Disclaimer: I have not, do not, and will not ever own either "Rurouni Kenshin" or "Yu-Gi-Oh!".

Chapter 13

Yugi and Ryou sat back in disappointment. Kenshin's first fight hadn't been nearly as exciting as they'd thought it would be. He had proved himself to be an average fighter, barely holding his own against his first opponent. He won by a stroke of luck, more than anything else. How would he fare in the upcoming fights? The contestants, one of whom included Kaiba, on two of the other four mats had finished their battles in almost record time--opposed to the twenty minutes Kenshin had taken fighting his opponent. Maybe Kenshin wasn't as good as he thought he was. But, then how could he have beaten Bakura?

Suddenly, Ryou stood up. "I'm gonna go get a soda from the snack bar. Do you want something?" he inquired. Yugi shook his head, and Ryou disappeared into the crowd. Yugi stayed to save their seats. Ryou returned shortly, and they continued watching the fights. After two duels had taken place on three of the mats, one duel on the other two, the announcer came out to the middle of the floor again.

"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen! Round One has been completed, and 8 of the original 16 contestants have been defeated!" The audience roared, in agreement with the announcer. "And now, on to Round Two!" The crowd screamed again as the beginning duel participants walked to the mats. Yugi and Ryou leaned forward in their seats, trying to see if Kenshin was among the fighters. Sure enough the red-head appeared, walking out of the locker room last. Instead of walking over to mat #5, he walked to mat #1. The announcer introduced the fighters to the audience.

"Starting Round Two, we have on mat #1 Kenshin Himura vs. Hachiro Ukime. On mat #2, we have...," the announcer continued. Yugi and Ryou watched as Kenshin again bowed to his opponent before taking his stance. Hachiro looked to be somewhere around 27 or 28 years of age. He had a big muscular frame and stood head and shoulders taller than Kenshin. He laughed as Kenshin bowed.

"Yeah, that's right--bow to me. Yer gonna be beggin' me fer mercy in a minute, anyway," he sneered. Kenshin's face remained emotionless. He would have just taken his opponent out, but he had realized that he would have to prolong the fights if he wanted to derive any amount of enjoyment from them. Kenshin waited for Hachiro to make the first move.

Hachiro ran at Kenshin, swinging his bokken in a sloppy arc. Kenshin jumped out of the way, sighing mentally. His first opponent, Akino, had good technique, but lacked confidence and power to back it up. During their fight, Kenshin had noticed that his stance was good, if a little shaky, and his attacks were well executed. He needed practice using them in battle, but the form was almost perfect. Hachiro lacked kendo skills, but had excessive confidence and a moderate bit of power. He was just basically swinging his sword, counting on his strength to compensate. As Hachiro waited for him to make the next move, Kenshin noticed that his opponent had allowed his feet to get into an awkward position. Not wishing to drag out this particular fight, Kenshin copied Hachiro's opening move, showing him the correct way to execute it. As Hachiro tried hurriedly to get out of the way, he tripped and fell on his back. His bokken flew out of his hand as he landed, signaling Kenshin's victory. Kenshin didn't even bother with a reply to his stunned opponent, and turned and headed back to the locker room. As he passed mat #3, he noticed Kaiba had just finished off his opponent as well. I hope he can fight decently, Kenshin thought to himself. This will really be a huge disappointment if Kaiba is as weak as the rest of these fools.

Up in the stands, Yugi and Ryou were beginning to wonder if they'd been wrong about Kenshin all along. His first opponent hadn't paid attention to where he was going and stepped off of the mat, and now this guy had tripped himself and dropped his bokken! Kenshin had been incredibly lucky, so far. But, how long would that luck last?

Kenshin re-entered the locker room, and sat down on the floor to meditate. He didn't really need to, but it gave him something to do in the time between the fights.

By the time Round Two was over, it was almost noon. Once again, the announcer made his way to the middle of the floor. Several staff members had come out and were removing four of the five mats, leaving only the one in the center of the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The semi-finalist's have all been decided and the matches are about to begin! The duels will be fought one at a time. First off, we have Kenshin Himura vs. Jiro Raikoji. After that match, we will have Seto Kaiba vs. Ichiro Futai. Let the duel begin!" The audience screamed as Kenshin and Jiro stepped onto the mat.

//Oh, it's always nice to see familiar faces,// Battousai remarked, sarcastically. Jiro was none other than the black leather clad man they had met in the locker room. He had since changed into a gi and hakama, but he smirked at Kenshin anyway.

"Well, if it ain't the runt from the locker room. Ah' saw your first fights--nothin' but luck. Well, your luck's just run out," he said, rushing at Kenshin. "You're goin' down!"

