A/N: There is a big long description of how their room looks. Since this is their room for the tournament and thus, the saga, it deserves a good description. As this is a tournament, there will be plenty of time for all of that fighting stuff so deal with a little of this for me. This didn't get posted yesterday because I was busy cleaning up my profile page and thus didn't finish the chapter. Anywho, enjoy.

O/C1: The gang travels to the site of the Tournament of Threes and after registering, are transported to their room.

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They re-appeared in front of a door on the right side of a long hallway full of other doors looking just like it. Misaki turned the handle and the door swung inward. Lights came on as she flicked a switch. She promptly went about inspecting the room, leaving the guys standing by the door.

They were on tile and ten feet in front of them was a counter. To the left of that, against the wall, was another counter with cabinets above it and a sink in the middle. There was a microwave directly over the sink, a refrigerator on the side closest to them and a stove on the farther side.

The tile covered about a fourth of the side of the room and the rest was carpet-covered. A couch was in the middle of the carpet, facing the kitchenette. (The kitchenette was on the north wall, the couch was near the south wall, so the wall opposite the guys is the east wall and the wall the main door was in: the west wall.) There were doors on both the east and west walls, a little in front of the couch in placement.

Misaki went into each room. In the room across from the guys, two beds stood about fifteen feet apart with their heads on the south wall and a small bedside table between them. There was a window in the far wall and another door near it that led to the bathroom (the bathroom and door being parallel to the direction the beds were facing).

The other room was the similar except there was no window and the beds and bathroom were up against the opposite wall.

Kurama put his head back out the front door to look into the hall when Misaki disappeared into the other room. According to a law of how much space smoething took up, Misaki should have stepped into the room and out into the hall. Kurama walked over and looked inside the door Misaki went through to see her nodding approval at the room.

"Shouldn't this room be jutting out into the hallway?"

"This is a strange place and I'm not surprised that it doesn't." Misaki told him. She went back into the 'living room' where the couch was.

"Satisfied?" Hiei's tone was dripping with sarcasm.

"Quite."

"So what do we do now?" Kuwabara plopped onto the couch.

Misaki consulted the slips of paper the cat-girl had given her, "There's a Welcome Banquet tonight around seven and will end at nine so that all of the teams will get a chance to have a good night's rest."

"A Welcome Banquet?" Yusuke grimaced.

"It's customary. You get to check out the competition, but you usually won't learn anything except what they tell you and they always lie."

"You sound as if you have done this before." Kurama pointed out.

"Maybe." She grinned, "Deception is the key. Though since everyone knows it, it's not quite as effective. Unless you know what you're doing, you'll only learn things you can be for certain is not true."

"So are we going to lie too?" Kuwabara piped up.

"Yes, baka. You can't give anything away that would give anyone an edge." Hiei said.

"It's just a big twisted lie. Everyone expects everyone else to lie. And then other people will tell you things about the other teams like they know but they're lying. And since everyone morphs their appearance, you can't even be sure of what they look like. Yes is the answer to your question, Kuwabara. And I'm also going to be changing your appearances as well."

They all stared at her.

"So the appearance change is customary." Kurama said finally, a smile playing at his lips.

She shrugged, "Like I said. Everything tonight is going to be a lie, so that means many of the faces. You'll be able to see each other as normal, though, so it won't matter all that much. It's the other people we're trying to deceive."

"Hey, this could be fun," Yusuke rubbed his hands together.

"Make us look as cool as possible." Kuwabara added striking a manly pose.

Kurama shook his head and Hiei dropped an infamous, "Hn." Misaki just laughed.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kuwabara. There is no way she could make me any more cool than I already am."

"I could make you a woman for starters." Misaki put in.

Yusuke gaped at her and Kuwabara clutched his stomach in pain he was laughing so hard.

"No gender changes, if you don't mind." Kurama spoke up.

"If you insist." Misaki stifled a laugh at the image of the four guys as girls. Hiei in a ponytail was too much and Kuwabara with a frilly pink dress on... Misaki doubled over.

