Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Two Hearts, Two Minds, One Soul ❯ Tough Battles ( Chapter 26 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Mitsukai no Awai 
Hiei versus Bui. Kuwabara versus Elder Toguro.
Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Romance / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.07.2005 | Pages: 7 | Words: 6.2K | Visits: 236 | Status: Completed
Hiei versus Bui. Kuwabara versus Elder Toguro.
Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Romance / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.07.2005 | Pages: 7 | Words: 6.2K | Visits: 236 | Status: Completed
Well, I would like to thank Jaganshi Ran for writing half of this chapter. I didn't see Kuwa's fight... Oh and thanks to my good friend, mrs.jaganshi! Thanks for telling me all about Hiei's fight. That... I didn't see either! ;_;
I don't own YYH... *cries* STUPID LAWYERS! *lawyers come in* I... I mean... Uh... I LOVE lawyers! ^_^U
WARNING! - In the Kuwabara fight, it would be slightly gory and sickening, so... if you get queasy, just remember... I warned you.
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Two Hearts, Two Minds, One Soul
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tough Battles
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Bui summoned an enormous axe, holding it out to the side despite its obviously tremendous weight.
"That's your weapon, is it?" Hiei asked quietly. "My, my, you intend to treat me like a small fry?"
Flinging off his cloak, Hiei revealed his tightly and heavily bandaged right arm and smirked.
Bui attacked, dashing straight for Hiei and leaping into the air, appearing to slice Hiei neatly in half with the move. But the little youkai appeared behind him, perfectly whole, and with an angry order. "Act like you mean it! I don't even feel like fighting back."
Bui pulled up the axe, bringing one of the huge blocks of the ring's pavement with it and throwing it at Hiei, who dodged easily by jumping out of the block's way. Undeterred, Bui continued tearing out the ring floor and flinging the tiles at Hiei, but Hiei was too fast to be caught. Many audience members, though, did not fair quite so well.
"It looks like Bui is enjoying himself," commented Sakyo.
"That's because his opponent is so incomparable to the one he had in the semifinals," Toguro Otouto said with a smug smile.
"Indeed," his brother agreed. "Killing someone like that is so much fun!"
"As I recall, that was the man who used the Kokuryuuha technique," Sakyo said.
"Hai."
"I'd like to see that again."
"All Bui's doing is killing the audience," Gwen said, obviously annoyed.
~In the process of trying to catch Hiei,~ her inner self replied as she appeared on Gwen's lap.
"You think you can toy around with me, do you?" Hiei asked Bui. As Bui flung another block to him, Hiei was ready.
The bandana over the Jagan burned away. "Jaou Ensatsu Rengokushou!"
Hiei punched the blocks away easily, crumbling each to pebbles as they came at him and sending the rubble flying away. As he soundly shattered the last, Bui appeared from behind the fragments, his axe at the ready and nearing Hiei every second.
"Hiei!" Gwen shouted.
Rather than run this time, Hiei used the last of the Rengokushou to stop the blade on his fist, cracking it at the handle and sending it flying towards Juri, who tensed and squeaked as it brushed by her ear and landed, instead, in the audience.
Bui created another axe, and Hiei was still unimpressed. "Enough already! No matter how many of those axes you produce, it won't do you any good!" Bui threw the axe, but Hiei caught it easily by the blade and sent it up in flames.
Everybody gasped, including Gwen and the rest of the Urameshi team. Kurama and Gwen realized that Hiei's energy was steadily rising, even enough to summon Kokuryuuha.
"I told you to come at me like you mean it. Do you think that non-youki-conducting scrap iron will be of any use against me? I've just about reached my limit with you!" Hiei challenged.
At last, Bui spoke. "Indeed. You don't appear to be an opponent I can beat with my armor in place." He removed his gauntlets. "I have been defeated only one time before. I had only intended to remove this armor when I fought that man once again."
"Hm. You're sure about this?" Hiei asked mockingly. "You'll end up taking my attacks dead-on."
"Not to worry," Bui assured him. He knelt to remove the bands around his legs.
"This is your chance! Your chance!" George was yelling from the stands where he sat with the girls. "If you put him away right now, you could win, you know! Right?"
"Think about Hiei's personality, would you? He would never do that," Botan said dryly. George deflated a bit.
