Chapter 8: Devotion's Reach
Hiei's fight against Zeru was nothing short of dumbfounding.
Zeru's own powers were impressive. A large section of the tournament audience was burned to ashes just by his power up, and even Hiei himself was temporarily subdued by his fire. But just when everyone else thought he was dead, Hiei reappeared, seemingly unharmed, and engulfed in Zeru's orange flame. Miwa would never forget the look on his face. His eyes, fixed on Zeru in a deadly and powerful stare, would have immobilized the strongest man. His excited smile as he held out his right arm to summon the most dangerous flames from the pits of the Spirit World. One of the most dangerous techniques that very few, if any, have ever survived, and Hiei was going to summon it with absolute confidence that he would succeed.
Miwa could sense the apprehension all around her: Zeru's fear, the audience's awe, Kuwabara and Botan's wonder, and Kurama's disbelief. The consequences of the Darkness techniques could be deadly, even for the user. This was dangerous, and even if Miwa had access to all the water in the world, she would never be able to stop such a powerful attack.
"Dragon of the Darkness Flame!"
Nor could she ever hope to stop Hiei from crippling himself just to win this fight.
The black dragon erupted from Hiei's right arm, engulfing the entire forearm in the darkest fire, and despite being so far away, Miwa could still feel the heat painfully stinging her skin, and she was forced to close her watering eyes. The monstrous beast lunged for the utterly helpless Zeru and crashed into the wall behind him in a huge explosion of power. The ring before Hiei was scorched black, and even he seemed to stare down at his horribly burned hand in surprise at his own accomplishment, taking in the reality that he actually succeeded in summoning the Dragon. As for Zeru, all that was left of him was an ashen shadow staining the border wall. The sight of that shadow, like something she had only ever seen in human history books, sent shivers down Miwa's spine. An entire existance wiped out until a dark outline was the only remaining indication of what used to be a powerful demon.
It was remarkable.
It was terrifying.
Kuwabara began to panic, worrying about what would happen if Hiei ever decided to turn the Dragon on them. Hiei calmly told him not to worry, claiming they had entered an alliance that he had no intention to break for as long as they were in the tournament, but both Miwa and Kurama noticed him cringe in pain as he exited the ring. They exchanged glances, each knowing how much pain Hiei must have been hiding. His arm was horribly burned a sickening mixture of black and red, but all he did was hide it in his pockets, and they knew his pride would never allow him to show anyone his pain.
Miwa wanted to help him, she wanted to reach out her hand, but there was nothing she could do.
Two remaining members of Team Rokuyukai fled the stadium after witnessing Hiei's horrifying strength, but after the echoing sounds of screams and a small scuffle, a tall man with a blue mohawk appeared from the dark hallway with the two dead members clenched in his hand. He stumbled towards the ring with a giant bottle of alcohol in his other hand, chugging at least a fourth of the total volume in just a few seconds. From across the ring, the bitter smell of alcohol filled Miwa's nose. After Hiei's destructive display of power, this bumbling lush pulling himself onto the arena was a strange reliever of tension. He slurred his words as he talked to Koto about the rules for bringing in a substitute for his team, but...his drunkard behavior still seemed to hide something more...dangerous.
"His Spirit Power is a lot less than Zeru's," Kuwabara said, "but for some reason, I've got a creepy feeling. Watch out, you guys."
"What could you be worried about?" Botan asked, "He's the alternate fighter, and secondly, he's a lush."
"I dunno…"
If someone as Spiritually Aware as Kuwabara was worried, then Miwa had even more reason to feel nervous about this fighter. She glanced over at Kurama and Hiei, and neither was confused by his clownish antics. They were worried too, and so the very important question began to hang over their heads. They all sensed something dangerous in this Chu character, but who would fight him? No one, not even the Masked Fighter, stepped forward to volunteer, but...they didn't need too. Out of nowhere, a red blur had leapt into the ring.
"Waking up from the smell of alcohol. Can't help but feel a touch of home."
Yusuke was awake.
"Hey, all you stupid demons!" he shouted, grinning excitedly with his fists pumped into the air, "I've been trying to sleep through all your trash talk, and I'm ready to kick some asses!"
As if in response, the audience began a new cheer. They weren't cheering for Rokuyukai anymore. Not really. Their only goal was for Yusuke to die in the ring. In an audience cheer that has never before been so united, the endless mantra of "Kill Yusuke," roared through the stadium. "Kill Yusuke...Kill Yusuke...Kill Yusuke…"
Yusuke didn't care one bit.
