Chapter 22: Stumbling Warrior
Third POV
As Hayami continued to heal Hiei's burned arm, the last member of the Rokuyukai team who hasn't fought yet trembled in fear as he backed away. Telling that Rinku should be the one who should deal with the others.
"Onna, you shouldn't waste your energy on me." Hiei said, gently lifting her chin up to look at him,
"Hiei, my fight's over. It's one-on-one remember." Hayami said with a small smile, "I'd rather use it to heal your arm. You're pretty much in the worst condition as I am." She looked down, still proceeding with the healing.
Hiei gently grasps both her hands, making her look up at him in confusion.
"Hayami, I can handle this." He said, caressing her cheek with his good hand, which she leaned into his touch.
"Fine. But I'm continuing on healing you when we get back to the hotel." Hayami said, holding his injured hand,
"Sounds good to me, Onna." He said, eyes softening at her gaze.
Botan and Ranumi still giggled at the sight, mostly because they have never seen Hiei's softer side and knows that he only shows it to Hayami or to Yukina. They then saw the last team member of the Rokuyukai run away, only to be thrown back out dead.
Someone came in with a bottle of alcohol in his hand. "Oh crap, it's bright out here." The demon said stumbling towards the ring after drinking the rest of his beer.
"You're here?" Rinku asked in worry as his colleague passed him,
"Hey! Would ya tell those guys not to run away again. There's a fight to fight." He said walking towards the ring, mumbling gibberish along the way.
"Oh dear, a drunk madman has escaped to the ring." Botan said,
"Who drinks alcohol before a fight?" Ranumi asked sweat dropping as she watched the drunk demon gets excited and starts to ruffle Koto. "I'm starting to get worried about this." She said,
"Agreed." Hayami said as they watched the demon stumble around the ring.
"His spirit power is a lot less than Zeru's but for some reason, I've got a creepy feeling." Kuwabara said, "Watch out you guys."
"What could you possibly be worried about?" Botan said, "He's the alternate fighter and secondly he's a lush."
"Nah I don't know." He said,
'The fool may be right, something is foul. Even when he killed his teammate, I couldn't feel his strength.' Hiei thought as he held Hayami's hand.
"So, who's gonna take him? It hasn't been very long since the four of us fought our matches." Kuwabara said looking at his teammates. "Guess we should draw straws or something."
"Urameshi team, present your combatant." Koto said,
"All of you already had your share of fights." Ranumi said,
"If you don't bring up a fighter, I will have to disqualify." Koto said,
"No, no hold on a second." Kuwabara said before turning to the team, "I guess I have to take a toll with this fight. Unless of course if I can get Urameshi to wake up."
"That won't be necessary." Hayami said, having the whole team's attention,
"What do you mean?" Kuwabara asked, "And that's weird, where did he go?" He said looking around for the detective.
Hayami only looked at him and pointed her finger toward the ring. Everyone turned towards the ring to see Yusuke awake.
"Well, that's unexpected." Ranumi said,
"Indeed." Botan said in agreement,
"Waking up to the smell of alcohol." Yusuke said as he scratched his ear with his pinky, "Can't help but feel a touch of home. Thanks for saving a fight for me, Hayami." He said as he turned around to face her.
Hayami playfully rolled her eyes. Ever since she visited Yusuke's home, the whole place smells like alcohol which she was not used to it until a few visits. In a way, she considers the detective as the brother she never had.
'After all the explosions, a stink wakes him.' Kurama thought with a slight annoyance written on his face as he watched Yusuke,
"HEY TO ALL YOU STUPID DEMONS. I'VE BEEN TRYIN' TO GET SOME SLEEP HERE AND HAVE YOU CLEVER TRASH TALK LONG ENOUGH AND I'M READY TO KICK SOME ASSES!" Yusuke yelled to the entire stadium,
"Idiot." Hiei muttered to which Hayami just chuckled,
"Great way to make friends Yusuke." Keiko said from the crowd,
"It's perfect. Tell him kid!" Shizuru said,
"Yusuke never sees to amuse me." Ryuji said with a small smile on his face after hearing what the detective said,
"Yusuke are you sure you should fight now? I mean you've just woken up and it's been nearly an entire day." Ranumi said in concern,
"Ah gimme a break and relax Ranumi." Yusuke said stretching his limbs, "That's why I'm taking this jerk. I always take exercises in the morning." He said walking off to the center,
Everyone in the crowd then started to cheer on killing Yusuke.
"Geez, that's intimidating. Never heard so many hate one person so much." Kuwabara said,
"Ha, but can you really be surprised." Hiei said, "Yusuke has become something of a boogeyman for the apparitions."
