Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Summer Time ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter Five

After dinner, at seven o'clock...

Dressed in a red spaghetti-strap shirt and short jean-skort, I was standing in the middle of the fighting ring. I stared up into the stands filled with potential employers. The mercenaries were all lounging around the stage, waiting to see who would fight first. I began to feel a little self- conscious when someone put a spot light on me.

"Well, are of you ready for the first fight?!" I shouted to the mixed crowd of humans and demons, doing my best to sound bubbly and happy. Everyone was in the fighting arena, and surprisingly enough, there was less than fifty employers there. I wondered why there were so few people.

Some of the people in the crowd roared back at me. I was amazed that they were so easy to rile up. No wonder some people like being the announcers at different events. It was fun to see the effect you could have on a crowd of strangers.

"Good!" I yelled enthusiastically into the microphone, looking up at a screen to see who was going to be up first. I read the names off and began to shake inside. "I'm Kaline, the officiator, and our first match is between Hiei and Kurama."

Hiei and Kurama both came onto the stage. Hiei had his hands in his pockets, his katana was on his back. Kurama appeared just as relaxed with his arms crossed and his mild facial expression.

"Now, there is no killing allowed," I said, holding the microphone up a little higher to get over the shouts. "The fights are to show off skills. Keep injuries to a minimum, but other than that, anything goes!" I paused to let the crowd roar a little more. The demons were making more noise than the humans were. "To win, the fighter must knock his opponent unconscious for ten counts, get the opponent to stay outside of the ring for ten counts, or force his opponent to lay down on the ground for ten counts. NOW, LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!!!"

I backed away from the center of the stage, not wanting to get in the middle of a fight between the two demons. If I got in the way, then I would probably get hurt. The battle between Kurama and Hiei was going to be violent and dangerous.

Kurama stared at Hiei, and Hiei stared back. They didn't move a muscle, which was a little annoying.

"Well, it seems that our two fighters are having a staring contest," I announced, looking back and forth at the two demons. "What could be running through their heads right now? Could they be judging each other's weaknesses before they even attack?" Acting cheery and neutral was hard, especially since Kurama and Hiei were suppose to fight. They were making my job very hard. How was I suppose to give a running account of what was going on, if nothing was going on?

Hiei attacked first, pulling out his katana and moving to strike Kurama down. He swung the sword, but Kurama had already moved out of the way.

"Rose whip!" Kurama shouted, taking out his rose and turning it into a thorny whip. With a graceful movement of his arm, he sent the end of the whip at Hiei.

Hiei easily avoided the attack and moved to slice the whip in half. The attacked worked perfectly, but the rose whip just grew back. He sliced the whip into four pieces, but it just grew back again.

"Poor Hiei," I said sympathetically. "It seems that no matter how hard he tries, he can't get rid of the whip."

Suddenly, Hiei decided to try a different approach. He began running around at top speed. It was very hard to follow his moving form. "It seems that Hiei is trying to confuse his enemy by moving very quickly. If any of you can follow his movements, please tell me what he's doing. And it looks like Kurama is having as much trouble as I am."

Kurama wasn't following Hiei's movements with his eyes. In fact, he wasn't moving at all. The end of his rose whip was curled around his feet, and his eyes were closed. His right hand tightly clenched the handle of the rose whip. His eyes were even closed.

"Kurama seems to be no match for Hiei's amazing speed!" I continued, silently begging that Kurama would forgive me later. I knew that he was using his abilities to sense where Hiei was. Kurama didn't need his eyes, and I knew it. Hiei was faster than Kurama, but that didn't mean that Kurama was any weaker.

Suddenly, Kurama lashed out at Hiei with his rose whip. Hiei reacted by slicing the whip into several more pieces. The rose whip immediately grew back to it's normal length.

"Just like what happens when you prune a bush," I commented. "If you trim it, it grows back even stronger."

People in the crowd were yelling wildly. Half were on Hiei's side; half were on Kurama's side. Some demons were even standing up and shaking their fists. They looked so childish to me when they did that.

Hiei lunged at Kurama, sword ready to swing, but Kurama moved before he could be hit. The three-eyed demon recovered quickly, making a fast landing and launching back at his opponent. Kurama snapped his rose whip at Hiei in defense. It was chopped to pieces again, but it gave Kurama enough time to get out of the way.

"This stage is starting to look like a weed patch," I joked, kicking at a piece of the whip. Parts of Kurama's whip littered the fighting arena. Most of the ground was covered with them.

All of a sudden, Hiei stopped running around. He stood on a clear piece of floor. "I'll give you one chance to give up."

"No, thank you," Kurama replied politely, bending down and touching one of the whip pieces with his free hand.

I watched all the sliced off parts of the rose whip launched themselves at Hiei and wrapped around him. "I don't believe it!!" I yelled. "Kurama has turned all the fallen bits of his whip into a weapon!" Hiei fell down to the ground, struggling against the whip pieces with all his might. "One..." I said, beginning the count. If Hiei stayed down for ten counts, then I would get to announce Kurama as the winner. "Two..." I paused for a few seconds. "Three..." Another pause. "Four."

"Give up, Hiei?" Kurama asked, his voice soft.

"No," Hiei replied, struggling even more. The thorns on the whip bit into him, wounding him.

"Five," I yelled. "Six." Pause again. "Seven." Again, another pause. "Eight."

Hiei kept on trying to get up, which only made his wounds worse. His black shirt and pants were beginning to look wet with blood.

"Nine," I called out and waited for a few more seconds. "Ten! Kurama is the winner!!" Right after that, the thorn whip released a bleeding Hiei. The fire demon looked very unhappy at the moment. I was rather impressed with Kurama though, even if Hiei wasn't. Kurama had out-smarted his best friend without hurting him too bad. That was an amazing achievement in my mind.

Both Kurama and Hiei left the fighting arena. Kurama went over and sat down on the grass, his back against the wall. Hiei left the fighting stadium completely, probably to tend to his wounds.

I gave Kurama a quick smile before I began to announce the fighters for the next round. He nodded his head, returning my smile with one of his own. Happy that he was okay, I went back to my job of officiating.