Hiei's eyebrow jerked in annoyance as he caught a small glimpse of what she was picturing.

"How are we going to room?" Kurama asked Misaki.

"Well I—" She was interrupted by Yusuke who had gone in the room she and Kurama came out of.

"Hey, there's only two beds in here. Where's Genkai going to sleep?"

Kuwabara whacked Yusuke who fell to the floor, his legs twitching. An instant bump formed on his head.

"You numbskull, you didn't really think that she was going to stay in the same room as us, did you?!"

"Well I thought the girl at the desk said that each team would be rooming together," He answered, standing up and rubbing his head.

"She may have but that didn't mean the girls would be in the same room! Where's your sense of honor?!"

"Speaking of Genkai, where is she?" Kurama asked.

Everyone looked around for the short, smart-mouthed sensei who hadn't said a word. She wasn't around. They looked at Misaki.

"She told me she had some business that would keep her away. She'll be here tonight for the banquet and she'll make it to all of your matches but she can't really stay."

"Are there no pre-trials?" Kurama was thinking of the boat they rode over to the Dark Tournament.

"Besides that dumb stunt they pulled at check-in? Stupid people." Misaki shook her head, "It's invitation only, remember? The head honchos pick who they want to be here. They'll pull some sort of twist eventually but other than that, no."

"Who exactly are the 'head honchos' here? The Dark Tournament has humans donating or betting rather."

"This tournament predates the Dark Tourney by several thousand years, though it is where the Dark Tourney got its basic idea from. No body knows who's behind it, but every so often the invitations get sent out and the invitees flock to it."

"But you know who's behind it, don't you." Yusuke crossed his arms.

"Why wouldn't I? I'm probably the only person who has ever been here more than once. And I am the only person who is attending for a third time."

"But you aren't going to tell us."

"Not my place to tell you. You'll find out, if it comes to that." Was all she would say about it.

"Where is Misaki going to sleep?" Kuwabara said loudly.

Misaki sighed, "On the couch, Kuwabara. You and Yusuke can share a room and Kurama and Hiei will take the other."

"Yusuke and I will sleep out here; you can have the room to yourself." Kuwabara offered.

Yusuke wanted to protest his spur-of-the-moment proposal, but he kept quiet, waiting for Misaki's answer.

"No. I don't sleep anyway. I'll be fine."

"But you're a girl, you should have your own room!" He protested.

"I'm not taking one, now drop it!"

Before Kuwabara could argue some more Kurama changed the subject, "What do we do until tonight?"

"Anything you want. We got here kind of early—Koenma's paranoid like that—so we have plenty of time. You can wander around if you like, just don't get lost. I'm going to go and see if I can find out what teams are here and what not."

"Won't everyone lie to you about it?" Kuwabara wanted to know.

"The lying is saved for tonight. Trust me, I've been through all of this before, I know who to ask. So...uh...make yourselves comfortable! Food's in the cabinet, drinks are in the refrigerator. Whatever you want, it'll have. Don't worry about clothe for tonight, they'll provide them. Don't ask how they know your size: you don't really want to know. I'll be back after a while." Misaki opened the door and left.

"That was abrupt." Kurama commented.

"I call this room!" Kuwabara shouted as he went into the room he had inspected earlier.

"You mean we call this room. And don't shout, we're all right here," Yusuke went in after him to check it out.

"Baka ningens." Hiei muttered as he and Kurama went into the other room.

"I call this bed!" They heard Kuwabara shout.

"So much for not yelling," Kurama remarked, "Which bed do you want?"

Hiei plunked down on the first one and laid out.

"It's farther from the window."

"Your point?"

Kurama shrugged, "Just thought you might like to be closer to the window."

"Hn."

They spent the rest of the afternoon lolling about. Hiei stayed in the room the whole time. Kurama went out and around for a while. Kuwabara and Yusuke found out how to work the food cabinets and spent the time gorging themselves. They sacked out on the couch and fell asleep. Misaki came back about two hours before the banquet would start.

"Find anything out?" Kurama was standing by the counter, snacking.