He walked calmly towards the center of the ring, his hands resting in his jacket pockets. His hair was still not slicked back in his usual style, instead just resting free around his face, the style that Miwa decided she preferred back on the boat. It made him look younger, but when coupled with his cocky smile, he looked...innocent. His eyes had all the excitement and life of a little boy about to play the most fascinating game, but it was also full of confidence. Even though the rest of Team Urameshi had been worried about Chu, even though the whole stadium wanted him dead, Yusuke and his cocky smile looked as if the challenge excited him.
"Kill Yusuke...Kill Yusuke...Kill Yusuke…"
Miwa felt something stir within her, a warm and comforting swirl of emotions. Yusuke's smile. His confidence. His eyes so full of life and excitement. They all seemed to transfer his excitement and confidence to her. She had felt something like this before, back in Maze Castle. When they had hoisted him to the tower window, he left them with this same smile and a thumbs up. Back then, Miwa did not know what she was feeling when she saw that smile, but now she did. So what if they sensed something off about Chu? So what if he killed his teammates without the slightest bit of his energy detected? So what if the audience was rallying for Yusuke's death? Yusuke, their leader, had finally appeared, just like the hero of a favorite childhood story. Like a hero, he inspired courage and happiness in her; it almost made her want to jump up and down and cheer. Because even without knowing about Chu's power, all Miwa needed in that moment was that smile of his.
A smile that made her believe, from the bottom of her heart, that everything would be alright.
{00}
When both fighters were exhausted of their Spirit Energy, Yusuke's fight with Chu evolved into a fist-to-fist, all-out brawl of physical power: a Knife Edge Deathmatch. The edge of the knives was the edge of their world. Any step back would pierce their feet, and they would forfeit their lives. It was an incredible fight, and in Kuwabara's words, the kind of stuff legends were made of. But in the end, the fight was decided by both fighters bashing their heads together. Time seemed to freeze for just a moment. No one moved, not even an inch, just waiting on bated breath to see who would survive this strike. Then, finally, Chu fell over, and the impact of his skull from the fall was enough to crack the cement. That same head crashed into Yusuke, a human, but he was still standing.
And so, Team Urameshi's first fight in the Dark Tournament ended in victory, but not without its consequences. Yusuke was pretty beaten up from his fight with Chu, but Hiei was probably suffering from the worst casualties. No one had seen him since they returned to the hotel, and Miwa could not get that image of his burned arm out of her mind. The right arm was Hiei's dominant hand. Just how was he planning to continue on through the rest of the tournament? Even if he could use his sword with his left hand, could he withstand the pain well enough to continue fighting? He cringed when he first left the ring. Miwa wasn't so confident that he would really be okay.
She needed to see for herself.
The day after the fight, Miwa left the hotel alone. The island wasn't especially large, and Miwa had a feeling Hiei would be somewhere no one could see him. And just from knowing Hiei for over a year, she knew he had a penchant for trees. So with her pouch on her back, Miwa strolled through the forests around the hotel. The quiet, nature scenery was a big contrast from all the screaming and yelling from the demon crowd. Every now and then, the sound of their cheers from watching whoever was fighting would echo through the leaves, but she was so far away from the arena that the excitement of the fights seemed worlds away. Kurama had mentioned he was going to watch the other battles to get a feel for the other teams, so Miwa wondered if he was also hearing these cheers. When the noise died down, Miwa was just surrounded by silence, with the occasional rustle of leaves and the crash of ocean waves her only company.
"What are you doing here?"
Miwa did not have to turn around to identify the voice in the trees. "I'm a tracker, Hiei. It's what I do."
Behind her, Hiei leaped down from the tree branches to the ground. He was wearing his usual black cloak again, but both of his arms were hidden underneath. "I take it you're not just out for a walk."
Miwa smiled and turned around. "I would be at the water if I was doing that." Hiei did not return her smile. He just stared at her, as if he already knew what she came to do. Miwa grabbed her pouch strap and lifted it over her shoulder. She held it in front of her so the front pocket, the place where she kept her med kit, was facing Hiei. "I don't have much, but Kurama made some healing salves for me before the tournament. If it can help your arm-"
"No."
Miwa stopped, and she lowered her arm. She had a feeling it would end this way, but she still felt a bit disheartened at his immediate refusal.
Hiei turned his back to her. "Save it for the later fights. The one you're meant to help has always been Kurama."
"Aren't you the one who said he doesn't need a babysitter?"
Hiei snapped his head back towards her. "Are you saying that I do?"
"No, I'm just saying I want to help you, if I can."
A small silence fell between them as Hiei stared at her again. If Miwa were to be completely honest, she had no idea whether the salves Kurama made would help what the Dragon had done to Hiei's arm. Very few demons have ever been able to summon the Dragon of the Darkness Flame and live to describe the experience, so even Miwa's knowledge on the after effects was very limited. But she did know for sure that, despite Hiei's nonchalance, he was definitely in a lot of pain.
