InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ An Inseparable Bond ❯ Underestimated Opponents ( Chapter 19 )

An Inseparable Bond

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.

 

Summary: What is a miko to do when fate thrusts two troubled demons directly in her path? With her responsibility of reforming the jewel looming over her head, Kagome takes on the nearly impossible challenge that appear in the forms of a silver kitsune and forbidden child. Will the miko be enough to melt the ice around these demons' hearts or will their darkness over cloud her purity?

 

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Chapter 19: Underestimated Opponents

 

“Kagome wake up!!!”

 

The poor startled miko leapt out of bed and stared at Yusuke with wide eyes. “What?”

 

“Hurry up and get ready! We're gunna be late for our match against Inuyasha's team!” he hollered over his shoulder as he dashed out of his room to change his clothes

 

Kagome glanced at the time and a squeal escaped her lips as she rushed to change into her fighting kimono. Running a brush through her hair, she grabbed a hair elastic from her night stand and rushed out the door. The guys were already standing out in the hall waiting for her. Kagome hurried to catch up as Kurama locked their door and followed behind. With how late they were, the entire team was running to the stadium. They reached the doors just as Juri announced their team to enter.

 

Trying to catch their breath, they made their way to the platform and stood beside it, across from Inuyasha and his team. Taking a deep breath, Kagome glanced over to their opponents to see Inuyasha rolling his eyes at her.

 

“Running late like always huh wench?”

 

“Leave mom alone baka!” Shippo growled, smacking the hanyou over the head.

 

Kagome tried to hold back her laughter as Inuyasha and Shippo started bickering at each other while Kouga tried to break them apart. “Save the damn fighting for them you bakas!” Kouga snarled out.

 

Yusuke and Kuwabara laughed at their opponents as Kurama and Hiei watched them with calculating eyes. Kagome's gaze fell on Sesshomaru, who she hadn't seen much of the entire time they were here. He seemed bored as he stood beside his team with his arms crossed over his chest. As if he felt her stare, his golden eyes met her blue ones and he nodded his head to her slightly. The miko smiled and returned the subtle greeting with a nod of her own before turning to her team.

 

“Alright who wants to fight who?”

 

Yusuke glanced back at the team across from them before turning a smirk to her. “Inuyasha.”

 

Kagome nodded. “That could be fun to watch. Be careful though, his sword can blow this stadium to pieces.”

 

“He's not gunna hold back just cause we're on your team right?”

 

Kagome snorted and shook her head. “You see the tall dog demon that's standing with them silently? That's his brother. They've been at each other's throats for as long as I can remember. If Inuyasha can attack his brother without regret, he won't have a problem trying to beat you down. Especially since he knows you're trying to court me.”

 

“The mutt will push you as far as he possibly can. He wants to make sure you are powerful enough to protect Kagome.” Hiei added, crossing his arms over his chest in boredom.

 

“I'll fight Shippo.” Kurama piped up.

 

Kagome and Hiei turned their attention to the red head curiously. “You want to fight the kit that you trained?”

 

His eyes flashed golden for a moment as he nodded. “I need to see how much he's improved while he's been with Inuyasha.”

 

Kagome nodded and turned to Hiei. “Who do you want to fight?”

 

“Sesshomaru.”

 

“Perfect so that leaves Kouga and Ayame to Kuwabara and I.” Kagome smiled.

 

“I can't fight a girl! It's against the code!” Kuwabara yelled, panicking slightly.

 

The miko rolled her eyes and rested a hand on the tall man to calm him. “I'm aware of that Kuwabara, you can take on Kouga.”

 

“Teams, will you please choose your first fighters?” Juri questioned, glancing at both teams.

 

Inuyasha turned to Kouga and the wolf prince grinned. He made his way onto the platform and winked toward Kagome. The miko rolled her eyes at her friend's antics as Kuwabara joined the wolf at the center. Juri glanced at both fighters before putting her microphone to her lips. “Alright it looks like Kouga from Team Kataki versus Kuwabara from Team Urameshi! Let the fight begin!”

 

Kouga immediately sprung toward Kuwabara before the human had time to gather himself. The wolf easily grabbed his forearms and threw him over his shoulder and into the ground face first. Kuwabara leapt up and away from Kouga as he shook his head to regain himself. “What the hell man! I didn't know you were that fast!”

 

Kouga chuckled and rushed him again. “Don't underestimate your opponents baka. Don't make this another easy win for me.”

