Chapter Nine

Sorry if this chapter seems a little fast paced or rushed, but I really wanted to get to Yuki's arc! And I swear I'm not trying to favor Hiei! He just kind of... gets more screentime. It also doesn't help that his fight with Bui is by far, my favorite battle of the entire series. (I kind of also laugh every time I see it because the animator totally gave Hiei a pudge face and it's so squishy and cute/childish looking and I can't help but do this high pitched whine whenever I see it ...I'M A FILTHY SINNER I KNOW)

Black lightening crackled and the sky became stormy. Which, of course, is never a good sign.

Yuki watched as the spiky black haired demon summoned something from the depths of Hell. It was made of black flame and resembled an enormous winding dragon. The flaming mass writhed its way towards Bui and even though he caught it, he was being pushed back and out of the arena. Bui and the black dragon seemed to be pushing at each other until the blue haired demon... reflected the attack. Right back at Hiei.

Hiei, who had been standing on a crumbling piece of the arena wall, was directly hit. Swallowed, in fact. The flame dragon swallowed the short demon.

Dammit. That's not good. That's another win for Team Toguro and that means I'll have to rely on my- Yuki's thoughts were interrupted as the dragon faded and Hiei appeared healthy on the arena floor.

Wha-

Bui, confused as to why the smaller demon hadn't been obliterated, began attacking relentlessly. Hiei was treated as a punching bag and thrown into the air, coming into contact with the ceiling (which was somehow still standing), but was completely and utterly unfazed by Bui's attacks.

Yuki felt a cold chill run down his spine when he felt the pressure the small black haired demon exuded.

A win and a loss. Bui's life had been spared, but it was a loss for Team Toguro. Yuki clenched his hand into a tight fist. Team Urameshi could actually win! If... they didn't lose anymore. They still had to get past the Toguro brothers.

Glancing upwards at the huge Younger Toguro, Yuki swallowed a lump in his throat. Yeah, no.

I really am going to have to escape on my own, aren't I?

Next up to fight was the human Kuwabara and Older Toguro.

Things were looking bleak.

Maybe Kuwabara is really strong! Maybe he's the strongest one! Yuki desperately tried to think optimistically.

It didn't last long.

Despite what seemed like a futile effort, Kuwabara actually managed to win against Older Toguro. However, Sakyo, apparently being a gambling man, decided to place a hefty wager on the outcome of the next fight.

Should Younger Toguro fall, Sakyo would take his life. Should Yusuke Urameshi fall, Koenma would do the same.

Don't do it! Yuki wanted to shout. You're my only way out of this awful team!

But the deal was made, and the next round began. Only this time, two members might die instead of one.

A Toguro at 100% power was something not many people lived to tell the tale about. Yusuke, shocked by the fact that even a fully powered spirit gun blast couldn't even dent Toguro, was barely standing, looking quite battered.

A little less than half the stadium had been blown away by the final round, and many of the spectators were probably killed.

But while those who were dead were dead, many were about to die soon.

Toguro began consuming the souls of any and all demons in the vicinity. Team Urameshi was protected by Koenma, who erected a barrier, and the human girls in the stands were protected as well.

With some clever button pushing Sakyo prevented the fleeing spectators from leaving. Huge slabs of rock burst from the ground and towered over those who were unfortunate enough to have been slow enough.

Yusuke, enraged by this display, began to punch at Younger Toguro. The enormous demon didn't even flinch.

To their credit, some demons attempted to attack Toguro as well, but were blown to bits by an overwhelmingly powerful blast. The rest began to cheer on Yusuke, telling him that he better not lose.

They certainly switched sides quick enough, Yuki thought with a snort.

But the humor wasn't about to last. Toguro pounded Yusuke into the ground, making the teen cough up blood. Yuki noticed that the brunette girl he had seen with Yusuke the other day was crying and yelling something at the top of the stands.

She must be his girlfriend, Yuki realized with a start. She's worried about him.

Toguro tossed an energy blast towards the group of girls, but it narrowly missed.

This seemed to anger Yusuke even more as he immediately began retaliating. The unfortunate teen was then thrown into a wall.

They won! They actually won! Yuki thought with a great big grin on his face.

It was a little unnerving to see Toguro's shriveled body lying a crater, but they won! Team Urameshi won!

And even Kuwabara, who Yusuke had thought to be dead, was alive. It was amusing to watch the two interact, and with all the tension leaving Yuki, he couldn't help but break out into a peal of laughter.

Team Urameshi looked over at the white haired demon, who was currently doubled over in laughter.

"Why are you laughing so much?" Yusuke grumbled, pausing his beat down on Kuwabara.

"I'm... relieved!" Yuki choked out. "You guys won! And yet here you are, acting like nothing changed!"

"Uh..."

But of course, when Sakyo said he would take his life, he so obviously meant "oh yeah I'm also going to blowing up the entire stadium, too! tehe" Which ended with a lot of panicked screaming. And panicked running... and panicked dying... the whole package.

Yuki was fleeing as well, when he noticed that Team Urameshi were dawdling at the top of the stands with their female friends. Feeling obligated, the white haired demon made no hesitation in running up the seats and yelling, "Do you guys want to be crushed?! Get out of here!"

Duty done, Yuki sped down the hall but soon found a crowd. The way was blocked.

"What's going on? Why isn't anyone moving?" Yuki heard a voice from behind him shout.

It was Team Urameshi.

"The hall is blocked," Yuki ground out.

They were saved when another team (that Team Urameshi seemed to be acquainted with) burst through from the other side, making a large hole for an escape route.

"Thanks," Yuki told one of the members as he sped past.

"No problem!" the red headed demon called after him.

It wasn't long before he and everyone else had escaped when the rest of the stadium finally exploded.

Everything had been going just fine, with Yuki giving one last goodbye to the hotel room when things got ugly. Koenma, prince of the Spirit World, had decided to pay a visit. He was accompanied by the peppy blue haired girl and a blue demon.

"Can I help you?" Yuki asked, wondering why royalty would visit her.

"Yes, you can, as a matter of fact," the tall, pacifier sucking man replied. "I want to know why you exist."

Yuki felt his eyebrows press together. "What?"

"We have no record of you. Living or otherwise," he clarified. "So tell me, why do you exist?"

Ok, so I know this chapter is shorter than usual, but I just really wanted to get to the meat of things. Plus, I'm kinda pressed for time. I'm going to be moving and transferring schools so that's been taking up the majority of my time. And I really didn't want to drag this story out. So this story will probably not go over ~70 chapters. If even that. But on to more pressing matters!

I'm going to be holding a poll for The Puppeteer's Play on the matters of... (drumroll please) ROMANCE! Yes, that's right, I'm going to put in romance! Which is why there's a poll. I have no clue who I want Yuki to be paired with. Which is why I'm asking for help! If you don't see the character you want Yuki to paired with, shoot me a review/message and I'll put it in! The poll will end August 5, 2016 at 12pm Mountain Standard Time.

NEXT TIME: TRANSIENT FEELING

DFTBA!