Hiei scoffed quietly and turned back around. "I don't need your help," he said simply, and he disappeared in a black blur.
Miwa chuckled to herself and swung her pouch back over her shoulder. Hiei's pride was admirable, and maybe even a driving force for his growing strength, but at times it was also very predictable. She knew from the start that Hiei would never accept her help. He didn't like having to pick up on others' slack, and although he may give leeway for those he respects, there was no way he would let anyone pick up on his own slack. She had a strong feeling that, somewhere out of everyone's sight, Hiei would be suffering through the pain alone while trying to find a way to regain control of his right arm. Miwa didn't like that thought, but Hiei would never show anyone that side of himself. She didn't like it, but...if he suffered alone and figured out a way, it would still be better than just hiding it from people trying to help him and not finding a way at all.
Kurama thought that Hiei's arm would be crippled permanently, but Miwa thought that, if anyone were to find a way around that, it would be Hiei.
Miwa sighed, ultimately resigning to Hiei's decision. In the distance, she could hear the crowd cheering with excitement once more. Kurama should still be there scoping out the other teams, so she may as well join him. Since Hiei refused her help, learning what they may be up against in the future was the only way she could help not just Hiei, but everyone. As she walked through the quiet forest, Miwa realized that the cheers sounded much different than the ones she heard during their fight with Team Rokuyukai. She didn't know who was fighting, but the cheers sounded much more excited and bloodthirsty than the unanimous hatred for the human team from the day before.
"Must be a bloody one," she said to herself before sprinting towards the arena. If her newfound goal was information, then the quicker she got there, the better.
As the grey arena loomed closer and closer, the cheers grew louder and louder. Miwa mentally prepared herself for reaching the demons crowding around outside. If they noticed the demon traitor among them, it may not be as simple as just walking through the front entrance.
"Hello there."
A low, quiet voice cut through the trees, and Miwa immediately stopped in her tracks. It wasn't the voice that surprised her...if only it were so simple. It was what she sensed behind the voice: a power that, in that moment, made Miwa think she would much rather deal with a crowd of demons rioting over the demon traitor. A power like nothing she had sensed since…Toguro returned.
The voice's owner was nestled neatly in the surrounding brush. It was a thin woman that towered over Miwa in height. Her long, burgundy hair was tied back in a ponytail with a thinly cut piece of white fabric, and her clothes resembled those of a shrine maiden. Her hakama-style red pants did not flair out as much as a traditional shrine maiden, likely to be more efficient in battle, but her sleeves still draped low to the ground with thick red thread stitched around the edge. The woman had a very wise, mystical air about her, but it was her thin, icy blue eyes that froze Miwa in place. The way her eyes gazed so calmly at Miwa was...extremely unsettling, as if just by looking in her eyes, Miwa had spilled all her secrets to this stranger.
"...Who are you?" Miwa asked cautiously.
The woman grabbed a branch that was peeking over her shoulder with thin, pale fingers, and even at their distance, Miwa could see numerous white lines all over her hand, like scars that had healed long ago. "My name is Rikiji," she said in her low, rich, velvety voice. If Miwa hadn't sensed her power, the sound of Rikiji's voice might have made her feel safe. "I have heard so much about the infamous Urameshi Team, so I thought I should offer my greetings."
The mere sound of her name made Miwa take a step back. The night before the tournament officially began, all teams were given a list of the names of all the competitors in each team. As someone who specialized in information gathering and tracking, Miwa had memorized all of the names fairly quickly. Some names she recognized, most she did not, but the members of one particular team had stood out to her from the start.
"You're from the Toguro Team," Miwa said, taking another step back.
"There is no need to be afraid, Miwa," Rikiji said, but Miwa still stepped back again at the mention of her name. "Like you, I am here merely to observe."
"Observe what?" What could she possibly see hiding out in the bushes like this?
"...Curious name you have," Rikiji said, ignoring Miwa's question. She took a step forward and brushed some foliage out of her path. "Written as 'the looping snake,' is it not?"
Miwa frowned. True, perhaps the characters that made up her name were a bit unconventional for a girl. Instead of something more feminine, like "truth" or "beauty," Miwa's family chose "snake" to represent the "Mi" of her name. She was told that the idea of a looping snake from the Ouroboros symbol: a snake eating its own tail. It represented a cyclical renewal, life and infinity, death and rebirth, any sort of cycle that continued on forever. She was named as such in hopes that she would carry on the traditions of her family and her people. As far as Miwa was concerned, it was a unique name full of meaning that her family put deep thought into. She was fond of it, and she wouldn't have it written any other way.
"My parents thought of it as an inside joke," Miwa said. "The reference is a bit obscure."
"Obscure, you say?" Rikiji said. "I was thinking that it was similar to someone else I have heard of before."
