File 34: Finals begin! Fox VS Crow!
Kuwabara was sitting cross-legged on the grass, intently staring at the wooden hilt in front of him. And he was remembering Suzuki's message concerning this Sword of Trials. Youki and reiki, just like fingerprints and voiceprints, were different from person to person. The Sword of Trials took that ki and made it into a blade. It would become a sword made only from his ki, a one of a kind in the world. However, no one knew what terrible side effects it might have. And so, full of doubts but aware of the necessity to become stronger, the human gathered his courage and cautiously poked the hilt with a twig. Nothing happened. Then he snapped, threw the twig and grabbed the hilt. He'd just have to do it! He concentrated his ki and the blade appeared. He soon fell on his knees, feeling like all of his energy was being sucked away. He looked up.
"What?! This is my sword?!" He exclaimed. He stopped the ouput and ran in search of Urameshi and Akari, eager to show them his new awesome secret weapon. But they were not at the hotel. He felt their presence toward the beach and saw light. He ran towards it. He felt the earth tremble. He looked down and saw Urameshi standing there, surrounded by reiki. Yusuke raised his joined hands before his chest, his elbows apart. Nearby, rocks fells in the sea. Kuwabara nearly fell down. He could barely believe that incredible pressure. The energy returned into its owner. Kazu half fell down half slid down the small cliff. His friend turned when he heard his cry of pain.
"Oh, it's you."
"Don't give me that 'oh, it's you'!" The punk retorted... and innerly wondered just how the hell much reiki that guy had in store. That also explained how he had been able to shoot that cannonball-like reigun earlier. The captain asked what he was mumbling about. "It's just that ki is different from person to person! As for me, I've got myself the world's only super dynamic strong reiken!" He boasted.
"You're as noisy as always." Hiei walked in from the corner. He was being as disagreeable as always but there was more than that. Kuwabara angrily told him to stop startling people by appearing out of nowhere. And then he noticed the VERY sorry state of his right arm... "It just wouldn't listen to what I said so I had to beat it around a little." The little demon answered like it was natural. He had spoken in a low and deep voice from which transpired a cruel amusement at the situation that scared the human even more and made him laugh nervously. That was ridiculous... what kind of guy was he?!
"At any rate now, all we need is for Kurama to come along, and..."
"If you mean me, I'm already here." The fox answered, revealing his presence behind him. "I've been here for a while now." He smiled. Kuwa laughed nervously again as he hadn't sensed his presence at all. "A-allright! The only one left is Akari!"
"Akari has been here for a long while too. Look." Kurama nodded towards the sea. Kazuma felt a breeze and first noticed the large depression in the sea. He looked, and a few meters above the surface he saw Akari, also surrounded by reiki, before, in turn, that reiki changed into swirling spheres of wind, water, ice, lightning, fire. Rocks detached themselves from the cliff and replaced the fire before the stones concentrated into one ring. The rotation speed doubled, tripled, quadrupled. A ring of fire was added, then a ring of lightning, ice, water, and wind. She continuously changed their axis. She expanded them like rings around a planet. She retracted them like a dancer's tools. She turned them back into reiki. The rocks dropped into the sea and the reiki returned inside her. The girl turned and noticed her teammates waiting for her with various expressions ranging from a fearful grimace (Kuwabara), to an excited smirk (Hiei), a sweet smile (Kurama) and an impressed grin (Yusuke). Kuwabara fell on his butt.
The next morning, the automatic door of the hotel opened, revealing a quite fervent Urameshi Team. They resolutely walked out towards the stadium.
They were watched by Botan who stood by the window in the girls' room. She was crying. Koenma and Georges entered to ask if she had properly taken Genkai over to the other world. She nodded and started sobbing again. She had never found her job escorting people to the Spirit World as painful as it was this time... even though the prince had informed her many times in the past about Genkai's matter. He told her to cheer up as the old master had entrusted everything to Yusuke and Akari. Georges reminded him it was time to go. Junior said his goodbyes and left saying it was quite busy. Botan was incredulous. THAT Koenma-sama? Busy? Even though he always seemed to have so much free time?
