Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Eternity ❯ First Fight ( Chapter 9 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Dawn came way too early for her. Or maybe because she was dreading having to start the tournament. There was no way possible that she would fight, she didn't foresee any of the team members' death. Except for one, and by then it was too late. She wouldn't fight, things would be settled so long as Yusuke fought Toguro. San was not looking forward to the events to come, other than seeing Youko again. She always felt that something bad had to happen in order for her to have something good, that seemed to be the track her life always played out. She wondered when he would appear, growing impatient. She wondered many things, if he would recognize her in this form, if he even remembered her. What would she say to him? What if he questioned why she didn't find him sooner? She sighed, wishing she had a vision to find this out faster, making it easier to gage his reaction. She looked out the window longingly. Soon...

"San?" she heard Kurama's voice on the other side of the door. She got out of bed and opened it, revealing his smiling face, "Good morning, I hope I didn't wake you."

"No, I was already awake. Didn't sleep much last night," she replied, letting him come into her room. Kurama looked around, noticing how clean it was. His attention was drawn back to her, and the lack of clothing she seemed to sleep in. He did his best to hide his wandering eyes, "What brings you here?"

"I was just making sure you were awake to attend our first battle. I'm not sure what to expect, but I do know that we will need you."

"Such little faith, you think someone's going to die in the first round?"

"While that is another possibility, my meaning was leaning more towards your healing techniques."

"Oh, that's all I'm good for now, I see how it is," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. He chuckled at her antics, never a dull moment with her. She grabbed some clothes and walked into her bathroom. Kurama waited patiently, trying to get her image out of his mind. She was mated, there was nothing he could do, and there was no point in putting himself thru pain for no reason. He wished that he knew who her mate was, then he would have an idea of why she was so loyal to him. He already knew that wolves always mated for life, she was obviously no exception. He had thought about asking her what her demon life was like, but knew she probably wouldn't answer him.

San felt strange around Kurama. She was worried about him. It seemed that being a human for so long was really taking a toll on her. She was caring naturally, being a female wolf demon, and then a ruler at one point. Still, there was no telling what this tournament would bring for any of them, especially if she had to fight. Given the circumstances, she was hoping she would remain an alternate, and never have to fight in this tournament, she didn't want to lose any of her friends. But the vision she had not too long ago about Genkai was going to come true, and there would be no chance for escape at that point. It was fate, something that she couldn't interfere in, but she knew that if all went well, she would see the old woman again, after the moment of truth.

"Ready?" she asked Kurama, who seemed to be deep in thought. She didn't understand why he hid all of his emotions, you had to look closely to even get a glimpse of them.

"Of course," came his reply, and he led the way out of her room and towards the stadium. No sign of any humans anywhere. She knew that was coming, seeing as most of the demons here were only attending to watch Yusuke and the rest of the team die. No one knew of her, and she grateful for that. While Youko was a legend, she was just beneath him, everyone knew they were mated, and everyone knew of her history. It was hard to be a ruler and not be known for anything, the two just didn't mix. It made things easier to hide her scent as a human, and she wasn't powerful enough to turn demon. Changing into her wolf form suited her just fine when it came down to fighting. Fighting as a human just wasn't satisfying enough, she's prefer her natural form, but this would do just fine. She could heal and that was plenty helpful. She kept her senses up, many demons around. She knew Youko, but she didn't feel him anywhere. She didn't expect to see him in the first fight anyway, and he was going to be in the ring, not in the audience.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Koto and I'll be your cute host for this years tournament and it's going to be a messy one. For those in the first few rows, raincoats are available!" the fox demon in the middle of the ring announced, "Now here's the introduction you boys have been waiting for... Team Rokuyukai!" The crowd went wild as the opposing team approached form the shadows on the other side. San eyed them all, trying to figure out what they would be up against. Yusuke was still sleeping, and that was a problem, "And now for this year's guests, team Urameshi!" and the six fighters stepped out from their entrance. The demons weren't a fan, especially with three humans with them, the demons were traitors, fighting with them and not killing them like any other stupid apparition. There were many protests.