"Not as much as I would have liked too." Misaki walked over to him, "Is everyone here?"

Kurama motioned at the two on the couch, "Hiei's in our room."

"Since you're right here, I'll do you first."

Kurama looked confused.

"I'm changing your appearance, remember?"

"Oh right."

Misaki pulled a stool out from under the bar counter and set it to one side. "Have a seat."

Kurama put down his spoon and sat. She looked thoughtfully into his intelligent green eyes from a second.

"What?" he asked, matching her gaze.

"Well, I haven't really thought about what I was going to change you to look like," she admitted.

He smiled, "Need inspiration?"

Misaki looked at the ceiling, "Actually what comes to mind is something of the feminine persuasion."

Kurama grimaced, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to find some other sort of inspiration."

"What are you going to do about it? I could change you and you'd never know the difference," she narrowed her eyes playfully.

"A, something you wouldn't like and B, as soon as other guys started hitting on me," he responded with equal good nature.

Misaki closed her eyes and held her hands up on either side of his face. "This'll take a while so get comfortable." Once she concentrated on it, the image came easily to her mind.

"Can you talk and work?"

"Sure. What do you have in mind?" Misaki kept her eyes closed.

"You told about Eldred and Aldeve and the others, but I did not hear you mention yourself within the history."

To quicken the passage of time for Kurama, Misaki talked, telling him almost exactly what she had told Hiei including what Hiei had gotten from her mind. Kurama's train of thought led him down the same path so he asked her about her sleeping condition, which was simply non-existent.

"The heart beat that causes you to sleep must be different than a normal heart beat. Otherwise you would be asleep constantly."

"Done." Misaki said, opening her eyes.

He didn't take all that long to morph. In retrospect. It took a little over a half hour to morph someone and when she lowered her arms they were a bit stiff.

He raised an eyebrow. Misaki didn't even need to read his mind to know what he wanted to know.

"Hey bums, get up!" she walked over to the couch and gave each body a swift kick.

"I don't wanna go to school today mom," Yusuke complained, pulling a couch pillow over his head.

"You're not going to school and I'm not your mother, thank heavens," Misaki grabbed his arms and pulled him up.

He blinked sleepily and yawned in her face.

"Wow, you need a breath mint," she waved the smell away from her face. One appeared out of nowhere and landed on Yusuke's yawning tongue.

His eyes widened when he closed his mouth and Misaki took the distraction as an opportunity to steer him over to the stool Kurama had occupied.

Kurama was standing next to it now, still half-expecting an answer from her.

As Yusuke sat down, Misaki put and hand on Kurama's shoulder and gave him a push towards his room, "Go get dressed. Your clothes are on your bed.

He left and Misaki faced Yusuke. He was more awake now and was making weird faces because of the mint.

"What is this thing?"

"It's dung from a spirit animal. Spit it out and I'll give you a new one to start over on. With it, you won't be able to fall asleep until the banquet is over.

"Great," he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Kuwabara go and change." She ordered, "You're next."

Kuwabara went into his and Yusuke's room and shut the door.

By the time Yusuke was done, Kuwabara had come back out and he and Yusuke switched places, Yusuke going and changing and Kuwabara sitting down. Kurama was changed by this time and Yusuke came out a bit later. All of them were dressed in clean, pressed suits.

"What about you Misaki? Won't everyone recognize you?" Yusuke asked.

"If I can change your appearance, surely I can change my own."

Kuwabara was sitting quietly still while Misaki adjusted his appearance.

She straightened his tie and then stepped back to look him over, cocking her head first one way, then the other before finally nodding her approval.

"What do I look like??" He wanted to know, glancing down and seeing that nothing was different.

"Here, take a look I suppose." She waved a hand and a full-length mirror materialized, floating inches off the floor.

Kuwabara stood, adjusting his coat. "But nothing's changed!" He protested. The burly red-head in the mirror was as distraught as he.

Misaki had gone over to adjust Yusuke's tie. She turned back.

"Sorry. That should do it." She nodded for him to look again.

Kuwabara's eyes bulged. Yusuke went over and began laughing.