Outside the stadium, Juri commented about the seemingly endless line of waiting demons, while inside, at her desk, Koto couldn't help but feel a heightened anticipation over what kind of matches were going to unfold during these finals.
Behind the door to the arena, the Urameshi Team was standing in the darkness. Its members were all calm yet tense. Kuwabara broke the silence by complaining about Genkai's absence. She sure was cold that she wouldn't even come to see them off for the finals. Akari clutched her own arm. Kurama put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Hiei disdainfully despaired at how much of a naïve fool the human was, which quite angered said naïve fool.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize terribly for keeping you waiting!" Juri yelled out, back on the ring. "The Urameshi Team will now enter!" She pointed at a triangular door. As soon as the team came out, they were showered by 'Die!' 'Die!' 'Die!'. Many youkais had wagered everything they had on the annihilation of the Urameshi Team. Kuwa complained about those noisy guys that didn't even know etiquette, which badly reflected their upbringing.
"That's not something you need to worry about. At the end, probably only a tenth of them should be left. By the way I wagered that all of us were going to make it out alive. If you make me lie I'll kill you myself." Akari grinned sweetly.
"Are you sure you're allowed to bet money?" The fox questioned.
"Shut up. Don't sweat the details. Girls always need pocket money..."
"Ah..." Even though they all wondered what kind of pocket money that was.
The referee called for silence and announced the arrival of the Toguro Team. The door on the opposite side opened. Everyone held their breath. The seconds ticked and still no one. Yusuke's irritation grew. And then at last, the Toguro brothers came out, followed at a distance by Bui and then Karasu. The audience erupted in cheers and their chant changed from 'die!' to 'kill them!'. But while Yusuke was positively seething with anger and rage, Akari was strangely and unnaturally calm, which was in a way much more unsettling than her usual fits, and yet there was something inspiriting about it. There was no particularly strong change in her reiki or expression after seeing her hated enemies. She was definitely very different from the previous day. She seemed attentive and contemplative, as if waiting for something that would allow her to reach a decision that she was still struggling with.
It was then that everyone noticed something wrong. There were only four people on the Toguro Team's side while the rules stated that the teams fighting in the finals must have five members each and that there would be five one-on-one matches and whichever team first one three matches would be declared the victor. The Toguro Team still had no one to bring and the crowd was starting to get really impatient.
Outside, the fat, ugly, lecherous demon guard was also greatly discontent that he couldn't go see the matches because all those that couldn't buy a ticket wouldn't scram and kept complaining. Keiko, Shizuru, Botan and Keiko were just disappointed. The ferry girl had forgotten to take the tickets from Koenma and they couldn't enter either. Shizu suggested another break-through (and seemed quite eager about it) but Keiko didn't want to as she was scared of the consequences. But for all her protests, the school girl didn't have any other solution. Against all expectations, it was sweet pacifist Yukina who supported Shizu's plan the most. It was then they were spotted by the green lizard demon always trying to resell tickets at exorbitantly high prices. They recognized each other. And since they appeared to be in a fix, he kindly decided to offer them platinum tickets for 50 millions each. A great discount for beautiful ladies! Shizuru grabbed the precious pieces of paper.
"Oh my! Sorry about that, everyone! I had the tickets!" She waved the ones she had just snatched and hid them behind her back. Of course, the scalper did not take it lying down. "Everyone, I had these tickets all along, right?" She trailed off meaningfully. Keiko nervously agreed. And so did Botan. The youkai who didn't look very well commented about the bad joke they were pulling. "But they have our names written over them." She replied with such a patronizing attitude. And as proof, the girls all showed their tickets with their names written over them. Botan was still holding the pink marker used to write the names. The scalper froze. It was obviously the girls' victory. The other demons complimented the ladies, quite amused. That was quite a strong-arm move for them! The swindler had been swindled! The women cutely and politely thanked him for his great generosity and entered the stadium. When the demon admitted his defeat goodheartedly, some other mocked him. That was because he was a lecher at heart!