"This is sure one heck of a greeting for special guests. I don't think these monsters took their grumpy pills today," Kuwabara commented, looking around at the crowd.

"Agreed Kuwabara, it most certainly isn't a pleasure being called traitor by creature's you've never known," said Kurama. They walked into the ring, San staying on the side, knowing that she was only needed if one of the died. They stared with hate at each other, the opposing team clearly wanting blood.

"As always, the terms of the fighting for each match can be determined by the leaders of the two teams. Of course if the leaders can't agree then we'll default to one on one fights, determining the wining team by each individual win, make sense?" said Koto. San could tell by Kuwabara's attitude that he was the leader while Yusuke was asleep. He walked up to Zeru, assuming they were agreeing on how this match would take place. The tension was retarded. They talked for maybe a couple of minutes and then, "Sounds like an agreement, we're looking at one on one!"

The team turned and walked back to the sidelines. San wondered why they brought Yusuke in the first place, she knew that he wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Only her and Genkai knew what he had been thru, and San's training wasn't much easier either, but she supposed she could handle it better. She watched Zeru, who was starting charge his spirit energy. It was powerful, but she knew that the team could handle it. The team stopped just before they got off the ring and turned to stare at him.

"Oh, check this everybody, Zeru is emitting flames from all over his body, don't you just love it?" announced Koto. San could tell she wasn't going to like this demon fox girl, especially if she said or tried anything funny when Youko appeared.

"His spirit energy just shot thru the roof," San heard Kuwabara, "gee, I hope he's not mad cause of what I said."

"Hiei, we had better be careful with this one," Kurama told the short fire demon.

"Hey, Urameshi, you've gotta wake up! Come on!" it was useless, why did he even bother trying? But that train of thought left when Zeru shot his flames at the team. San was ready, but the flames circled them and then shot thru to the audience, narrowly missing her. She growled at him, though he didn't hear she was sure. A big chunk of the audience was wiped out, burned to death and the stench just reminded her of Makai, "Come on Urameshi, we've got problems here!" but Yusuke continued to sleep, "Oh shoot, it's no use," Kuwabara finally gave up.

"Ah, well people the flames are out. I notice people are a little quiet after that outburst, but remember, that's half the fun," said Koto. She held her hand up, "Now send out your fighters teams."

Rinku walked up, looking too confident for San's liking. She heard Kuwabara grumble something and then step forward.

"You can take him out Kuwabara, I have to go hiking," said Yusuke in his sleep. San laughed, wondering how asleep he really was.

"How can you laugh at such a serious moment?" Hiei asked her.

"Because I don't do serious," she answered.

"Hn."

Kuwabara walked up, way too cocky himself. It was never a good idea to underestimate an apparition, especially one that made it to a tournament such as this one. The audience clearly wasn't happy about Kuwabara, but that was to be expected. They walked up to where Koto was and stopped, sizing up the other.

"No limits have been set besides one on one. You're free to use any weapons or any techniques you want. First person to stay down or out of the ring is the loser. Now begin!" said Koto. The two fighters stood there for a moment. Rinku began to smile and then jumped swiftly up into the air. San heard him laughing. He was jumping around Kuwabara, clearly tring to confuse him.

"What is this? Recess?" exclaimed Kuwabara.

"Can you catch me?" Rinku played around, attempting to kick him but Kuwabara narrowly dodged. There was a blood trickle on his forehead. Rinku landed in front of him, and when Kuwabara looked down, he was kicked hard right underneath the chin. "Surprise!" Rinku jumped around some more, making it look like he had been cloned several times. He laughed while he basically danced around Kuwabara.

"Such great agility, his movements will be difficult to follow," Kurama stated. San was sure he already knew how he was going to beat Rinku if he were the one to fight instead. Rinku continued to jump around, and his laugh was starting to really annoy her.