 

Glaring at Kouga, Kuwabara dodged to the left and brought his fist around to land a punch to his face but Kouga was too quick. Not wanting to lose for a second time in a row, Kuwabara watched his opponent's movements very closely. He didn't train with Yusuke for a week for nothing; he wanted to prove to his team that he could be of some use.

 

Kouga halted at the edge of the ring and sprang back at Kuwabara. He figured if he didn't give the human enough time to think of a plan, he could beat him quickly and get a win for his team. Preparing to punch the tall orange haired human, he was surprised when he dodged him again but instead of missing him this time around, the human was able to land a decent kick to his side. Smirking to himself, he leapt in to the air and allowed gravity to bring him back down to earth. From the squinting Kuwabara was doing as he tried to focus on Kouga, he knew that the sun was blinding him partially and this could be his opportunity to deliver a blow hard enough to end the fight.

 

Kuwabara's eyes widened when he finally saw that Kouga's foot was aimed straight at him as he was hurling to the ground. Moving as fast as he could, he grabbed the wolf's ankle and threw him away from him. Kuwabara took a deep breath as Kouga slammed into the ground opposite him. The wolf was nowhere near tired yet though, he was just warming up. Leaping to his feet, he rushed Kuwabara once more and delivered quick and accurate punches and kicks. Kuwabara tried his best to block all the hits but he wasn't fast enough. Several of the powerful blows hit him directly and he was gradually losing strength.

 

Blocking a kick directed to his stomach, Kuwabara punched Kouga hard in the stomach, causing him to stagger back a bit and give him the time he needed to call forth his Spirit Sword. Putting as much power into it as he could, he charged Kouga this time, not giving the wolf enough time to recover. Slamming the side of his powerful sword into Kouga's stomach, the wolf was thrown completely out of the ring and into one of the surrounding walls of the arena. Dust rose as the wall crumbled and piled on top of the wolf. Kuwabara grinned triumphantly as he turned to give his team a thumbs up.

 

Kagome groaned as Kouga suddenly appeared behind the big oaf and pounded his fist hard on top of Kuwabara's head, successfully rendering him unconscious. “And Kouga wins the first round!” Juri yelled into her microphone.

 

Sighing, Kagome met Kouga at the edge of the platform as the wolf dragged Kuwabara to her. “Thank you Kouga, nice work.”

 

“I was hoping for more of a challenge but I guess I'll find one when we get to the next round.” he smirked.

 

Kagome glared at him halfheartedly as she pulled Kuwabara off the platform. “This has only just begun, don't start getting cocky yet.”

 

The wolf rolled his eyes and returned to his team, where he wrapped an arm around Ayame and kissed her cheek. Kagome dragged Kuwabara back to her team and left him off to the side before turning her attention back to the ring. Kurama was making his way to the platform, his eyes directly on Shippo. The kit's playful expression turned serious as he began making his way to meet his former teacher to the center of the fighting platform. Once they met at the center, Juri announced the fight to begin and both kitsune's remained where they stood.

 

“I expect that your skills have improved after all this time kit.” Kurama stated, his eyes flashing golden.

 

Shippo nodded slightly. “I hope being weighed down by that human body hasn't made you rusty.”

 

A barely noticeable smirk pulled at his lips as a fang hung over his lip. “We shall see kit.”

 

With that said, both kitsune's leapt into action. It was quite difficult to see exactly what was happening with how quickly they were moving but they could still see basically what was going on. For now, they were merely using hand to hand combat and seemed to be perfectly matched. Neither had a scratch on them as they continued throwing swift but powerful punches and kicks. They were equal in their accuracy and quick reflexes, both able to block the others attack before delivering an attack of their own. They abruptly leapt away from each other and landed on opposite sides of the platform, staring at each other intently.

 

Blue flames engulfed Shippo's entire body as Kurama brought forth his rose whip. They were suddenly on the move again. Shippo was darting toward his former teacher with swift movements while dodging his deadly whip. The red kitsune was attacking Kurama with his fire attacks while the avatar was retaliating with swift flicks of his wrist. He was dodging Shippo's flames and attacking at the same time while Shippo was doing the same, but dodging the thorn covered whip and throwing fire balls. The closer he was in range, the more of a chance Shippo had of actually hitting Kurama but that also meant he would have to either be fast enough to dodge the whip or just take a hit from it.