"Yeah, I guess he has beaten a bunch of these bad guys' role models, but I've been helping Urameshi. So why don't they scream kill me?" Kuwabara said in question,
Hayami facepalm at his sudden question. "Maybe because you lose and that you're an idiot." She said,
"Hey now, they didn't know that before the fight." Kuwabara said sheepishly and sweat dropped at Hayami,
"I guess it's because Yusuke is a spirit detective and you're just a partner in crime in like Hayami." Ranumi said, "Yet now knowing that we're alive after all these years puts us second on the apparition's kill list."
"Well put." Hiei said to Ranumi which she smiled nervously,
'Even if Hiei will be my future brother-in-law, his gaze is still intimidating.' Ranumi thought as her sweat dropped and smiled nervously, turning her attention back to the ring.
'Yusuke you must be cautious. Hiei would never admit it, but attending the darkness technique was something he never desired to do. In truth, he had no other choice. In Hayami's case, she only acted out of anger, thus using her dragon with the amount of power that she gave in her demon form.' Kurama thought, 'To defeat Zeru's substantial power, Hiei had to unveil the technique, but it has cost him dearly. The dragon of the darkness flame is not meant to be controlled like the depths of the water dragon. Hiei might not ever use that arm again.' He looked at Hiei having his injured hand in his pocket while holding Hayami's hand with his other, which made him smile to see that Hiei found his happiness, even if he would never admit it.
After some commercial with the demon named Chu, the fight has begun from the demon's echoing movements. Chu kept moving around Yusuke and in one quick movement, he punched the detective with five punches, launching him into the air.
'Five? Impressive.' Hiei thought, seeing as it happened quickly for everyone, he saw the exact number of punches Chu attacked Yusuke and slammed him on the ground.
"That's quite the beating." Botan said worriedly,
"Yeah, and he's not even fighting back." Kuwabara said,
Chu then approaches Yusuke but came off guard by the detective quickly getting up as he made attempts on punching him in the head, but the demon swiftly dodges it. After blocking an attack from Chu, Yusuke was being punched over and over, causing him to stumble back a little. Yusuke went back on attacking him forward, but like before, Chu kept dodging.
"Try hitting him with your feet! Or your elbows maybe! Yeah, he won't expect that!" Kuwabara suggested as he yelled at him,
"Kuwabara!" Yusuke said to him, but kept his focus on the fight, "Do me a favor and shut the hell up!" He said, managing to strike a punch to the face at Chu, causing him to fall to the ground.
Chu's body then disappeared from the ground and came behind Yusuke, giving him a kick to the shoulder as the detective went flying off the ring, crashing into the wall.
"MY, SUCH A DELICIOUS ATTACK! I WISH WE HAD TO WATCH THOSE BLOWS ON THE INSTANT REPLAY SCENE, SUFFICIENTLY, YUSUKE IS NOW UNDERNEATH A PILE OF RUBBLE!" Ko to said looking to where Yusuke crashed,
Chu burped and fell on the floor on the ring, asking to give him more beer. After Koto translated it to the crowd, Chu grabbed her and started petting her head.
"Why would he want more if he's gonna keep getting hazy?" Ranumi asked,
"I'm not sure. Normally alcohol will make you drunk the more you drink, but in his condition, it's somewhat different yet similar in a way." Hayami said,
"Well, he definitely passes on that." Kuwabara said, "I just hope that he doesn't stay out on the ring like I did." He said a bit nervously,
"If that happens, then one of you would have to fight him." Botan said,
"Yeah, I was thinking about that. That's why I hope he gets himself back up." Kuwabara said looking to where Yusuke crashed, "Well if that happens, let's let Hayami fight him, seeing as she doesn't look tired at all hehe." He said looking at her nervously, which made Ranumi slap his head for suggesting her sister fight again,
Hiei snapped a side glare at him for ever thinking of letting his mate fight someone who has yet to reveal his true strength. Hiei held her hand tightly as Hayami just sweat dropped at Kuwabara's suggestion in bringing her to fight, though she was having second thoughts about fighting the demon.
As Koto was about to say ten, Yusuke jumped out from the rubble and landed on the ring. He then circled his left side, saying that he blocked in the last second before the impact. He then pointed his index finger, preparing his spirit gun, firing it at the roof of the stadium as parts of the building crumbled onto the crowd.