The discontent of the audience was reaching a breaking point. Juri warned the Toguro Team that if they didn't bring their fifth member, they'd be disqualified. Their captain smirked. The door opened. But instead of another superpowerful youkai, it was a human, Sakyo, the owner of the Toguro Team, who advanced. Shizuru was shocked when she recognized him as the man who had saved her twice. Everybody wondered what that guy could be plotting. It couldn't be that he was going to fight, right?
"Fight? No, I won't have you misunderstand. I only wish to watch the deaths of the Urameshi Team from the best vantage point. The possibility of my turn coming around is... zero!" Sakyo affirmed. The crowd cheered on this declaration of victory. "But in order to make these finals even more interesting, I have a proposition to make..." Again, the owner had managed to pique the audience's interest and curiosity. "Katsuyama Akari, why don't we make a bet? For the sake of this bet, let's consider a 1/100 000 chance that my turn should come. I do not have the martial prowess to satisfy the spectators so I believe we should make Younger Toguro VS Urameshi Yusuke the last match. You and I won't participate. We will believe in our team's victory. That's why I declare here and now that I shall stake my life on the Toguro Team's victory. And Akari, if you lose, your life shall be mine to control. I need your powers. I won't allow you to die... Is that fine with you?"
The whole stadium erupted. Everyone was discussing with mixed feelings the implications of such a bet. THAT Akari VS any of the remaining demons ought to be a more than worthy fight to watch. BUT they'd be deprived of it. But on the good side, if she didn't fight, Team Urameshi would be doubtlessly annihilated. That was so difficult and yet so exciting. Team Urameshi, though, didn't like the idea one bit. That guy was stupid. Why would they decrease their firepower like this on one of his whims?! That was totally absurd! However, Sakyo's eyes were fixed on the young girl who stared back at him unblinkingly.
"I'm on." Akari replied against all expectations.
"What?!" The others exclaimed and tried to dissuade her.
"I have one condition though. I will not intervene as long as the matches are one-on-one. But if one of your guys – for a reason or another – specifically targets someone other than his current opponent, I will take it that I'm free to do as I see fit."
"Alright." The enemy captain agreed with a smile. Yusuke, Kazuma and Kurama attempted to talk their friend out of it.
"It's fine. That is also my fight. I've always lost it until today, but now, I believe I can win. I believe WE can win." She smiled. It was such a sincere and beautiful smile. She had... truly become strong. They were convinced instead.
There was a 5-minute deliberation from the executive committee that no longer existed. The bet was validated. Now that everything had been cleared, the matches could begin. Karasu stepped forward and looked over at Kurama who frowned deeply. The black-haired youkai then put his index against his temple.
"... Bang!" He said mockingly. Easily riled, Kuwabara wanted to go first but the fox stopped him and walked forth.
"I'll go." The red head declared. Kazuma withdrew. Somehow, his teammate looked and sounded much scarier than usual. Better not stand in his way...
"The first match is between Constestant Karasu of the Toguro Team and Constestant Kurama of the Urameshi Team!" Juri pointed at each one in turn. The 'Kill!' chant echoed again as the spectators unanimously cheered for Karasu. Unanimously... or almost! As long as Keiko was there, backed by Shizu, Yukina and Botan, to cheer for the Urameshi Team, those measly demons should pack and go home! Though that still made Yusuke worried about her. Kuwabara was worried about Kurama. Was he planning to use that drug he had got from Suzuki? The fox replied he had already drunk it two minutes ago. He had already tried it several times. When it was taken in liquid form, it took a little time for the effects to appear.
"Several times?! Then you've already tried taking some of it before coming here?!" The human exclaimed, aghast.
"I'm not so daring as to use it abruptly in the middle of battle." The kitsune smirked derisively. Even though he did have a reckless side to him, he was not THAT rash either. He would have been certain to test its effectiveness beforehand. He leapt onto the ring. Kazu was still anxious though. But what Suzuki had said was right. One mouthful would allow Kurama to return to his original form for about 15 minutes... which was plenty of time to defeat that guy...
Both contestants stepped forward, and at Juri's signal, the mach began. Karasu asked his enemy whether it was really okay for him to fight as he was. He must have caught a glimpse of his power earlier... Had he come to get killed?