The reflection was of a hulking yellow ogre complete with a mop of shaggy purple hair and a horn in the middle of his forehead.

"I wouldn't laugh to hard Yusuke." She warned. Kuwabara began to crack up as Yusuke's jaw dropped.

He had six spider legs growing out of his back, three on each side. There were several pairs of pale green eyes on his face, huge pointy ears that stuck out on the side and long black hair.

"And I thought I looked bad! Yusuke's a spider in a suit!" Kuwabara howled.

Kurama chuckled at both of their images, "I'm almost afraid to know what you've done to me."

"Almost?"

"Almost." He looked to see what his reflection would reveal, "But I swear, if you've made me female..." he trailed off. Yusuke's jaw dropped further than before and Kuwabara's laughter stopped.

The being in the mirror was almost Kurama. His suit was leaf green, his smooth hair done into a long thick braid down his back. A green vine was woven into it. His face was elfish, with high cheekbones and a pointy face, his ears being of the same.

"You're a little short for an elf, but I like it."

"Why the heck does he get to be the normal one?" Kuwabara demanded.

"Hey! I'm the one that looks like a five foot spider on steroids!"

"Oh be quiet," Misaki began herding them towards the door. There's an elevator down the hall. Now let me look at you." They obediently turned around. "If men realized how good they looked in suits, they'd wear them all the time." Was her conclusion.

"Does that mean—"

"No Kuwabara. I said men."

"HAHAHA she totally got you!" Yusuke crowed.

Kuwabara looked at the floor.

"I'm just kidding Kuwabara." She ruffled his hair, "You know I love you." She ushered them out the door.

His face brightened and he smiled, "Thanks Misaki."

"No love for me?" Yusuke asked.

Misaki thought about it, then shook her head, "Nope, not feeling the love."

"Hey wait, what about you?" Kuwabara turned around, "You can't go to this banquet without an escort."

"I'll be fine, go. It's starting now." She pushed him and Yusuke out the door and into the hall, watching them as the walked down and got on the elevator.

"Are you sure?"

Misaki stepped out into the hallway to let Kurama past. She stopped him to brush an invisible piece of lint from his shoulder and to straighten his tie, though he had it perfect.

"I'll be fine. I have adjustments to make." She scowled, never being one to look forward to formal events.

"You mean..."

"I haven't done myself yet."

"I'm sure every other woman will have an escort." He continued to argue.

"Yes well, I don't care.

Kurama could see he wasn't going to convince her otherwise.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Misaki smacked her head. Three flowers appeared in her outstretched hand. She picked the deep red rose and arranged it over Kurama's heart. "The white one is for Kuwabara." She handed it to him.

"White."

"It stands for honor. This blue one used to have red thorns. It's Yusuke's and stands for impossibilities." She gave it to him.

"I think you're ready for just about anything. Except for the lying. We all know what a bad liar you are."

Kurama let out a good-natured laugh. Misaki gave him a quick hug before sending him on.

"Kurama!! Hurry your green butt up, we can't keep the elevator waiting forever!" Yusuke stuck his head out into the hall.

"Don't be too late." Kurama told her as he trotted for the elevator.

"Only fashionably!" She responded.

He flashed a smile as he disappeared.

"Hey Yusuke!!" Misaki shouted, stepping further out into the hall.

"What!?" He stuck his head out again.

"Don't you dare drink anything 'till I get down there!!"

"Yeah yeah."

"That goes for Kuwabaka too! That stuff is potent, not made for humans! One sip and you'll be spilling about how you can't take a bath without a rubber ducky!"

"How the—" The elevator closed on him.

Misaki smirked and went back into the room.

She saw that the door to Hiei and Kurama's door was shut. She waltzed in unannounced. Hiei was sitting in the window and he looked at her angrily.

"You need to change." She pointed to the suit on the far bed which she assumed was his.

"Hn."

"If I leave will you change?"

"Hn."

Misaki rolled her eyes, leaving the room and shutting the doors behind her. She went to stand in front of the mirror, beginning her own feature alteration.

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-lotsm