"W-What? Hey! Why did he go and waste his bullet?" Kuwabara asked,
"Good question, I assume that it's not a matter for bad aim." Botan said,
Yusuke blows his smoking finger. "My spirit gun, you should probably get to know it. I have three more left and one of them would probably kill you." He said, "Not too long ago I can only fire these once a day. Well, I was all scrawny back then."
"DARN IT URAMESHI! I'M THE ONE WHO'S GOT THE HONOR CODE, YOU COPIER!" Kuwabara yelled at him in annoyance,
Chu then was about to prepare his own secret move as he grabbed something in his pocket, having the team's attention to what his special attack is. He then pulled out a small can, saying that it was the strongest type of liquor there is, and he drank it all.
"Is it just me or is it his energy just rising up after he drinks whatever he had?" Ranumi asked in worry, at the sudden change of atmosphere,
Chu then began to power up, giving everyone a terrible suspension. That however got cut short, because Chu went to the edge of the ring and throw up.
"Well, that's expected." Hayami said bluntly with a hint of disgust in her tone as she sweat drop upon seeing this,
They then heard Rinku explaining Chu's secret move as they saw Chu get back up as his aura change back to what the atmosphere felt like from before the puking.
"I believe your suspicions are correct, Hayami." Kurama said to Hayami,
"Well, I suspected it seeing as he kept drinking and didn't seem to stop." Hayami said,
"What do you mean?" Kuwabara asked,
"Alcohol doesn't affect him in a normal way. Somehow, it serves him as a catalyst." Kurama said as Hiei hummed in agreement,
"How odd. So the chemicals in does drinks actually brings out his energy." Botan said worriedly as Chu began to create a sphere in his hand,
"Hey what is that stuff?" Kuwabara asked,
"It's his energy you lump." Hiei said, "He's creating his finishing move. If you look closely, I bet you could see alcohol mixed in with his energy." He explained as Chu created a sphere in the size of Yusuke's spirit gun blast,
"It's equal in power with Yusuke's spirit gun." Hayami said,
"Shouldn't we tell Yusuke that?" Botan asked,
"I think he knows." Ranumi said as both fighters ran to the side,
Chu threw his blast while Yusuke shot out his spirit gun, causing the two blasts to clash from energy to energy.
"Get him Urameshi's energy!" Kuwabara cheered as bought blasts cancelled each other and exploded,
"It's a draw." Both Hiei and Hayami said,
Yusuke and Chu then charged each other with punches, not bothering to block either attack.
"My gosh, they're not even bothering to block those headshots." Kuwabara said,
"This is pure offense, they gave up fighting with their brains a long time ago." Hiei said, "Now it's simply a matter of who can endure the most pain."
Chu landed a solid punch on Yusuke causing him to back away in recovery.
"Bad move." Kurama said in concern,
Chu began to create a larger sphere than before.
"Now he's creating it into an even larger blast. It's amazing seeing that he has much control over it." Hiei said,
"Yes, and with its sheer volume, Yusuke won't be able to block it." Kurama said,
Chu then threw his blast toward Yusuke, who is still trying to get up.
"He's off-balanced, he can't get up." Hayami said in worry,
'Do something, Yusuke. Hurry.' Hiei thought as the blast was headed right towards the detective.
"JUST GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Kuwabara yelled,
"He can't." Ranumi said in worry,
"SPIRIT GUN, DOUBLE!" Yusuke said firing two spirit guns at once, breaking through the blast as his spirit gun blast went towards Chu,
"It's breaking through!" Botan said,
"BE CAREFUL URAMESHI! HIS BLAST IS STILL GOING!" Kuwabara warned,
"Too late." Kurama said as both blasts made contact l, creating an explosion in front of the two fighters,
The smoke cleared out only to reveal both fighters gone.
"They both disintegrated." Kuwabara said,
"Kuwabara don't say that." Ranumi said, covering her mouth from shock,
Hayami looked up to see both fighters are fine. "Don't worry, he's fine." She said as the two landed on the ring, without their shirts on.
They then both started laughing at their dismay. Hayami noticed this and smiled softly, seeing that Yusuke seemed to be having fun and somewhat made a friend in the middle of a fight.
Chu then brought out his two knives, showing it to Yusuke.
"A knife-edge death match huh." Kuwabara said,
"This is going to be a pain." Ranumi said in worry as she unconsciously clutched onto Kurama's sleeve.
Kurama only felt slightly surprised and let her hold him, seeing that she shows empathy for the ones she cared about. Hayami saw this and smiled at the sight of her sister with the fox.
Chu and Yusuke took off their shoes and placed their right foot on the edge of the knife that was stabbed into the ring.