"Bet you wanna give now, don't you?" Rinku taunted.

"I might be worried, but there's just one thing. You're leaving a trail!" declared Kuwabara, smashing him with his fist on the top of Rinku's head. The apparition flew across the ring, stopping on the other side.

"Nice one lame-o," Yusuke muttered in his sleep. San smirked. The crowd was surprised at that one. Rinku looked like he had difficulty getting up.

"You're beaten, I can sense your spirit now," said Kuwabara, gloating. A little premature. Rinku took off at lightning speed again, but San was surprised when Kuwabara was there to head him off, kicking him in the head, sending him across the ring once again. Kurama and Hiei were no doubt good teachers. The crowd was not happy.

"Our lessons have helped him more than we thought Hiei. It seems that Kuwabara is the type of fighter whose true skills can only be measured in the ring," Kurama commented. Rinku tried to get up but fell down again.

"Maybe so. But he still doesn't understand these fights. He should drop his honour and strike the boy while he's down," responded Hiei. Kuwabara and Rinku ran at each other again, Kuwabara nailing him with a powerful punch to the gut.

"This could be Kuwabara's best chance to finish him!" declared Kurama. Kuwabara could sense that, and yelled something, but San was too focused to decipher it. He was running at the apparition while he was sailing towards the end of the ring. He was about to throw another of those powerful punches when Rinku darted to the side, appearing behind him and struck a kick to the side of Kuwabara's head. It looked like his neck had broken as he fell to the ground. Everything was silent, aside from Kuwabara's groaning, and then the crowd went nuts.

"1, 2, 3..." Koto started her count.

"How was that Zeru? I thought it'd more fun if he thought he was winning for a while, the fans loved it," Rinku smiled widely at the team leader.

"Should've known. Kuwabara only seemed better because the boy was leaving a trail," Hiei spoke to himself.

"6, 7, 8..." and Kuwabara pushed himself up, declaring his neck was fine, "I love it! Just when we thought it was done the two are facing off again!"

"They both greatly underestimate each other. I believe the first to realize this will win," well no shit Kurama, those were her thoughts from the beginning.

"Well, at any rate it's an entertaining fight," said Hiei.

"It could be better, but I'm pretty sure Rinku's going to pull out something special," San contributed to the conversation.

"The tournaments first fight is locked in a stare down, who will throw the first punch?" all demons were the same. Koto was no different. Kuwabara and Rinku said some words to each other, and then just as San suspected, Rinku pulled out yo-yo's and began to charging his spirit energy.

"It appears you were right San," Kurama noted to her. She smiled, still keeping her attention on Rinku. He had yo-yo's between each of his fingers, his energy level climbing. San didn't think he was that powerful.

"The Serpent Yo-yo Attack!" announced Rinku, emitting energy all around him.

"The serpent yo-yo?" questioned Kurama.

"What did you expect from such a young apparition," San stated.

"His spirit power is increasing..." Hiei trailed, mostly to himself. Kuwabara announced his new technique and then pulled out what San was sure he was dying to unleash, the double spirit sword. She had to admit, it was impressive. Rinku leaped into the air, throwing his power into his weapon. They bypassed Kuwabara's swords and attacked him in multiple places. Neat.

"Yes of course! The strings, they're alive!"

"Kurama, I think you spend too much time with stupid people," said San, smiling at him.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who saw that people! The yo-yo's somehow snaked them selves around to avoid Kuwabara's sword!" was everyone only good for pointing out the obvious? Then again, all the apparitions were very lower class, she supposed not many of them could see it as she could. Patience.

"Yeah, of course they did. You don't think I'd just throw around ordinary toys do you?" said Rinku, commenting on the statements being made, "When I throw the yo-yo's my spirit power goes into them, kind of like they're apart of me. And they bite to. You trying to cut them down with that sword is like grabbing snakes bare handed. I know a fun new game, I'll throw my yo-yo's and you try to stay alive!" and Rinku laughed as he unleashed his next attack. Kuwabara's defense made her think less of him. Chopping up the stage to avoid it? And then knowing it doesn't work but continuing to do so? Wow. The yo-yo's wrapped themselves around the idiot, so now he was basically a puppet. He was thrown to the ground, and then lifted high into the sky.

