Welcome to Chapter 8, now the real meat of the tournament can start now that Renka has some strength. We will also be learning more about the tournament as we go. Plus more story development as I set up the world itself. Here we go.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Senran Kagura characters. I do own the plot.

Warning: Mild language and strong sexual content.

Chapter 8: The Kohana Tournament

It was the next morning when I met Kat again. She waved at me enthusiastically, "Hey, Renka-Honey! They're accepting registrations for the Kohana Tournament this morning and I was wondering if you could go with me when I signed up?"

I sighed, rubbing my throbbing temples from a headache that didn't seem to want to leave, "Why do you need me with you? Can't you do it by yourself?"

Kat clapped her hands together and did a subtle bow, "Don't be like that, Renka-Honey! I need you for moral support. So... pretty please?" Her eyes all of the sudden became unnaturally large and watery, like a sad puppy begging for a treat.

With a face that cute, I couldn't possibly say no. Damn my weakness for adorable things. I sighed in defeat, "Alright... Just for moral support and that's it."

Kat excitedly cheered, throwing her arm out and doing a victory fist pump, "Yahoo! Thank you, Renka-Honey! Promise you'll cheer for me in the stands." She gave me a wink, there was so much energy coming from her that I could feel my own body becoming energized.

I gave the girl an amused chuckle, "Alright Kat. I'll cheer for you."

This caused Kat to hug me tightly. But instead of pushing her away like normal because I don't like hugs, I hugged her back, my face bright red.

Once we got to school, we headed over to where the sign up is supposed to be. In the distant, we saw Hikage-Sensei was in charge of the sign-ups for the Kohana Tournament. I smiled and gave a polite wave, "Hey Hikage-Sensei, how's your day?"

Hikage noticed me and focused her serpent-like eyes on me with a look of surprise, "Renka? Katsuragi? What're you two doing here?"

I sighed, 'Was Hikage-Sensei in her own little world again?' Based on the slight glaze over her eyes, my theory was almost proven right there.

Kat chuckled in amusement before approaching the table in hopes of getting the teacher's attention, "I'm here to sign up for the Kohana Tournament, Hikage-Sensei."

I gave a concerned look to Hikage, "You are handling the sign-up, aren't you, Hikage-Sensei?"

Hikage proceeded to look down at the sign-up sheet below her, "Huh... Guess I am. Sorry girls. I was just thinking about the future again." She then rested her face against her hand and let out a slow sigh.

My look of concern didn't leave, "You were doing this on the first day too. What exactly is going on, Hikage-Sensei?"

Hikage handed the sign-up sheet to Kat all the while staring me down, "Are you sure you want to get into politics of the shinobi world kid?"

My head jerked back slightly in a cringe, that was something I definitely did not want to talk about, "Well, it's gotta be bad to make you think about the future..."

I heard Kat groan, "Oh man. You have to be entered as a team of three to enter the Tournament?"

Hikage nodded, "Yes, the team of three is mostly for the prelims. Anyway, let me get something."

Hikage reaches into her blouse, and pulled out a piece of paper and started drawing something with the second pen used for sign-ups. "You know what the Grand Council is in the shinobi world, correct?"

I nodded, "Yeah. They're a group of the five strongest shinobi in the world. They set up the laws all of the other shinobi follow. Our headmistress, Sayuri, is one of them. Even her granddaughter, Asuka, is one too." Which honestly adds more to their terrifying nature.

Hikage nodded in affirmation, "Correct, but they're not the only ones. Just as there are five houses in New World Academy, there are also five Grand Council members. They each represent one of the houses in New World Academy. In my third year of school, a young woman named Homura approached me and asked me to follow her and leave the house I was chosen for. At the time, I was an Elite for the Hebijo House."

I nodded, remembering something, "That's right. I remember you always coming over with a uniform like Kat's in the beginning."

Hikage then tapped her pen on the paper, "I chose to follow Homura in the end, and she ended up creating the Crimson Squad House. So I was inducted as one of its original members. The following year, the Crimson Squad became an official New World Academy House."

I gave a shocked look, "Wow, I didn't know that."

Hikage nodded, "I became a teacher and the head of the Crimson Squad House, Homura, the original creator, became part of the Grand Council. My destiny was decided the moment I chose to take this gamble."

Kat soon came up and handed back the sign-up sheet to Hikage, "Yeah, even the strongest of the Hebijo House members of this generation, Miyabi, is on the Grand Council."