Kenshin blocked his attack, but Jiro stayed on the offensive, forcing Kenshin to continually block. Jiro kept talking the entire time, hoping to distract Kenshin as he slowly pushed him to the side of the mat. "Ya know what the best thing about these here fights are? Any damage done to yer opponent is legal, s'long as they ain't dead!" he shouted with glee, swinging his bokken at Kenshin's shoulder, but Kenshin blocked. Kenshin saw what Jiro was doing, but made no move to counter it--yet. He waited until he was less than a few inches from the edge of the mat. Jiro continued his monologue, unaware of Kenshin's strategy. "Why don't you just give up now and run home, cryin' to your momma?" he asked, sneering. He thrust his sword forward towards Kenshin's stomach, expecting Kenshin to step back and off of the mat. Kenshin, however, stepped quickly to the side, catching Jiro momentarily off-balance at Kenshin's unexpected dodge.

"I've got a much better idea. Why don't you stop wasting my time," Kenshin said in a soft, deadly voice as he brought his bokken down hard on the small of Jiro's back, pushing him forward. Unfortunately, Jiro realized too late that his plan had backfired. He stumbled and fell onto the hard floor of the stadium. The crowd cheered as Kenshin was named the winner.

Yugi and Ryou weren't sure what to make of the situation. The first two matches Kenshin had appeared to win by default. But in this match, not only had Kenshin won, but he had used his opponent's strategy to do so! Maybe those wins weren't flukes after all... Kenshin was definitely a very clever person. They sincerely hoped they hadn't made a mistaken in assuming that he was on their side...

Meanwhile, in the back of Ryou's mind, Bakura was watching with interest. There was much more to the boy than the eye could see. The runt was impressive. It was obvious after the first two fights that Kenshin wasn't fighting at his full strength. He was holding back, only using enough to beat his opponent. Bakura was beginning to get a grudging respect for this red-haired boy. He was very clever and quick on his feet. I wouldn't have minded having him as my partner, back then, Bakura thought to himself, briefly reminiscing about the past. He quickly brought his thoughts back to the present. However, the time for any alliances we might have had is long gone. He has beaten his opponents thus far with ease, true--but he has yet to face Kaiba. And he's pretty good, himself, Bakura thought. Regardless of the outcome, Kenshin will be tired by the time that duel is finished... Bakura laughed as he started forming his plan.

Ryou shivered suddenly, drawing Yugi's attention. Ryou was a little pale, and his hands were shaking very slightly. Yugi looked at him worriedly. "Are you alright?" he asked, in a concerned voice.

Ryou brushed off his concern with a slightly forced-sounding laugh. "I'm fine. It's just a little cold in here," Ryou lied, easily. Yugi seemed to accept this and turned his attention back to the stadium floor.

Truthfully, Ryou had heard Bakura laughing. That sound chilled him to the bone, because it usually meant that something bad was going to happen shortly after. He only hoped that Yami would stop Bakura before he did any real damage.

After his fight, Kenshin had stayed out on the floor so he could watch Kaiba's fight. He hadn't had a chance to do so earlier, as they were fighting at the same time. Now, Kaiba and Ichiro were stepping up to the mat as the announcer made his speech.

"And now we have the second semi-final match between last year's champion, Seto Kaiba, and a long-time participant, Ichiro Futai. Let the match begin!"

Kaiba rushed his opponent, trying to end the match quickly. It was already 1:00, and he had a meeting to attend at 3:30. He wanted this tournament to be finished before then, so he was doing his best to end his fights quickly. Most of his opponents went down with only one or two hits. Ichiro, however, had other plans. He stepped to the side as Kaiba rushed him, and aimed for Kaiba's unguarded back. Kaiba swung around with speed that surprised even Kenshin, and managed to block the attack.

/Wow, he's fast. Much more than I had anticipated,/ Kenshin said, as he watched Kaiba and Ichiro exchange blows.

//Nowhere near us, though,// Battousai couldn't help but add.

/True, but we aren't going to be fighting using our full speed. Especially after the last three fights, I want to make this one last. Given Kaiba's apparent skills, that shouldn't be too difficult. This is going to be a fight to remember,/ Kenshin said, already eager to begin. He didn't have to wait long.

Kaiba and Ichiro both attacked at the same time, bokkens locked together as each tried to over-power the other. Kaiba was stronger, however, and threw Ichiro back. Ichiro, momentarily off-balance, was helpless to defend against Kaiba's next attack, and fell off of the mat. The announcer declared Kaiba the winner, and announced a five minute intermission until the start of the final round.

Kaiba, who was walking towards the locker room, stopped as Kenshin approached him. If he made it to the finals, I guess he wasn't as bad as I thought. No way he can compare to me, though, he thought, smugly. Aloud he said, "What do you want? Have you come to beg for mercy? Because I won't be showing you any in our duel."

Kenshin came up to him smiling, clearly very pleased about something. "Your skills are impressive. I am eagerly awaiting our duel," Kenshin said, obviously very excited.

Amateurs, Kaiba thought, scornfully, as he pushed past Kenshin and entered the locker room. Never know when to quit. Oh well, if it's a beating he wants, then it's a beating I'll give him.

~*~