Miwa did not respond.
"Well," Rikiji continued, "If it is not you I am thinking of, then I suppose such strange coincidences do happen in this world." Rikiji turned around and began stepping further into the foliage. "I am sure we will see each other soon," she said, and she disappeared into the forest like a ghost.
Then Miwa was left alone, and finally she realized that the sounds of the audience were still roaring around her. When her mind registered what she was hearing, it felt as if she was suddenly pulled back to reality. She took one last look into the forest, but Rikiji was nowhere to be seen. Then, she looked down to her hands and realized that they were shaking ever so slightly. In her mind, the quiet, almost musical sound of Rikiji's voice still echoed in her mind.
Somehow, the Toguro brothers had become the face of the Toguro Team that they had all come to fear, but meeting Rikiji had reminded Miwa that there were definitely others. Others that were surely just as powerful as the man who forced them all to be here. They had barely gotten through the first fight, but to think that such a threat was the only thing waiting for them at the end… To force away the doubt that was beginning to cloud her mind, Miwa shook her hands violently in front of her face and let out a loud, nonsensical shout. The sound of her own voice echoing around her seemed to erase the aura Rikiji had left behind, grounding herself closer to the reality of screaming demon fans behind her.
I can't lose it now. We've only just begun.
Miwa forced herself to turn her back to the direction in which Rikiji disappeared and sprinted to the arena. The reality of screaming demon fans and a corrupt tournament committee seemed much more welcoming than whatever just happened in those quiet woods.
{00}
"And you sure you're not hurt?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
Miwa had managed to find Kurama right when the fight between the Dr. Ichigaki Team and Team Meikyuu began. She explained to him what happened, but he seemed more concerned about whether she was hurt. She flipped her hands back and forward in front of his face to show him that there were no scratches or wounds. When he finally seemed satisfied with her answer, probably because of the big smile she kept beaming at him to assure she was fine, they both focused their attention back to the fight.
The Dr. Ichigaki Team immediately captured everyone else's attention. Their team comprised of three yellow lizard men and three men who looked...more human. One was a really skinny boy with messy yellow hair, the second was a taller man with his black hair in a ponytail, and the third was a really muscular man with a scar across his forehead. They seemed to be the main, and the most brutal, fighters on the team, and they had a knack for decapitation. The Dr. Ichigaki team's fighters were very efficient and deadly. The terms for winning was the best of five, and in almost no time, the first three fights were over, each of them ending with the other fighter's head lying in a pile on the grass. It was quick. It was bloody. It was a fight that the audience loved.
"We should be the only human team in this tournament," Kurama said, "yet those three fighters are undoubtedly human as well."
"They may have been registered at the last minute," Miwa suggested, "but I'm more concerned about their movements. It seems...unnatural somehow."
"So you see it too…"
The fight ending so quickly really angered the captain of Team Meikyuu. The gigantic Minotaur demon, at least three times the size of any of his dead teammates, stormed into the arena demanding a chance to fight. His sheer size alone made the stone arena seem tiny, and his angry roar filled the stadium and seemed to reverberate within Miwa's chest. The three human fighters all stepped up without even a cue to defeat the new threat. The young boy and the scar-faced man quickly used their individual abilities, the Angel Blades and Grizzly Claw, to rip the Minotaur's arms right from his sockets. The Minotaur roared again, this time in great pain, and his discarded limbs fell lifelessly outside the arena, staining the grass with black blood. He stumbled forward on his two hooves, but the Dr. Ichigaki Team would not leave it at just that. The third human fighter, the one with a ponytail, merely had to slice his hand, and an "Invisible Slash" cut the Minotaur's body in two. Despite the impromptu intrusion, and even though humans were the ones who achieved victory, the demon fans still loudly cheered. These are the kind of fights they are looking for…
"Their teamwork is impressive, but I don't like the look on their faces," Miwa said. "Their expressions are dead no matter what they do. Even when they win or kill another fighter, there is absolutely no change in their eyes."
Kurama stared at the Dr. Ichigaki Team as they calmly left the arena. "We will need to be cautious. Something isn't right."
...And as fate would have it, the Urameshi Team would be the first to fight them in the next round of the Dark Tournament.
{00}
The Tournament Committee didn't even bother to hide their bias against the Urameshi Team. The roster basically put their team at the very bottom stair towards the final match. Only two teams on the bracket would have to fight four times to win, while the Toguro Team only had to fight twice. Miwa had heard of dirty tricks and foul play in the tournament before, but those stories usually came from the fighters, not the committee itself. Still, it wasn't as if the committee would listen to any complaints from the Spirit Detective's team, and they had all expected favoritism towards Team Toguro, so aside from Kuwabara, no one was really surprised.