"Well people I'll let you use you're own imaginations for what happens if that poor humans frail body falls from the top of the stadium and crashes all the way down to the arena. Isn't this tournament to die for?" The suspense was clearly just for show, San knew that Rinku enjoyed attention, being a child and all. So after moments of staring at this blue dot in the sky, Rinku finally forced him to come down, and he was falling fast. She heard Kurama gasp, but San was already formulating a way she could possibly undetectably help the fool. The fall wasn't fatal, but he was being whipped around the stage helplessly, the apparitions in the stands cheering it on, hoping for a fatality, "What a glorious fight! The opponent is helpless, its hard to counter attack when you can't even move, I love it!"

"You see I told you Kuwabara's training wasn't enough. We'd best assume him dead and plan for the next fight," Hiei told Kurama. Cause having an alternate fighter, like San, wasn't plan enough.

"No, there are still some techniques he hasn't tried. Besides, if he is to perish, we still have San to fight in his place," Kurama answered.

"Thanks for noticing me," she smiled at him. Kuwabara was once again raised higher than the top of the stadium. He was climbing higher, past the point of survival now, even with his special abilities. San heard Keiko yelling in the background, but she wasn't surprised at that, knowing she would turn up after the vision of Youko. She was trying in vain to wake up Yusuke.

"Hang tight Kuwabara, I don't suppose you can fly can you?" Botan shouted up to Kuwabara.

"Oh, hey Botan, oh and sis, didn't expect to see you here. I'd give you a better greeting but I'm kind of busy right now!" said Kuwabara. So that was the girl San didn't recognize. Seeing the supernatural must run in the family.

"Rinku seems to be hesitating, why don't you ask the fans what they want!" shouted Koto. They started to cheer for death, which was no surprise to San. Rinku obliged, unstringing him from the yo-yo's, letting him fall, fast, to his death. San was preparing yet again for an incognito save, but Kuwabara surprised her. He pulled the spirit sword out and extended it, using it to stop his fall and then cattapolt him towards Rinku. The apparition moved, sending his weapon out. San was waiting to see what he would do, and then surprised her again by making his spirit sword bend and head for Rinku. Both weapons made contact at the same time, sending them both outside the ring.

"Right well both the fighters have extraordinarily knocked out of the ring at the same time. By the rules your only allowed to stay out of the ring for 10 seconds, so I'm going to start counting," said Koto, finally cluing in to what was happening.

"Was that the focus of your training?" Hiei questioned Kurama.

"More or less. The main focus of our training was to teach him precise control of his spirit sword," Kurama answered.

"I'd be surprised if either of them got back on their feet in time."

"It's true. Both the yo-yo and the sword made solid hits. I guess we'll know soon enough."

"Get up! You're late! Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled in his sleep. San sighed, waiting for one of the fighters to hurry up already. Rinku inched his way back onto the ring after five counts.

"Get up there Kuwabara, I'm serious, I know you're used to losing but not now," said Yusuke, still sleeping.

"What did you say?" Kuwabara shot up instantly after hearing him. It was amazing how that worked. He ran towards Yusuke, yelling at him while Koto continued to count. Rinku used his yo-yo's to keep Kuwabara out of the ring and then Koto announced the fatal ten. The match was over, Rinku being the winner.

"That was fairly innocent. It's rare to see both fighters still standing," said Kurama.

"Hn. I assure you that it won't happen with me," said Hiei. The next fighter stepped onto the ring. Kurama said he'd handle this one and then walked up to start the next match. They did the traditional stare contest, San knowing that Kurama was sizing him up.

"Kurama, considering the stakes we can't afford to take any chances," Hiei reminded him.