"I'll change soon enough. If it's to defeat you, I'll become anything."
"I'll count on it." Karasu raised his hand and his youki. Kurama opened his palm and a number of rose petals flew from his hand and surrounded him. He acknowledged that his opponent was incredible and he probably had no chance of winning in this form, no matter what he would do. However, he could achieve victory if he'd return to his youko form. But he needed to buy enough for that to happen and fight at a distance for now. He had to avoid being touched by Karasu at all costs. The Toguro Team member advanced without hesitation. A petal brushed his cheek and cut him. Blood oozed. However, it healed almost instantly. An array of petals sharpened to have a razor's edge... it was certainly elegant, but also very frail, weak, fleeting. Since Karasu seemed to be walking in so carelessly, his hands in his pockets, Kurama took the opportunity to attack. All petals sped towards the black haired demon, ready to slice him up.
But he extended his palm towards them and they detonated. It couldn't be! He hadn't even touched them! Kuwabara naively thought the petals were just exploding on their own. Karasu let out a mocking laugh. Kurama had got his power all wrong, hadn't he? Injecting his own youki into the body of whomever he touched causing an explosion from the inside... was not his power as he had thought.
"You cannot see the true form of my youki, that is to say, that is the difference between our spectral powers. I will ask you again. Are you sure you're okay in that form?" Suddenly, he seemed to disappear, but he had only leapt up. He vanished again and reappeared behind Kurama who barely avoided him. He kept attacking ferociously. The fox had the greatest difficulty to keep track of his enemy's movements. And it was clear to Akari that Karasu was purposefully toying with his opponent, pushing him to his limits, when he could easily kill him in the blink of an eye if he truly wanted to.
Just as the fox managed to put some distance again, the cruel-eyed youkai rushed at him. The red head jumped, summoned his rose whip and cracked it at his foe who again made it explode without touching it.
"You still refuse to give up even knowing the gap in our abilities. Most laudable. That is, after all, why I like you." The member of the Toguro Team charged again. However, while Kurama dodged the physical attack, he completely missed the other. An explosion occurred on his arm. It was a small one but the damage was still significant. He fell on one knee, clutching his wounded arm. Yusuke and Kuwabara cried their friend's name. Why hadn't he transformed yet?! Was that drug defunct after all?! But the kitsune trusted that drug. He just still needed more time to transform. Karasu taunted him. He hadn't even touched him. But well, he would give him a hint. It was something he could create and control similarly to how Kurama controlled plants. And that something... was in his right hand at this moment, though he was unable to see it with his current level of power.
But now, the black haired youkai had grown tired of talking. It was time for Kurama to die. Lastly, he materialized this spiritual object that he controlled by intensifying its manifestation so everyone could see it. It was a bomb! This one looked just like a dynamite bomb. He threw it at his enemy. There was a large and powerful explosion. Karasu jumped out of the smoke and skidded to the edges of the ring... and soon felt a stinging pain from the palm of his right hand, pierced through by a red rose. Blood was dripping down. He clicked his tongue and pulled it out, irritated by such a cheap trick, and the fact that he hadn't even noticed it.
Suddenly, everyone felt a terrible, powerful, ferocious, and ominous presence growing within the smoke, enough to make all the weaker demons shiver and whimper in fear and the heart of the stronger thump in apprehension. The smoke cleared and Youko appeared cold, calculating, vicious, merciless, and doubtlessly feral.
"That was a close one. Had this been Minamino Shuichi's body, it would have been blown to bits." He smirked coolly. His head and arms were injured and blood was trickling down the corner of his mouth too, sign of internal damage. And his composure did not show even the slightest hint of pain or faze. Now that the issue was uncertain, the match had gotten much more thrilling for everyone. Koto and Kuwabara were ecstatic. Yusuke was awed. This was the brutally cruel thief Youko Kurama. Even the crowd was excited! Hiei was smirking too. Akari was doing her best to remain neutral. Even now, Karasu wasn't going to be so easy to defeat. And Suzuki's drug didn't seem to have had the expected effects. Something was strange. What if things went awry? She trusted him. She trusted him... but even so, she was unable to quiet her uneasy heart. "I am pleased to meet someone from the class among the youkais with the ability to control things, the Quest class... but I am still going to kill you!" He declared with confidence after licking the blood on his thumb.