The next day, Hiei once again disappeared without a trace. Miwa and Kurama, who both had a decent idea of what Hiei was suffering through, opted to leave the hotel early in the morning to search for him. Their fight was only a few hours away. They needed to know whether Hiei would be able to fight. Since she had already managed to track him down, Miwa knew that Hiei would avoid the area she found him in the day before. However, she also knew that Hiei would want privacy as he worked through the pain, and there were some cliffs near the coast that could easily hide him from nosy people like her. Interestingly, Hiei wasn't trying too hard to mask his energy that morning, so at some point, they were able to find him just by following that trace. He probably knew they would come looking for him. Maybe he even knew they were already on their way.
Miwa and Kurama had taken to waiting in the trees for Hiei to pass by, and sure enough, their black-haired friend walked underneath their feet, right in the direction of the tournament arena. This time his wounded hand was out on full display. He hobbled along with his good hand clutching his right, and every now and then, something in his right arm would twitch and he was forced to stop and wince in pain.
"Is this wise, Hiei?" Kurama called down.
Miwa could feel Hiei giving her a hard stare, as if accusing her of tattling or something.
"What do you mean?" Hiei asked, feigning as if they had not just witnessed him nearly collapse to his feet.
"It won't be easy to keep winning without the use of your dominant hand. Perhaps you should withdraw."
"Hn, you heard what Toguro said. We don't have a choice."
An approaching energy signature caught all their attentions, and they all had a feeling that the new presence would not be friendly. Kurama and Miwa leapt down to join Hiei on the grass, and the three lizard men from the Dr. Ichigaki Team appeared through the trees.
"If we don't make it through this tournament, he will kill us all. Fighting is our only way out."
The three lizard men all wore jeans and light-colored t-shirts that accentuated their muscles. The timing of their appearance was just too coincidental and reeked of foul play. But when she watched their team fight the day before, only the human fighters showed their skills, not these lizard men, so Miwa did not know what to expect from them. But that didn't mean the three lizard men posed any threat. The human fighters were surely the ones who were more powerful and dangerous than these three.
"Seems the doctor's team has gotten lost," Kurama said, smiling slightly.
"Yes, what a horrible coincidence for us," Hiei added.
All three of them sank into defensive positions. "Maybe we should show them the way back," Miwa said, finding herself smiling as well.
Two lizard men suddenly lunged forward, and in moments, weapons were brandished. Whips, swords, and water streams lashed out in flashes of light and the quiet sounds of flesh being pierced. Kurama, Miwa, and Hiei landed gently on their feet, and behind them, the two lizard men fell to the ground in dismembered chunks of flesh and splashes of blood.
"And that was using my left arm, Kurama," Hiei said.
"I'm sorry, I used my right. Next time I'll use my left to be fair."
Miwa looked down to her hands, briefly wondering what she could add to that as an ambidextrous fighter. Technically, her techniques preferred the right hand, but she largely used both hands to throw her water around. Clever quips were more Yusuke's thing instead of hers, so she gave up on it and instead turned to the single remaining lizard man. "Shall we try it out on you next?"
The lizard man giggled and pulled a purple remote out of his pocket. "Thanks, but I'd rather not. Death gives me the shivers." He pressed the button and a red light flashed in the distance. A gigantic machine marched from its hiding place in the trees and stood next to the lizard man. It was a bipedal grey and red machine with a long tail and wide shoulder guards. Its claws resembled something from a human crane game, but it was large enough to easily trap any one of them in its grasp. The flashing light was its big, red eye. "Gatasible is what we like to call him," Lizard Man said, "One of the doctor's earlier projects. Part demon, mostly machine, and no feelings, no pain, and no fear."
Lizard Man ordered the monstrosity to kill the demon traitors, and Gatasible obediently marched forward, making the ground quake slightly with each step. When it planted itself a large distance from Lizard Man, it raised its two arms and pointed those large claws right at the three of them. The claws stretched out from its wrists, exposing a tangled, grey interior, and each claw seemed to have locked on them as a target. Hiei ran off on his own to avoid the claw, and Miwa followed along with Kurama to ensure his safety. The claws barreled through trees and branches, not even minding the slightest change in momentum, and each time it crashed into a tree, it would either break right through, or leave five piercing holes before freeing itself and continuing on. When she and Kurama managed to gain some distance, Miwa turned around and gathered all of her water into a large ball. She swung it at at Gatasible's long arm, hoping to break it off, but all she managed to do was push it off to the side for a brief moment. It's really strong. The claw loomed ever closer, so Miwa leapt to the side to get out of the way, but the claw did not come after her. Instead, it continued its pursuit after Kurama, as if it knew Miwa's only weapon was not strong enough to hurt it.