 

Kagome could see that both kitsune's were taking on damage at quite a fast rate and it wouldn't be long before one, or both, overworked themselves. The game was changed up when Kurama began deflecting Shippo's fireballs with his whip instead of trying to attack the red kitsune with it. He was rushing Shippo and trying to land a quick hit before leaping away and getting burned. Shippo threw a series of fireballs at Kurama, smirking as several hit their mark and slowed the avatar down for a moment. With that hesitation, he pushed as much power as he could into another attack and released it.

 

Kurama's eyes widened slightly as he watched the fireball hurling at him. With a quick flick of his wrist, he wrapped his whip around Shippo and yanked the red kitsune toward him. The attack hit and sent both kitsunes into the stands of the stadium. The fireball burned and killed many of the surrounding weaker demons as smoke rose and blocked everyone's view of the damage. Kagome could feel worry worming its way into her stomach for both the kitsunes but she knew there was no true reason to worry. They were strong and would be fine.

 

The smoke cleared and everyone gasped as Kurama pulled himself from the rubble with Shippo draped over his shoulder.

 

“If you guys didn't see what happened, Kurama seemed to have wrapped his rose whip around Shippo and pulled him in front of him as his own attack hurled at them! Shippo took more damage than Kurama since he took the direct hit! So that means this round goes to Kurama!” Koto's voice boomed from the speaker.

 

Limping slightly and practically half of his shirt burned, he leapt back into the ring and placed Shippo down next to Inuyasha before making his way back to his team. Kagome smiled toward him as she ducked under his arm and helped him to sit beside Kuwabara against the wall. Kurama winced slightly as he tried to get comfortable and smiled to Kagome.

 

“Shippo's gotten stronger.” Kagome smiled, her voice full of approval. She was obviously very proud of her kit.

 

Kurama nodded. “If he didn't let his guard down at that last second, I would have surely lost.”

 

“Hey Kagome, it's your turn!” Yusuke yelled over to her. Kagome turned to see Ayame smiling toward her in anticipation. Kagome returned the smile before placing a quick kiss on Kurama's cheek and hurrying to the platform. Meeting the wolf demon at the center, Juri smiled to both of them before announcing the fight to begin and stepping back. Since Ayame was completely unaware of any skills that Kagome possessed aside from her purification, she rushed the miko with speed that easily matched Kouga's.

 

Kagome was prepared for her and dodged to the right quickly and blocking the wolf's kick as she swiftly changed direction and delivered a full scale attack on the miko. Both woman were impressed with their opponent's skills and knew this would be a close fight. Ayame knew that Kagome wouldn't use her purification, not only because she was still keeping it a secret but also because she didn't want to kill her so she was excited to see what Kagome could do when she was forced to use just her physical strength.

 

Both were going back and forth throwing punches and kicks but everyone could easily see that they were having fun. Although they were taking this battle seriously, they could feel the playfulness that was radiating off both of their auras. Kagome spun to perform a round house kick and Ayame leapt into a back handspring before darting back at the miko and landing a punch to her stomach. Kagome recovered much quicker than anyone expected and returned the favor by ducking down and sweeping her leg out, effectively knocking Ayame on her backside.

 

“That's the same damn move she used on me the first time I met her.” Yusuke muttered, shaking his head. He still couldn't believe the little miko had beaten and escaped him so easily.

 

Ayame rolled to the side as Kagome aimed to land a punch to her chest while she was down. The wolf leapt to her feet and reached down to her boot, pulling out several sharp throwing knives. Kagome smirked as Ayame grinned over to her.

 

“Oh Ayame, only four inches?” Kagome mocked, referring to her small blades.

 

“Don't worry, you'll feel me.” the wolf smirked as she threw one of her many knives at Kagome.

 

The miko spun to the side in order to dodge the knife as she heard not only Inuyasha yelling but Yusuke as well.

 

“What the hell Ayame! Don't kill the wench!”

 

“You're not actually trying to kill her are you!”

 

Both woman rolled their eyes at the overprotective males and continued on with their fight.

 

“If this weren't to determine who won a point for our team, I would say we should scare the life out of them.” Ayame giggled as she threw another knife.

 

“Agreed.” Kagome laughed as she ducked.