Hikage stamped the sign-up sheet for approval, "Even Kurokage's descendant, a young woman named Yumi, is on the Grand Council."

I closed my eyes, "Sayuri Hanzo, Asuka Hanzo, Homura Kitamura, Miyabi Hirata, and Yumi Hara. They are all apart of the Grand Council and are the five strongest shinobi in the world?"

Hikage nodded, "Yeah, they are. But lately, Grand Councilwoman Miyabi has proposed a... sort of solution to the shinobi conflicts and their destruction of private property. She's found an ancient ritual called the shinobi barrier. It's supposed to contain a shinobi's power to a set area during battle. At least that's what Grand Councilwoman Miyabi says it will do. But many are calling Miyabi's motives into question."

I wasn't following why though, "Why is that?" She's one of the strongest shinobi out there, what reason is there to question her?

Hikage brought the pen to her chin to scratch an itch, "Well, I'm guessing some people are not a fan of Miyabi's track record during the last great Shinobi World War. They called her the Blood-Soaked Shinobi. Even her guardians are known as the blood-soaked crow and serpent."

The name sounded horrible, something I would never want to have in my lifetime, "With a track record like that, who can blame people?"

Hikage sighs and places down her pen, but I noticed she kept her hand close to it, "Her shinobi barrier will go into its testing phase right around tomorrow afternoon, and if it does exactly as she says it does. Then it will be incorporated into everyday shinobi life."

I was confused, however, "So what exactly are you worried about?"

Hikage looked up into the sky, "I'm worried that if this shinobi barrier is proven to be something nefarious, that Miyabi will resort to force to make it happen, and that might be all that's needed to trigger another shinobi world war." Once again, her eyes glazed over, "And if another one happens… I'm worried for the future generation that will be used to fight in it… we lost so many in the previous war, I can only imagine what will happen now that new techniques and powers are being developed…"

I just looked away from Hikage, "I see…" That was a scary thought, the archives for those fallen are already large. I can see it growing by at least double with how powerful some of my classmates are becoming.

Hikage then handed Kat and me a number, "Well, I digress. Good luck in the Kohana Tournament you two, make this school proud."

Both Kat and I bowed, "Thank you."

We both left and as I turned the corner looking at the number in my hand, "Huh…?" The cogwheels began to turn in my head until all of the pieces clicked together, "Kat, quick question..."

Kat put her arms behind her back in an innocent manner, "Whatever you need, Renka-Honey." She batted her eyelashes at me as if sensing what was to come.

I cleared my throat, "Alright then..."

Whipping my head around to stare her down, I could feel myself almost grow in size while she shrank under my imposing aura. I took a very deep breath and allowed the nice, rational, and reasonable Renka to take over, "WHO IN THE SEVEN LAYERS OF HELL SAID YOU COULD ENTER ME IN THE KOHANA TOURNAMENT, KAT!?"

NOT!

Kat put her arms up in defense, "Easy there Renka-Honey. All shinobi are permitted to enter, and I needed a team of three. So I not only signed you up, but I signed up Minori as well!" Did she really think that would calm me down?!

I massaged my temples, exasperated with the girl in front of me, "You signed up Minori as well? You know she's a first-year right? She's gonna get creamed out there!"

Kat looks away, "Damn and not in a good way..."

I swear my head must be increasing in size with how much oxygen is getting in my head,"Stop thinking like that! This isn't funny!"

Kat put her arms down, "The parental consent part might get in the way through. If her parents refuse, it'll shut down my hopes of ever entering the tournament..." Was this girl for real?!

My voice reached a new level of pitch that I didn't know was humanly possible, "THAT'S ALL YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT!?"

Kat quickly jumped in, "Relax, you're going to summon dolphins at the rate you're going. I'm gonna train you two up so you'll at least fly through the prelims. Then you two can withdraw when the tournament officially starts, sound good?" Summon a dolphin? Do I look like Kafuru?

I groaned in annoyance and sighed but keeping my glare, "Fine. But we're gonna have to tell Minori soon, so she won't be surprised by this."

Kat rubbed the back of her head, "Since you meet her first, I'm gonna need you to tell her."

I pouted and stomped my foot, "Fine, but you owe me after this big time."

Kat smiles widely and waved her hand nonchalantly, "Right, right. Don't worry Renka-Honey. I always repay my debts." That's what I'm afraid of at this point.