In the distance, she heard a loud clanging of metal on metal, and she saw that Hiei had also tried to cut off Gatasible's arm, but his sword did not even leave the slightest scratch, and the Lizard Man laughed. "Gatasible's whole body is covered with a special formula of hybridized metal, combining the hardest steel with actual living cells. No substance in the whole world can break it."
Hiei leapt into the air, glaring daggers at the Lizard Man. "Maybe I can't kill the beast, but at least I can still kill you!" Hiei sped towards Lizard Man with his sword outstretched, but Gatasible's claw had managed to clip Hiei in the leg and throw him off balance. Hiei came crashing to the ground, and out of instinct, he reached out his wounded dominant hand to catch himself. The force sent an incredible amount of pain through Hiei's arm as he rolled on the ground, clutching his right arm with loud, painful groans.
Miwa could see Gatasible's claw coming right for Hiei as he was on his knees, distracted by the pain. She ran over to his side as fast as she could, putting herself in between Hiei and Gatasible's incoming claw. With a wave of both her hands, her water stretched out into a protective veil, and it glowed blue as she tried to make the barrier as strong as she possibly could. However, no matter how strong she made her veil, she could not compensate for Gatasible's overwhelming mass. It crashed into her veil, slowing for only for the briefest second as the claw actually broke through Miwa's veil. It pushed through the wall as if it were made of paper, leaving a gnarled hole that dripped water from all edges, and then the veil collapsed to the ground in a useless splash of liquid water. Crap...
Before either Hiei or Miwa could do anything else, Gatasible's claw crashed into them both. Miwa, who had been a bit offset from Hiei, was thrown to the side when the claw pushed through her left side. Her arm stung with pain as she rolled through the grass, and the dirt and rocks beneath her left red marks on her skin, but Hiei had been grabbed by the claw and pinned against a nearby tree trunk.
"Miwa! Hiei!" she heard Kurama shout in the distance.
Miwa could barely hear Lizard Man ramble on something about Gatasible's intense focus on only making the kill, but she couldn't pay much attention to it as she tried to push herself off the ground with the immense pain in her side pulsing through the rest of her body like the inevitable bruising produced its own heartbeat. Thankfully, nothing was broken, but the pain would keep her from using that arm freely until it subsided. Hiei, who was trapped underneath Gatasible's claw, had begun to summon power to his own left hand, a power that had a very similar signature to the Dragon.
"Hiei, don't!" Kurama shouted.
Finally, Miwa forced herself back to her feet. Gatasible's claws were still focused on Kurama and Hiei, and she raised her right arm to summon back the water that had fallen to the ground. The puddle that had barely begun absorbing into the ground returned to her side and coiled neatly around her arm. What could she do? Killing the Lizard Man would send Gatasible after her instead, but that was no guarantee it would free Hiei, and she had already proven to herself that her water was not strong enough to penetrate Gatasible's body. If I can cut through the tree, Hiei may have enough leeway to escape, she thought, and she raised her arm to send a water blade, but in the distance, she could see Kurama making his way back to the clearing and towards Hiei, and Miwa realized what he was trying to do. Miwa lowered her hand and ran out of the way again, making way for Kurama's plan.
The fox drew Gatasible's other claw after him, and he gracefully somersaulted over the claw pinning Hiei. The claws crashed into each other, making another loud sound of metal on metal echo through the air. Hiei was free, but now both claws were chasing after Kurama. Dammit, I shouldn't have left his side! Miwa immediately forgot the pain in her left arm and gathered her water into a large ball again. Kurama turned around, seemingly waiting for Gatasible's arms to reach him, and Miwa threw her ball as fast as she could.
I have to make it…!
"Kurama!"
She heard her ball make contact, but it did not stop Gatasible's arms from crashing directly into the ground, and it kicked up a large cloud of dirt that prevented Miwa from seeing if anything she had done made a difference. She and Hiei could only stare into the cloud of dirt, hoping that they would eventually see a sign that the fight had turned in their favor. Her mind was racing with a mental debate. Should she run over and see if he's okay? Should she trust in his own strengths to keep himself alive? I can still sense him…
Lizard Man laughed triumphantly, thinking he had finally succeeded in getting a kill. He ordered Gatasible to finish of Miwa and Hiei, but the machine did not move. "What's wrong with you?! I said kill!"
"You were wrong on two counts."
The dust cleared, and Kurama survived. He was kneeling in front of Gatasible's claws, and one had a huge hole in the metal, created from when Kurama had freed Hiei. His Rose Whip slithered its way inside the hole and wrapped itself around the parts inside, and sparks flew from the opening in protest to the intrusion. Water dripped from the edges of the hole and spilled out from the inside, and Miwa sighed in relief. She had managed to push the claws away from Kurama in time.