"Humph. It is you... who's going to die!" Karasu made two round bombs.
"I can see these clearly now. So those things hovering around you are the explosives you control, then?"
Without a word, the member of the Toguro Team sent his creepy bombs (with one or several eyes with somes a fanged mouth) at his enemy. The fox took two seeds from his hair, and grew them into roses that he threw at the bombs, piercing them and making them explode harmlessly.
"I get it now. If my opponent is a Quest class... that would explain why Minamino Shuichi is not yet up to the task."
""Not yet"... you say?" Karasu repeated, his tone angry and menacing after having been piqued like this. But then he regained his cool and laughed it off. "Will that be your excuse when you lose? You cannot beat me even as you are now." However, that claim didn't faze Youko at all as he was still scoffing and smirking self-assuredly. That annoyed Karasu even more. "Would you like to try it?" He created a dozen of round, one-eyed, bat-winged bombs and sent them after his enemy who easily avoided them. They were all destroyed when they hit each other. He dodged the others one by one with somersaults but they would return and keep chasing him. The black haired demon leered. ""Trace-eye" homing bombs. They are subordinate beings made from my youki. It is the power of the Quest class that allows the image to materialize."
"Have you heard of the plant known as the Ojigi weed? It's a perennial from South America which reacts to vibrations, to being touched, or to flammables by closing its leaves." The kitsune informed his opponent while still running around. The ojigi plant was also known as 'mimosa pudica' or the 'sensitive'.
"I'm not interested in botany." The Toguro Team member replied coldly. Kurama stopped. He was in the middle of dozens and dozens of explosives. "You're surrounded! This is what you might call a desperate situation."
"I'm not so sure about this." The silver haired youkai started chanting, increased his youki, and suddenly a number of large vines sprang from the ground in a circle around the fox and destroyed all the bombs in swatting motions. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw a monster-like plant. The stems were thorny vines. There were fewer leaves. And above all, each vine was terminated by a sort of head with a fanged, drooling mouth. "The Ojigi Plant of the Demon Realm is rather aggressive. It goes after anything that moves or is laden with flammables on its own." He boasted about his little 'pet'. "Woman, unless you have a deathwish, don't move." He warned the referee.
"Right!" The woman answered and froze when a head approached her. It then ignored her and turned to Karasu and opened its leaves wide, revealing a slit with more fangs. Instead of shying away and withdrawing like its human world counterpart, this one pursued anything it noticed and deemed as 'food' or 'dangerous'. And it appeared to have considered Karasu as an enemy... The plant attacked, leaving furrows where it touched the ground. The Toguro Team member leapt around, dodging them all. It was a complete reversal of the situation. Suddenly, more vines sprouted before Karasu who had nowhere to go. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
For Kazuma, that man was as good as finished, regardless of whether he was in that queer club or not! Hiei corrected him. It was Quest class. Had his ears finally gone bad too? But Kuwabara was in too great spirits for a proper retort. Unlike that stupid human, the little jagan user doubted that victory was so certain – and easy – just because Kurama had turned into his youko form. Karasu threw a hand grenade right at a gaping mouth. There was an explosion. But immediately after, another rushed at him.
"Your attacks do the opposite of what you intend." Kurama pressed his index against his own temple. "...Bang!" He was the one to mock this time. Karasu was caught. The impact made his mask come off and blood come out of his mouth. All the others wrapped around him until he completely disappeared in a ball of vegetation. "That took less time than I expected. I would have liked to play a few minutes longer." The silver fox complained. Koto commented about the amazingly quick end of the match. In this form, Kurama was truly overwhelming! Kuwabara and Urameshi cheered too. That only took five out of the given fifteen minutes! He scoffed and started leaving and as he did, he looked over at Akari. That indescriptible smile, that intense and magnetic gaze, that expression… in spite of herself, the girl felt her cheeks redden. Juri declared Karasu incapable to keep fighting and Kurama's victory. But a few seconds later there was a huge explosion. The kitsune turned around, shocked.