Kat chuckled and all I could do was massage my poor aching temples, the headache returning tenfold. Later, once second period arrived, I found myself sitting in another one of Ikaruga-Sensei's lessons. "We are officially one month into your Ninja Arts training. Most of you have probably gotten a good grasp on how to summon your elements, and for those who don't, we'll smooth out those lumps later. Now that your element has been discovered and I'll assume most of you have your weapon of choice. You'll now need to decide on what type of Ninja Arts you'll want to deploy in battle. In order to do this, you'll need to channel your energy through your weapon to deploy said Ninja Arts. But it's very hard to manipulate your latent energy, or Ki, along with your element to use a Ninja Art. That's why in this next segment, you'll practice on pushing your Ki energy through your weapon, along with your element combining the two. That's your next task for the next few weeks."

We soon split into partners again, and I was watching Minori channeling her energy straight into her bucket, "Minori, can I talk to you?"

Minori looked back, "Sure Renka. Whatcha' need?" Man, I already feel bad and I'm not the one that registered her.

I looked away, "Has anything unusual happened to you today?"

Minori thought for a second, "Well, during first period today, Hikage-Sensei came by and handed me this number." Minori took out the number badge she got from Hikage earlier, it had the number seventy-six on it. I took out my number badge, which had the number seventy-five on it, and showed it to Minori. "You got one too? That's so cool! … But what are they for?"

I sighed and braced myself for the first-year to panic, "These numbers are given to shinobi, who are entering the Kohana Tournament that's coming up during the festival."

It was then that Minori's eyes widened in shock. I'm surprised that she's taking this better than I thought she would have… or so I thought. But when Minori wouldn't move anymore, I got concerned, "Minori, are you okay?"

The next thing that happened was the last thing I expected to happen. A white liquid, seemingly milk, along with what looked like mashed up bits of cereal came out of Minori's mouth. I stood up and backed away from the scene, "Aw, son of a bitch!"

Even Ikaruga-Sensei noticed Minori's vomiting and came over to help, "Why is Igarashi throwing up?"

Minori coughed a couple of times before more came gushing out of her mouth. This was enough to make me gag a little, "She just realized what the number she got earlier meant."

Ikaruga looked surprised, "Oh yeah. I heard about that earlier. Minori is one of the five first years that'll be participating in the Kohana Tournament. So you're telling me she didn't know what she had signed up for?"

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly, "Not exactly. A friend of ours earlier, put both hers and my own name into the roster, because she needed a team of three. She's obsessed with getting the Elite title."

I heard Minori moan a bit, but after coughing a bit she sputtered out Kat's name as she had the realization. I nodded, "Yeah, her."

Ikaruga blinked a few times before letting out a disproving sound in the back of her throat, "Signing up someone for the Kohana Tournament when they are unaware of it is just wrong, but it's too late. Once a name has been entered, they can't be taken out of the running for any reason until they have been officially disqualified."

My mouth soon dropped at the sudden news, "What!? Does that mean that someone cannot forfeit?"

Ikaruga looked away, "There is no such thing as forfeiting. Otherwise, older students could abuse their titles and force their younger peers to enter and then quit right away just so they could be in the tournament. This is meant to encourage teamwork and equal cooperation of all participants."

My rage soon bubbled up once again. Sparks of energy radiated out of my body, enough to make nearby students back away in fear of getting shocked, "GOD DAMN IT, KAT! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

At that point, Minori started to bawl, tears rolling down her face, "I-I don't w-wanna enter the K-Kohana T-Tournament!"

I turned around and punched the training dummy that the teacher set up earlier and shattered it to pieces due to my new strength. Ikaruga called out to us, "Mikagura, Igarashi, calm down. It's not the end of the world."

Is she serious? She says that cause it isn't her ass on the chopping block, "I beg to differ Sensei. I'm barely coming into my own strength just like Minori. We both have zero experience in actual combat. We'll die out there at the level we are at and you honestly expect us to calm down?!"

Minori soon threw up a third time and after a bit more coughing, I eyed the poor girl, "Even the strength I have right now, took a whole month of training to get where I am now. There's no way I'll survive."

Ikaruga sighed, "Okay, listen you two. Since you are gonna be clearly outmatched, I'm gonna give you two special training. The prelims start next week so we will need to focus on your Ninja Arts and Guardian Summoning if you girls are to survive. So please, stop punching things and throwing up in my classroom."

Minori wiped her mouth off and returned to her practice like nothing happened. Ikaruga groaned in disgust, "I'll get the janitor to mop this mess up."