"Even the hardest substance can be broken when crashed into itself," Kurama explained, "and the ability to feel pain is not a weakness. It's a strength." Pain informs a creature of its vulnerabilities, but Gatasible did not have such knowledge. Hiei and Miwa joined Kurama at his side, and they slowly closed in on the Lizard Man. "Your robot is dead, and so, I'm afraid, are you."
{00}
"You know, usually something like this is my job," Miwa said, giggling slightly at the irony.
Miwa may have been the one to propose an interrogation of the Lizard Man, who they learned was unimaginatively called M5, but she wasn't sure how the whole escapade turned into Hiei single-handedly beating the information out of him. She had a feeling that Hiei had a lot of pent up frustration towards his arm that he just needed to get out. In the end, it didn't really matter who was doing it, they managed to get quite a bit of information out of M5. Dr. Ichigaki had used Mitamura, the martial arts master of the three human fighters to test his invention. It used microelectronics to take control of their circulatory system and make them efficient killing machines. He tried to isolate Hiei, Kurama, and herself from the match to give him better chances of defeating Yusuke to obtain his body for more experiments. Miwa and Kurama just sat patiently on Gatasible's shoulder as Hiei punched all this information out of M5. If they could find the master, Mitamura, they could still help the fight without being able to actively participate.
" 'Control the blood and the body is yours,' huh…" Miwa said quietly to herself. "It's not easy to overtake someone's movements with that much control."
Kurama looked over at her, pausing for a moment, as if debating whether or not he should respond to that. In the end, he chose not to. "How is your arm?"
Miwa looked back at him, slightly taken aback by his sudden topic change. "It's fine. The pain is going away, so it'll be back to normal soon. I'm sure Hiei is way worse off." She rolled her shoulder a bit to test its mobility. "I was more surprised that it broke through my shield, but with what I can carry on my back, there's no way I could block something as massive as this guy," she said, kicking Gatasible's shoulder with her heel.
"...I've never seen you risk yourself like that for anyone else," Kurama said, smiling at her.
Miwa looked back at him and awkwardly averted her gaze. "Well, he was in pain...but I wasn't there when the two claws went after you."
"Your water still reached me in time." Kurama looked back down to Hiei who was still beating up M5. "I think it's a good thing if you find other people you want to protect."
Miwa didn't answer him. Finding other people she wanted to protect wasn't really the problem. She did not mind caring about other people, or even protecting them. If someone she cared about needed her, she would do anything for them in a heartbeat. That wasn't the problem. It was whether the desire to protect them would keep her from helping Kurama if he ever needed it. Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and even the Masked Fighter, she cared about them all, and some part of her didn't like how she couldn't devote as much of herself to them as she would for Kurama. But...she had to keep to her oath. As much as she cared for the others, she would not allow herself to break any promise she has made.
Below them, M5, the Lizard Man had finally begun to talk. He finally spilled the location where Dr. Ichigaki was hiding Mitamura: a small, coastal cave on the south-west side of the island. It was, at most, a two mile walk from where they currently stood, so they may be able to get back to the arena before the fight with Dr. Ichigaki's team ended.
"Do you think Yusuke and the others are alright?" Kurama asked.
Miwa smiled, remembering how she felt at the sight of Yusuke awakening to fight Chu. His smile, his confidence, and his ability to make you believe that everything will be okay.
"Yeah...Yusuke is there. They will be fine."
And they were.
{00}
Well, maybe not completely fine. Kuwabara had sustained heavy injuries from the three human fighters, but the Masked Fighter was able to cleanse them of the mind-controlling Beruki with a powerful Spirit Wave technique. However, the doctor still had some tricks up his sleeve. He injected himself with some kind of serum that made him grow three times in size and power. He came at the Urameshi Team with stretching arms similar to Gatasible, and he even managed to scrape Yusuke's arm with his sharp nails. Hiei stepped in to defend Yusuke, a move that surprised everyone, but it was even more surprising when he listened to Yusuke's request to back down. In all her time knowing him, Miwa had never seen Hiei show such a blatant display of protectiveness and respect.
Yusuke easily pummeled the doctor into oblivion, and the three human fighters survived the removal of the Beruki. It was a nice, clean ending for a fight littered with anger and pain, but not without its casualties. Kuwabara could not even walk on his own, and the Masked Fighter was very low on Spirit Power after using her last attack. Time would have been ideal to get everyone, including Hiei, back on their feet, but the Tournament Committee was not so kind. They announced that the next fight of the Dark Tournament would take place immediately, which meant that Team Urameshi was forced to fight against Team Masho without any time for rest.