"Naturally," was Kurama's response.

"Don't break a leg!" San yelled at him encouragingly. She was serious though, she hated mending bones, it was her least favourite thing to do. Yusuke was mumbling in his sleep. San could smell Botan getting closer, while Kuwabara grunted in pain.

"We will handle the rest of the team, you take it easy," said Hiei to Kuwabara.

"Hey, I'm not out of this yet. If Yusuke doesn't wake up, I'll take the last guy," replied Kuwabara.

"We'll pray that doesn't happen."

"Alright boys, I'm here, now let's whip this team into shape!" Botan announced herself. She informed them of her job as a trainer, granting her access to the floor. She walked to Yusuke, ignoring Kuwabara and slapped him in an attempt to get up.

"That won't work, the boy is determined."

"Well, I'll at least get him out of the way," said Botan, dragging him by his feet to the stands. San turned her attention back to Kurama.

"Y'know, that rose whip he's got has be 10 feet long, where does he stash it? All the ways I can think of sound kind of painful," asked Kuwabara.

"Idiot. Animal apparitions can manipulate plants. Rose whips obviously come from roses, and he keeps one in his hair. My mate used to do the same thing," San answered him.

"Even weeds can turn into a deadly weapon for Kurama," Hiei added.

"Second fight, Roto vs. Kurama. Begin!" announced Koto.

Roto was talking to Kurama, something about spending years in the world of the living. It started to sound like he was attempting to threaten him. San growled, still not understanding why she was so protective of him. She watched as Roto changed his hand into a scythe and ran at Kurama. But he was too fast for that, and simply dodged him. This Roto was an idiot.

"He's clearly no match for Kurama. What a joke of a round. It's a shame you couldn't fight him and let Kurama fight the child and his yo-yo's," said Hiei, insulting Kuwabara as an after thought.

"Hey you watch it shrimpy, I just got cheated is all!" was Kuwabara's defense. Kurama was about to strike when he hesitated. Something happened, and Kurama's cheek was scratched. Roto was holding something in his hand and then San understood. Kurama wouldn't do anythign to endanger his mother, so that left Roto free to win. While feeding Kurama the punches, San caught Kurama slipping a death plant seed into Roto, distracting him with a pebble. How Youko of him. Where was that bastard? She wanted to see him already. Roto would have temporary control, but San could feel him pouring his energy discreetly into the plant. She knew of the death plant, having used it many times herself.

"What's wrong Kurama, let him have it!" yelled Kuwabara. His eyes obviously weren't that good.

"Quiet," said Hiei. Roto was gloating about this now, throwing it in Kurama's face. San was ready to jump in and bite his ugly head off. She enjoyed severing heads as a wolf demon. Roto continued to beat him, making San more angry. He pulled out his scythe and cut Kurama on the cheek, "Patience," Hiei told her. She realized she was white knuckling. Roto lifted up his boot, implying he wanted Kurama to lick it. Kurama refused, finally fighting back, which meant his attack was ready. Kurama taunted Roto to push the button, and then he couldn't move. Kurama knocked it out of his hand.

"Wait Kurama! You don't have to do this, I never actually would have pushed the button, I'm just a lower class demon, I don't know any better. Come on, you believe in mercy don't you?" Roto pleaded.

"No," said Kurama, sending out his energy and the plant killing Roto. The flowers were always beautiful, "What irony. Such beauty sprung from such an ugly soil.

"What a fool. So intent on proving himself he didn't notice your moves. Don't worry about his demon friend, he vanished the moment Roto died," said Hiei as Kurama came back to the sideline.

"And you knew?" asked Kurama. But San was staring at him. How could he possibly have taken such control of the death plant?

"It wasn't much of a demon in the first place," said San.

"It's sad that I have two telepaths for close friends," Kurama smirked. Botan and Kuwabara were asking why they were being so secretive. The three demons just laughed and then turned their backs, waiting for the next round.
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