You nudge Cordelia and point discretely towards Tatsuki. "Come on," you say, starting towards the spiky-haired girl. "I think we owe her and the Kurosaki clan a heads-up."
"And how, exactly, do you intend to convince them that ninjas are not only real, but have the tournament staked out?" Cordy replies.
"...I'll think of something."
"Oh, I have to hear this."
Greeting Tatsuki, you have no real trouble leading her over to the stands near where Ichigo and his family are seated; they don't have front-row seats, but it's no big issue for a couple of the contestants to leave the arena to talk to their families, teachers, and friends. Certainly, the three of you - plus Briar - are not the only ones who take the opportunity to do so.
Rather than play the "and then suddenly, ninjas" card, you start out by telling the Kurosakis that your teacher had a run-in with some "bad sports" who were willing to go to a fair bit of effort to make trouble for the old man. It didn't actually come to violence - Lu-sensei only mentioned having to knock pushy shinobi out of his path three times, and only five of them got close enough that he had to kick their feet out from under them to buy some time and room; that's downright peaceful when something like a dozen guys are chasing after just one - but the point remains that there are people at the tournament willing to throw aside good manners and fair play when it suits them.
Ichigo responds to your warning by making the great sacrifice of not sitting next to his mother, and instead moving over a seat so that the twins can sit on either side of Masaki. The parents, meanwhile, exchange a series of indecipherable looks.
"Alex," Masaki says then, "when you say 'bad sports,' what do you mean, exactly?"
"Lu-sensei said he spent part of the night playing rooftop tag with a bunch of ninjas." You shrug. "I didn't see them, myself, but my new super mode aside, the old man can knock me around the dojo whenever he wants. I figure anybody that could make him run for a few hours is enough bad news to be worth worrying about, whether they're really ninjas or not."
Ichigo and Tatsuki stare at you. The adults... do not.
"Good enough for me," Isshin says, pulling out a cellphone and dialling. After a couple of rings, he bellows out, "Hey, Kisuke! How are you this fine morning? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah, okay, I don't really care about your personal drama, so shut up and listen, will you? Is Yoruichi there? Uh-huh. Yeah. Yes, I do want to talk to her. Yes, as in right now. Then go wake her up! Don't give me that, Kisuke, you know perfectly well that she wouldn't- oh, you are such a chickenshit!"
Masaki reaches out and takes the phone. "Kisuke? Yes, hello. Yes. Yes, it is. Listen, tell that lazy cat that we may have an issue that could use her expertise, and I expect her to be here within the hour - don't interrupt, Kisuke! Thank you. Now, tell her I'm calling in the debt. No, I'm not telling you. Not even then, Kisuke. Yes, well, you'll just have to live with it. My best to Tessai and the children. Bye now." She hangs up, and hands the phone back.
"Who were you talking to?" Ichigo wonders.
"And what's this about a debt?" Isshin adds.
"None of your business, dear," Masaki chides her husband. "And we were just asking a friend to pass on a message to another friend that lives with him, Ichigo."
"A friend that apparently knows how to handle ninjas," Cordelia points out.
"Yes, well..."
"Your regular lives are as weird as Alex's, aren't they?"
"...you could put it that way," Masaki admits.
While in the stands, you look about for Kahlua. Not that you think she needs the warning - you honestly pity the fool ninja that tries to pick a fight with that girl - but you would prefer to know where she is, before she decides to show up out of nowhere, right in your shadow, or something else creepy and heightened-blood-pressure-inducing. It takes you a minute to spot the blonde, and when you do, you feel a chill.
Sitting in one of the box seats above the waiting area, waving cheerfully to you, Kahlua sits flanked by two younger girls, one of whom looks like a scaled-down four year old version of her - alebit with red hair, pulled up in twintails - while the other bears a less-pronounced but still familial resemblance, and has silvery grey hair despite being no more than five. Sitting next to the silver-haired girl is a youthful-looking woman with long pink hair - what? - and green eyes, who wears a lovely, if old-fashioned dark gown. Not the sort of person you'd expect to see at a martial arts tournament, to say the least.
"Oh, great," Tatsuki says, sounding cheerful as she waves back. "Kahlua's here."
"Oh, great," Cordelia groans. "And she brought family. Yay."
"We might as well go say hi before the fighting starts," you tell her.
"Or we could just ignore the psycho," Cordy suggests.
"And risk making her feel shunned and unhappy?" you say lightly.
Cordelia thinks on it, and scowls. "Fine. Let's go make nice."
As you cross the stands towards the Shuzen family seats, you take the opportunity to glance down into the arena at your first opponent. Letting your ki flow, you study "William Marsh" in some detail. His aura is strong enough to denote human heritage, but it's muffled by something that registers to you as the smell of raw, bloody meat, some of it rotting. Briar remarked last night that the boy reminded her of a troll, and that resemblance would seem to be more than coincidence - from what you know, trolls are voracious eaters with strong carnivorous leanings. A half-troll, then. That's going to be a problem. Trolls are legendary for their powers of regeneration, which can normally only be neutralized by attacks that completely destroy the target area - fire and acid being the classic favorites, with disintegration spells not far behind. Such a trait would almost have to be weaker in a half-human spawn, but even so, accelerated healing is nothing to be taken lightly. A knockout or concession is unlikely with Mr. Marsh, and a pin could be risky, depending on how much of his troll ancestor's physical strength he inherited; you'll probably want to go for a ring-out.
