. He repeatedly hit his head against the rock as if trying to fall unconscious or provoke a pain superior to the one that was already wreaking his body. He crawled, feeling so hot as if he was burning up. He collapsed. Just moving one finger left like his body was being torn apart. He couldn't move anymore.
"Yusuke, if you lose I won't forgive you okay? Bang!" Keiko...
Sorry, I may have had it here. If I fall asleep now, I'll probably never wake up again... ah... at least, at the very end, I want some water... even just one sip... And just as he thought that, water fell on his cheek and trickled to the corner of his mouth. He drank it. So good... it's as if it's been many years... Water? But why? Who? And with much willpower, the boy opened his eyes to see Puu, looking in a very bad state himself but relieved and in a much better mental state. With great difficulty, the 'bird' flew away, hitting himself a number of times along the way, and still struggling onward. He reappeared after a time, walking, using his long rabbit ears as hands to hold the water against his body. Urameshi called him a fool. The beast seemed even more worn out than the boy was. That's enough... stop it... Tears ran down his cheeks. Puu tripped, fell, and the water spilled on the rock. The creature looked at it, turned back, and took off again... only to fall again three seconds later.
"A Spirit Beast lives off of the nourishment of your soul. It's your alter ego. If you become mentally weak, the beast could die under your influence. Be careful." Koenma...
And yet, even though the boy was giving up, the beast was still trying to get up, trying to help him... because he cared, because he was kind, because he would never give up... was it the real him? Yusuke moved, struggling to get up, only to collapse again. Or was the real one this weak-willed guy? But then, rocks came falling down around them. Because of Yusuke's trashing about, the cave had weakened. Suddenly, there was that huge boulder that detached itself from the ceiling and came crashing down right on Puu. The human bolted upright. Blood gushed out from the strain and pain raked his body. But he endured. He ran, almost fell again, but caught himself.
"Pain you're in the way! Move it!" He roared like a lion, and his whole body engulfed in brightly burning reiki, charged, jumped, and shattered the rock with a kick.
Urameshi left the cave, his alter ego in his arms, his hair down, with an exhausted but libarated expression. He went to his master who was still sitting against a tree. The sunlight was warmly and gently beaming down on them. He asked her to treat the little one. She stood up. He seemed to have made the reikogyoku his own. He had passed the test. He should be grateful to him. Genkai had barely taken Puu in her arms that her disciple fell, fast asleep. She told him to sleep well. His real battle would begin when he would wake up.