"Who are you calling incapable of fighting?" Karasu asked with a heavy threatening edge. He appeared practically unscathed. Juri fearfully apologised for her mistake. The match was going to continue. "I really liked that, Kurama. More and more, you really make me want to kill you." A malicious smile spread across his thin lips. The Toguro brothers remarked their teammate's mask had come off and advised Sakyo to step behind them. Karasu opened his mouth and seemed to suck in the air. His long black hair turned blonde and the power of his youki, which was already considerable, increased significantly. He had absorbed all the flammable materials around him through his mouth and had become an explosives shed. His hands were probably the triggers. He would consume everything in range. He clapped his hands together and spread them. And it was like he had pressed a switch. Everybody could feel it and nobody could stop it. All, and especially those closest to the arena, felt fear and the imminence of danger as if they had a time bomb glued to their arms. Even Kurama was very tense despite his current form. Karasu laughed maniacally.
"Die!" He yelled, spreading her arms. The power of the bomb increased again. He leapt and still laughing, swooped down straight on his enemy. The explosion even took part of the stadium. Many demons had been killed by the blast or the debris. The dark smoke rose to the sky through the gaping hole. Yusuke, Koenma and Kuwabara were somehow alright and getting up from the rubble. Only Hiei was perfectly fine and standing on the parapet with his hands in his pockets as always. He jumped down and joined his comrade. Only Akari had not moved a single inch from her original spot. And she didn't have a single scratch either. The debris were curving in an arch two meters before her, unmistakable sign that she had erected a barrier right at the moment of the explosion. Her arms still crossed and her eyes were still fixed onto the ring that was engulfed in smoke and dust. Kurama! What about Kurama?!
Pieces of concrete rolled down and Kurama stood up. He was alive. He was alive but no longer in his youko form and the explosion had done him more injury. The drug had lost its effect?! No way! It had only been six minutes! That should have worked for fifteen minutes! The fox was wondering the exact same thing. Tolerance? Had his body built up a resistance to the drug?
"It's a bad time to be thinking, but go ahead and say your prayers... That you'll die a painless death..." The Toguro Team member mocked. The kitsune growled and took a seed from his hair but was unable to turn it into a rosewhip. "It seems like you don't have enough youki left to turn a plant into a weapon. You probably can't even see youki anymore either, right?"
Kurama cursed, lunged at him, and launched a series of fast attacks with martial arts moved he had never used before. All his kicks, punches and sword hands were dodged in the nick of time. To Hiei and Akari, the fox was obviously planning something but would it really work?
"Were you addled from an injury?" Karasu wondered. "Coming so close to me is suicidal! Or maybe you have something you want to protect even at the cost of your life?" He taunted. Kurama's eyebrow twitched slightly. He leapt, evading the hand grenade thrown at him. Even if he couldn't see, he could to a certain extent calculate trajectories based on his enemy's movements.
"Since I can't see your youki, it makes no difference where I am." He projected him far backwards with a thrust of his palms enhanced by a portion of the already little youki he had left. The Quest class youkai skidded to a stop.
"That was a pretty good attempt... Or so I'd like to say." He rubbed his chest injury and took something out and held it for everyone to see. "That's what you were really aiming for, isn't it? A seed of shimaneki grass… old tricks won't work on me." He detonated the seed. The Urameshi Team was rather apprehensive. Fist-fighting was no use against that guy and he could even read attacks using plants. What was there to do?! "Let me commend you for injuring me not just once but twice."
Just as Kurama shifted his weight, something latched onto his leg and kept him immobilized. A sort of thin tentacle with a round bomb, a lit fuse, and an eye came out of the ground. It opened its fanged mouth.
"Gotcha!"
"My underground explosive: the Mud Bomb!"
It exploded, gravely injuring Kurama who screamed and collapsed. But he got up immediately after, although with much willpower. Akari's nails dug into her arm.
"Kurama, don't move! You're surrounded!" Yusuke yelled. And indeed, over two dozens of bombs were hovering all around the fox. If he moved...