"Thinking deep thoughts, Alex?" Kahlua's voice interrupts you.
"Just planning how to deal with my first opponent, Kahlua," you reply, before smiling politely at her. "Good morning, by the way."
"Good morning to you, to." She claps her hands. "Now, introductions!"
The little redhead is Kahlua's sister, Kokoa; she frowns at you, trying to show disapproval, and instead projecting adorability. The other girl is their half-sister, Moka, who greets you with cool politeness. Finally, there is the woman, Moka's mother, Akasha Bloodriver.
Bloodriver. Really? Well, as the reincarnation of the King of Evil, you've got no room to throw stones about overblown names - though you're careful not to say this aloud, of course, or let your feelings show in your expression.
Miss Akasha smiles wryly. "It's a ridiculous surname, isn't it?"
"I wasn't going to say anything," you reply.
"I was," Cordelia says.
"Me, too," Tatsuki admits sheepishly.
"Me, three," Briar chips in.
"Feel free to laugh," Akasha tells you all seriously, briefly glancing at Cordelia's shoulder to include Briar. You get the feeling that Tatsuki may be the only person in the box who can't see or hear the fairy. "Frankly, I can't stand the name myself, but I'm stuck with it at this point." She then claps her hands and changes the subject. "So, young man. I understand that you managed to beat our little Kahlua yesterday."
"Only on a technicality," you say, "but yes."
"Thank you for that." She smiles at your startled look. "There's a saying that one learns more from defeat than from victory. Most of our... extended family doesn't subscribe to that way of thinking, and hasn't for a very long time. It's left a hole in the way we do business and raise our children, and that gets us into trouble from time to time."
Tatsuki and the three Shuzen girls all look a bit lost, and Cordelia is frowning like she doesn't quite get what Akasha is saying, either. Briar appears surprised, and as for yourself... when you recall how Kahlua acted when you pushed her out of the ring, like she had no idea what had just happened or how she ought to deal with it? Yeah, you can sort of see what Akasha is getting at.
"That doesn't make sense," Kokoa complains. "Big Sister should have won. How is it a good thing that she lost?"
"Well, for one thing, your big sister learned that she needs to pay more attention to her surroundings when she fights. As important as that lesson is, though, I'd say it takes second place to being able to make a new friend. Wouldn't you agree, Kahlua?"
The blonde nods once with a silent smile.
Kokoa looks back and forth between the two older females, and finally gives you a suspicious glare. "You'd better not try to take Big Sister away from me," she says, taking hold of Kahlua's arm.
"I wouldn't dream of it," you assure the redhead. Seriously, that's about the furthest thing from your mind where Kahlua is concerned. Glancing at the digital clock built into the scoreboard that hangs above the arena, you note that you have about ten minutes before the finals kick off. "I don't mean to be rude," you say, turning back to Kahlua, "but we're running a bit short on time, so I'll have to make this brief."
Kahlua frowns. "What is it, Alex?"
"In a word? Ninjas. And possibly demons."
Cordelia facepalms. The Shuzen sisters collectively blink at you, but Akasha is now paying very close attention. You quickly repeat what you told the Kurosakis about Lu-sensei's encounter, and add what Lu-sensei mentioned about the end of the last tournament. Tatsuki stares at you.
"Not that I think you're in danger," you conclude, "but I thought you might want to know ahead of time, just in case."
"That was thoughtful of you, Alexander," Akasha says. "I'll be sure to keep my eyes open. In the meantime, I believe you three have matches to fight. Good luck to all of you."
"Good luck, Alex, Tatsuki!" Kahlua adds.
"Fight well," Moka says. It sounds like an order. "It wouldn't do for someone who could fight our sister to be defeated easily."
Kokoa says nothing, merely continuing to watch you.
"Well," you note as you and your companions return to the waiting area. "That could have gone worse."
"I'm not talking to you for a while," Cordelia says.
"Demons," Tatsuki says. "Seriously? Like, real demons, from Hell?"
"It's more complicated than that," you say. "I'll tell you later, if you want."
Her look says, "Hell yes, I want."
The officials emerge and begin nudging the competitors into a line-up in the ring, for presentation to the audience. A few minutes after that, a young man with a full head of blond hair who wears a Western-style suit and sunglasses emerges from one of the side doors, a microphone in hand.
"Welcome all," he says in a rich, energetic voice. "I'll be acting as your announcer and referee for the finals. If you've made it this far, you all know the rules, so let me assure you that I will be enforcing them to the letter. If I tell you to stop, you stop; if I say you've won, you've won; and if I say you're out, you're out. Are we all clear?"
There is a round of nods and affirmative answers.
"Great!" With that, he spins to face the crowd, leaping up onto the low-laying square ring. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he booms. "Welcome, one and all, to the Under Ten Division Finals of the Twenty-First World Martial Arts Tournament!"
The next ten minutes or so are filled with the opening ceremonies. Several people in archaic Japanese robes conduct a ritual you don't entirely understand, apparently invoking blessings on the ring and all of you who will be fighting in it. A couple of your opponents scowl or sneer at that part. After that, the announcer introduces each fighter in turn, mentioning name, age, place of origin, and preferred fighting style, if any. Your knowledge of the world martial arts community isn't nearly advanced enough to make heads or tails out of the schools named.
Finally, you are allowed to leave the ring for the waiting area. Kurokami Medaka and Nathan Jones remain behind.
"Ready?" the Announcer proclaims. "FIGHT!"