"So they're not allowed to use their weapons and that Yusuke couldn't use his spirit gun." Kuwabara said,
"Have you forgotten that Yusuke used up all his spirit power?" Ranumi asked, "He's most likely defenseless."
"Oh yeah. That sucks." He said,
"Chu is no different." Hayami said,
"Yes, he has also used up all his spirit power." Kurama said,
"Now that the fight has been reduced into hand to hand, it would be the one with the strongest head that will prevail." Hiei said,
"There's no chance." Kuwabara said,
Suddenly, dark storm clouds started to appear above the stadium as a cold breeze blew across the place. The light in the stadium began to dim as the fight started, having a spotlight over the two fighters punching each other in the ring. Punch after punch the two fighters kept punching each other without even bothering to block their attacks as they both felt their foot getting stabbed by the knives. Blood gushed out from their feet as they kept punching each other.
In the VIP committee area, Toguro and Karasu carefully watched the two fighters punch each other until one would fall. Karasu's eyes then fell toward Hayami who was standing next to Hiei.
"Oh, so the rumors are true then." Karasu said, "That the daughter of the great Lady Wakumi is alive."
"Not just her. It seemed that her precious family is also alive." Toguro said,
Karasu smirked upon seeing the princess of the ocean fighting with the humans in the tournament. His gaze took note of a white-haired demoness who was beside a certain redhead near the team. 'Then I suppose that doll is her precious little sister, how cute of her getting all worried over a human.' He thought as he gazed over Ranumi pervertedly.
His eyes went toward the crowd of demons and immediately spotted Ryuji who was carefully watching the fight. 'So, the dragon man has come to witness the fights.' He thought as Ryuji side glared at the gaze he felt from him, catching Karasu a bit off guard.
In the crowd, Keiko stood up and started running out of the crowd, heading towards the ring through the halls with Shizuru following from behind. Ryuji just stayed within the crowd, not bothering the demons who wanted to kill him. He knew that Keiko was worried for the detective and allowed Shizuru to follow her, only to tell her to be careful.
Eventually, Keiko got to the ring and started begging Kuwabara to stop Yusuke from fighting anymore. Kuwabara then explained why the team should fight with her, making her worries grow more.
"Keiko." Hayami called her attention as she faced her. "Let's just say that we were all forced and didn't have a choice but to fight here. It's not just a matter of surviving for our lives here. But also for the lives, we care about, which is why Yusuke and the rest of us are fighting here. To fight in order to protect the ones we cared about most." She explained as she looked at her with a small smile. "Keiko, take a closer look at Yusuke's expression." She said as Keiko looked at Yusuke to see that he had a smile on his face, despite all the pain he is enduring as the fight continues.
"The fight must end now or else it might never end at all." Ranumi said as she worriedly watched the blood keep flowing from the detective's feet.
"No, Ranumi. I'm certain that they're both standing on their last leg." Hiei said to her. "It's almost all over. The weaker one would crumble soon."
With that, a lightning strike came upon them as Yusuke and Chu gave both a hard head-but to each other. At the end of the suspense, Chu fell to the ground, cracking the tile with the hardness of his head.
As Koto began the count, Kuwabara cheered in victory, saying that he knew that Yusuke always had the harder head. After counting to ten, Koto raised Yusuke's arm, declaring that he won the fight and that his team won the first round.
Kuwabara helped Yusuke off the ring to meet up with his teammates. Only to end up hearing that they should kill the rest of the team Rokuyukai.
"Tch. Demon fans are so stupid." Kuwabara said, "A while ago, they were cheering on them to kill us, and now this."
"These demons came to see blood and the kills. They don't care about anything than that." Ranumi said as Kurama securely held her hand in comfort which she welcomed it.
"SHUT UP!" Yusuke yelled, having the crowd in dead silence. "IF YOU IDIOTS GOT SOMETHING TO SAY THEN SAY IT! SAY IT TO MY FACE OR SAY IT TO MT FIST!" He said raising his fist to them.
Hiei kept holding Hayami's hand as they both glared at the crowd of demons along with the whole team.
After what Yusuke said, the crowd was in dead silence and just shut their mouths up.
Right then, the team saw both the Toguros and an unfamiliar demon beside the younger one. Yusuke raised his middle finger at him as the rest of them glaring.
Hiei took noticed the growing anger in his mate as he tighten his hold on her hand to ease her anger for which she was grateful. Ranumi put up her brave face upon seeing Toguro clearly for the first time, but suddenly got shaken by the gaze of their other team member who was smirking underneath his mask.
The tournament fights have just begun.