 

Suddenly three knives were rushing at her all at once and Kagome squealed in surprise. Jumping into the air to avoid the one aimed at her calf, she dove to the right and into a roll to miss the other two aimed for her stomach. Several more knives stuck into the ground as Kagome leapt to her feet and continued on the move. Focusing on her opponent, Kagome skidded to a stop just as Ayame threw her last two knives. She smirked as she skillfully caught both of them from mid air and threw them right back at the wolf.

 

Not expecting that reaction in the slightest, Ayame tried to leap out of the way but could only dodge one of the knives. The other lodged straight into her stomach. the wolf winced as she tried to pull the blade from her flesh but with her attention distracted by her pain, she didn't see Kagome rush at her and sweep her feet from under her, knocking her to the ground. The female wolf groaned and waved her hand toward the miko, signally that she forfeit.

 

“You win, I give in.” Ayame murmured through her clenched teeth, holding her wounded stomach where the knife was still stuck in her.

 

Kagome nodded and kneeled beside her friend before turning her gaze to Kouga and nodding for him to help her. The wolf quickly appeared at their side and lifted his mate into his arms before carrying her to the rest of his team. Kagome returned to her team and walked right past them and directly to sit beside Kurama. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes. Everyone stared at her in confusion but just shrugged and turned back to the platform.

 

Sesshomaru was gracefully making his way to stand beside Juri and Hiei quickly joined him. After announcing the opponents and allowing the fight to begin, Hiei and Sesshomaru rushed each other. Kurama turned his gaze from the fight to stare at Kagome. She seemed to be in deep concentration but why? He examined her posture and was relieved to see she hadn't been injured during her fight but her hands were positioned flat against the ground.

 

`She's healing Ayame.' Youko stated.

 

Kurama's gaze turned to the injured wolf demon across the arena to see her also sitting against the wall with her eyes closed. Kouga was sitting beside her wrapping her wound with a bandage but it was obvious that neither wolf was too worried about the injury. The avatar turned his curious gaze back to Kagome and shook his head. Kagome was sending her healing powers into the ground and directly to the wolf. In order to keep the healing a secret from everyone, Kouga was wrapping his mate's wound. Kurama figured that the female wolf would also probably limp out of the arena to keep the act up.

 

Kagome's eyes suddenly opened and she turned to smile at the red head that was gradually healing from his wounds. She, as well as everyone else, knew that she couldn't heal Kurama's wounds. It would raise too many suspicions and his wounds were minor anyway. Winking at the avatar, she turned her attention back to the fight between Hiei and Sesshomaru. Both demons had their swords drawn but they were moving so quickly that no one could see what was happening. The hybrid and demon lord were two of the fastest demons Kagome knew and she didn't even bother trying to keep up with their movements.

 

Suddenly, the fight was over and Sesshomaru was casually walking back to his teammates. Kagome's eyes widened in surprise and she leapt to her feet. She ran and leapt onto the platform only to see Hiei's own sword pinning him to the ground. Apparently Sesshomaru drove it right through his midsection. The hybrid was unconscious and she knew why. The dog demon pushed a small amount of his poison into Hiei's wound, causing him to pass out.

 

Glancing toward Yusuke, she pleaded him with her eyes to help her carry Hiei. The detective sprung into action and helped carry the hybrid to lie beside Kurama after the miko removed the sword from his torso. After setting the apparition down, Yusuke jogged back to the ring for his fight. Kagome quickly tore Hiei's shirt in half and used it as a makeshift bandage to stop the bleeding. She muttered to herself about irritating dog demons that had to make her job harder than it needed to be.

 

Sesshomaru knew that Kagome could handle and heal the hybrid even with the poison and the stab wound but was it completely necessary? She'd have to heal her entire team after this fight by the looks of it. She knew for a fact that Yusuke would either be in the same shape or worst by the time his fight with Inuyasha was over. She just hoped he won the fight.

 

“It looks like we have a tie! Team Urameshi have two wins and Team Kataki have two as well! This last fight will determine who moves onto the next round! Team leader Inuyasha versus team leader Yusuke; let the fight begin!”

 

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A/N:

 

You know, I've always wondered how a fight between Hiei and Sesshomaru would turn out. There were many different out comes when I was drafting that fight scene but I needed to go with this one. Though it hurts me to have Hiei lose… all well. So who do you think will win? Yusuke or Inuyasha? Both are hard headed bakas that attack first and ask questions later… this could be interesting ne?

 

~*Icyfire*~

 

Next Chapter - Chapter Twenty: Trickery of the Mind