"Even if you'd like to move, it must take all you have just to stand up, right? There's nothing you can do." Karasu taunted. "You can't call on Makai plants or even turn plants into weapons. It would be easy to just blow you to bits. But I won't do so." He extended his arm and explosions occurred on his opponen't left shoulder and right arm. Kurama screamed again and his pain echoed in his comrades' chests, tightening them them. And as he swayed, more explosives collided. His arms again, his back, his sides, his legs…. He fell on his knees. Blood stained his clothes, trickled down his arms and onto the ground. His body was twitching.
Akari's nails dug deeper into her arms. A red liquid beaded and dripped down her arms. Even though his suffering was so hard to watch, it was fine. He was still alive. As long as he was still alive, that was all that mattered. Something could be done about the rest. So he had to stay alive no matter what! Or she wouldn't forgive him!
"I wish I could place you at my side forever. But even if it's impossible with you, things will be different with her, so fear not. As your reward, I will let your beautiful face remain as it is."
It looks like you still haven't realized. Trembling, the kitsune stood up again with the best effort. What I was really after... my true target... your bleeding heart... He looked at his enemy' wounded chest. Now all I have to do is to summon a bloodsucking plant that loves youkai blood. You've got a terrible misunderstanding regarding my power. Even like this, I can summon Makai plants... In exchange for my life!
"Now shall we move along?" The Toguro Team member wondered as he made his bombs explode again. The abdomen, the flanks, the back…. Blood spurted. The fox cried. The pain, the excruciating pain, the blood loss, the energy loss….. His consciousness faded and he fell down. The crowd erupted in cheers. Once more the chant 'Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!' reverberated through the stadium. As Kurama was down, Juri started the countdown.
Aware again, the boy used all the strength he had left to raise his completely and utterly torn and battered body on his forearms. Blood had soaked his outfit which was now almost entirely dyed red and was dripping down like water from a cloth left in the pouring rain.
I'll burn up all my life energy in this final attack, my last shot!
Kurama looked sideways and his green gaze fell on Akari. After two seconds, he smiled.
"That's why I won't let you go. And I won't go anywhere either. I won't leave you alone. Because I love you."
He reported his attention to Karasu.
Akari's golden eyes widened and fear and dread clutched her heart to the point she couldn't even breathe. That smile... no... it couldn't be... He couldn't be planning on... he... He had promised... He had promised! Why was he saying sorry now? If he was truly sorry then he should do something and live! Her arms fell at her side and she staggered forward like a zombie, reaching out, unable to do anything, unable to say anything. Could she only watch the people she loved die before her eyes?! Genkai, her parents... And now Kurama?! They all had something they wanted to protect even if it cost them their lives... She knew it, she understood it... but... after all... she still wanted them to live...!
"There is no need for a countdown. There is only life or death!" Karasu prepared to give the death blow.
Wrong!
"Die!"
I'll never hand Akari over to you! I'll take you to hell with me!
Kurama howled and from his energy burning around him a Makai plant sprang forth and just as he sank into darkness, the plant stabbed Karasu and ravenously started gulping down his blood.
"A vampire plant... impossible..." The youkai muttered, blood trickling down his chin from the corner of his mouth. "There's no way you could summon this..." Soon, he fell backwards and the plant covered him. The shocked audience was completely silent. Yusuke and Kazuma cried Kurama's name. Akari was completely frozen, her eyes fixed on Kurama. She couldn't feel anything from him... Seconds ticked, one by one. Suddenly, she sensed a spark of life. It flickered and grew into a small candlelight. His finger twitched. He opened his eyes. It was there! He was alive! And that small light was definitely still growing!
He was alive... And surprised about it. He slowly stood up. Had his spectral power began to increase without his realizing? It wasn't that the effect of the drug had grown weaker. The power of the demon fox was returning to the body of Shuichi Minamino. His teammates cheered. Akari was so relieved she fell to her knees and finally started breathing again. Kurama was alive, and he had defeated Karasu.
Author's note: for those of you who haven't noticed yet, I've put a little progress report thingy on my profile that will be regularly updated.