The mysterious team cloaked in black appeared on the field in a flurry of wind and leaves, and the captain removed his cloak in a gust of wind, revealing his identity to be Jin, the Wind Master. Kurama explained to Yusuke about their team, how they were known as the Shinobi of the Spirit World, mercenaries for hire who took care of shady business in the shadows. Their team had been listed under obvious pseudonyms on the program Miwa had memorized, so the sudden reveal of their next opponents made a nervous chill run down Miwa's spine. Defeating them would not be easy even if the Urameshi Team was complete, let alone comprising of only three able fighters.
Yusuke and Jin decided the terms for victory would be the first team to gain five wins. But before the fight officially began, the committee called for a Medical Check due to the quick succession of matches. From a medical tent that none of them noticed before, a beautiful woman with silky red hair appeared, and she summoned Hiei and the Masked Fighter to her tent. Kurama and Miwa watched them go with a vague sense of apprehension. The sudden kindness from the corrupt committee was suspect at best, and their suspicions were quickly proven. When Hiei and the Masked Fighter tried to leave the tent, a force field created from Spirit Energy trapped them inside. The nurse, an Enchantress named Ruka, had trapped them, and even when Yusuke rushed forward to help, her Spirit Energy kept him from even getting close. Then, the Tournament Committee officially ruled Hiei and the Masked Fighter as unfit to fight, citing the clearly fraudulent medical check as their reason.
"This is just great," Yusuke grumbled.
With Kuwabara out of commission, that meant their match would be three against six. Yusuke, Kurama, and Miwa all stood in the middle of the arena, listening to all the demons that cheered for their defeat. The audience seemed to love the idea of the Urameshi Team getting defeated when they were tired. No honor, no fairness, and they did not even want to see blood anymore. All they wanted was the Urameshi Team dead. Yusuke was about to rant at Koto for the blatant lies, but Kurama stopped him.
"We have not been hurt. Truthfully, the Masked Fighter and Hiei are in no shape to fight anyway."
He explained that Ruka did not help the committee as much as they think. She only took two members who were, in reality, too weak to fight back, so her powers were not as strong as she lead them to believe. If she were powerful, she would have been wiser to trap Yusuke himself, or even Kurama and Miwa. However, since Hiei and the Masked Fighter were perceived to be two powerful members of Team Urameshi, their absence from the fight would only put Team Masho under a false sense of security, thinking the odds are more in their favor when really, they haven't been changed at all.
Jin, oddly enough, took a page from Yusuke's book and did not seem happy about the unfair rulings, and he instead waited at the edge of the grass, choosing to be a spectator instead of a fighter. Team Masho squabbled a bit to determine who would be the first to fight, and the cloaked man with a circle decoration stepped to the ring. He revealed himself to be Gama, the Master of Disguise. He was a very pale demon with skin as white as paper and two brushes attached to his belt. Yusuke stepped forward to take the first fight, but Kurama interrupted him.
"What are you doing?" Yusuke asked.
"You must leave this one to me," Kurama answered. "We're going to have to play this round very carefully, Yusuke."
Miwa watched him prepare his opening position, and a sense of dread began to pool in her stomach. Not much was known about the Shinobi. They kept to the shadows, and their abilities were largely a mystery, even to someone like Miwa, who dealt in information. Even if known titles like the Wind Master or the Master of Disguise gave clues, there was no way to pinpoint any strengths or weaknesses without meeting them in battle first.
"Let me fight them as long as I can and ascertain their weaknesses." He glanced back at Yusuke and Miwa. "You'll take over when I fall."
Miwa did not like the sound of that, but Kurama had already made up his mind. She would not be able to take his place up there.
Please, Kurama, don't die in a place I can't reach you...
Notes: Miwa's name originally came from Mt. Miwa, a mountain in the Nara Prefecture of Japan. I went with the (maybe unintentional) trope of Hiei and Kurama having similar names to spiritual mountains in Kyoto. Depending on the mythology, Mt. Miwa is also associated with a rain deity and snakes, so aside from being a cool name for a character, I thought it was particular fitting. The "loop" character I used for Miwa's name is the same as the mountain, but I chose "snake" to represent "Mi" to disassociate her from the mountain and for the reasons described in the chapter.
As someone who enjoys Japanese kanji and how they are used in naming conventions, I try to give my original characters at least some meaning for the names they are given. For example, the kanji for Kagao's name (although, in my mind, he writes his name in katakana) was "adding faces," to reference his cloning ability. Miwa's human name, Himari Shimizu, is written as "facing the hollyhock" (a flower, to reference her relationship to Kurama) and "pure water," referencing her abilities as a water apparition. Her human father, Takeo, got his name from a character in the Japanese horror movie Ju-On, which I chose because YYH started out as a series with lots of ghosts. Rikiji's name will be covered later on in the story.
Anyway, the next chapter will be about one of my favorite scenes that I have planned for Miwa. I'm very excited.