I didn't envy our janitor, "I'll get to work on channeling my Ki energy and element through my weapon. I've got one week to get battle ready after all." Kat is so dead the next time I see her...

Ikaruga nodded, "That sounds like a good idea."

The rest of the day went off without a hitch and Minori and I began training under Ikaruga-Sensei. The next time I saw Kat, I punched her in the face for entering me into this tournament in the first place. After that, even Kat joined our training sessions. One week later, we found ourselves at the stadium, with our numbers pinned to our clothes. Kat was grinning ear to ear, "I'm so excited. The Kohana Tournament is finally here!"

I rolled my eyes and allowed my deadpan to flow out like a shaken soda bottle, "Yippee for you."

Kat looked at me and saw my expression, "Aw, come on Renka-Honey. How can you still be mad? I told you that I didn't know you'd be locked into this tournament. Plus you received special training from Ikaruga-Sensei. You should be more than ready now!" Glad to know she's enthusiastic, but she's missing the big picture here.

I crossed my arms, "I still can't summon my guardian, Kat. I did learn how to control my element, but my Ki is still shaky at best. Which means I won't even have a Ninja Art for battle either."

Minori jumps into the conversation, "I can do all that, but I still can't believe my parents were so excited about me entering this tournament. My dad even said he had given up hope of me ever becoming a shinobi. So I couldn't tell him I didn't want to compete..." Minori sighed and pulled a frying pan from her bucket looking at her reflection, "I hope I don't let everyone down today..."

I rubbed Minori's shoulder, "Don't you worry, Minori. We've had combat training with both Kat and Ikaruga-Sensei. We'll be fine. You'll see."

A familiar voice chimed in, "I wouldn't be so sure."

I looked up and saw Yomi, Murasaki and a strange white-haired girl with an eye patch. I place a hand against my hip and raise my eyebrow, "Yomi, I figured you'd enter the tournament. After all, you and Kat have that bet. But how'd you rope Murasaki here into this?"

Murasaki cut into the conversation, "She didn't have to. I heard you were entering and was eager to show you who would beat who in an actual fight. So I entered in hopes of fighting you."

Yomi smiled, "So all we needed was a third to show who was willing to show her stuff. Then we ran into Yagyu here and she wanted to join."

I looked at the girl with white hair, she gave off this feeling which told me she was tough. Yomi flipped her long hair with a smirk, "Yagyu here is only a first year, but she's a prodigy in using ice. She's truly a gifted shinobi, scoring very high on her entrance exam. Plus, she rounds out our team very nicely if I do say so myself."

Yagyu soon spoke, "Ice can be an unmoving force. It floats in water, never bowing to the wind, but most of all fire is one of its few weaknesses. Which none of you posses. I'm going to have fun mopping the floor with you." Yagyu then got a surprised look, "Where'd the blonde haired girl go?"

I looked to the side and saw that Kat was indeed gone. I soon heard Yagyu cry out and saw Kat lifting up her shirt and was poking at Yagyu's stomach. Kat smirked, "Your pot belly sure is cute, Yagyu."

Yagyu's face blushed instantly, "You leave my pot belly out of this!" Oh… so she's self-conscious of her figure… noted.

Yomi instantly flew into a rage, "Does your indecency know no bounds?"

Kat gave a toothy grin, "Nope. Watch this."

When Kat tried to go for Yagyu's chest, Yagyu's hand shot out, grabbing Kat by the throat and lifting her off the ground. I could hear choking sounds coming from Kat as Yagyu stared intently, "If you ever think of violating me like that again, I will personally see to it that your life ends. I know a few methods of making your death look like an accident… some are more pleasant than others."

I needed to act quickly, "If you don't drop her right now, I'll call a teacher over and you'll be in trouble."

Yagyu dropped Kat, letting her fall to the ground with a harsh thud, "I think I made my point." Yagyu proceeded to take off with Yomi and Murasaki, not once looking back at us.

Kat started to cough as her lungs took in air and I quickly went to her, "Are you alright, Kat?"

Kat rubbed her throat, "Yeah, I'm good. But something was different about that girl. She used an entirely different energy to paralyze me. It was so different from Ki. I think we may be in over our heads here... That girl's power is beyond student level."

I sigh, "Just great..."

Chapter End

Well, the tournament is getting ready to be started but Renka and friends are quickly realizing they may be in over their heads. Will they be alright? Only time will tell. The next chapter will inch ever closer to the tournament and will add a few new characters too. Plus more story development. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. See you next time, Ayame out.