"Yeah... Hiei has too much honor and pride to do something as low as that," Gwen added. George shrunk in embarrassment.
"Besides, this is a fight between men, after all," Shizuru explained. "If he were to do such a gutless thing, what fun would that be?" George shrunk down further into his seat.
"Sou, sou!" Keiko said sternly. George was the size of a small bird.
"I wish I hadn't said anything..."
"Usually, armor is worn to defend against attacks from the outside." Bui removed his helmet. "But in my case, it's a little different." Finally, he dicarded the cover over his mouth. "I wear it in order to suppress my own power. A terrible power that not even I am able to reign in."
An enormous greenish-blue aura formed around Bui's body, lifting him in the air.
"Battle Aura - his fighting spirit..." Kurama whispered.
"So you mean that's his true armor?" Yusuke asked.
"Yeah...but this is the first time I've ever seen one so intense that it could levitate the person's whole body."
"You get serious too," Bui said with a cocky smile. "We'll make this something to remember."
"You're right," Hiei said. "I think I'll do just that." Then, with a vivid red aura surrounding him, Hiei jumped, kicking Bui's armor, but the Battle Aura deflected the attack. As Bui angled his body and shot down towards Hiei, Hiei sent the Rengokushou at his opponent in a spiral pattern, wrapping around him and trying to burn Bui's body. Bui curled in on himself and let loose an explosion of youki in another burst of the Battle Aura, attacking on the next moment by throwing a sphere of the Aura at Hiei.
"Shineh!"
Hiei responded with a great wave of fire, perforating the Aura and detonating it from the inside out.
"Aura Battle Cross Attack!" A giant shuriken of the Battle Aura shot down towards Hiei. Hiei blurred out of its way, but the shuriken followed him where he went.
"All right...!" He materialized right behind Bui, smirked, then blurred out again. The shuriken hit Bui hard, and he fell to the ground, causing an explosion that created a crater in the ring.
Team Urameshi stared expectantly, hoping that the trick had defeated Bui. "That was a brilliant way of fighting fire with fire," Koenma said. Hiei landed on the crater's border, confident, but widened his eyes when the smoke cleared; Bui was still standing, unharmed.
"I told you to get serious. Did you think that such cheap tricks would get you anywhere?" Flaring his Battle Aura again, Bui levitated and landed on the other side of the crater. "My temper is short. If you're going to continue to be so full of yourself, I'll kill you before you can use your Korkuyuuha!" Bui rose in the air again.
"Hn. Is that so? You want to see it that badly, do you? You're going to regret this," Hiei said, ripping the ward on his fist and beginning to unbandage his right arm.
"Hiei's bandages are the same as with Bui's armor. By using those special bandages to seal up his spell, he's been using his own power. Once he releases it, he'll have more power than he can control..." Kurama told his teammates. "I fear for the girls' safety, because if the two powers collide, the stadium will be blown away!"
The bandages fell to the ground, and for the first time, a tattoo of a black dragon could be seen spiraling around Hiei's right arm. The arm, then Hiei's whole body, was surrounded by an aura of black youki. "There's no turning back now. I've forgotten how to wrap it up again." He smirked, rather self-satisfied. "Now, let me show you the perfected Ensatsu Kokuryuuha!"
Team Urameshi watched Hiei with apprehension, Koenma ready to launch the rocket pack and escape from the stadium. Shizuru shivered, Hiei's youki giving her a chilling sensation.
"This Hiei fellow..." Sakyo said calmly. "It looks like he's going to be showing us the long-awaited Kokuryuuha technique, huh?"
"Aa."
"When was the last time he let us see it?"
"During the first round of this tournament."
"Is that right? It's been that long, has it?" Sakyo laughed softly.
"For it to appear again in the finals... It's been made out to be quite grandiose," Toguro Otouto mentioned.
"There's no comparison between Zeru and Bui," Sakyo muttered.
Columns of electric black youki dropped from the sky and rose from underwater, hitting the stadium, causing parts of its structure to shatter and fall.
Koto dragged Juri, who was paralyzed with terror, out of the ring. Hiei stood firmly as a lasso of black youki spun around him, its origin on his arm. The ring shattered around him.
The crowd watched in mingled horror and fascination as a jolt of fiery red lightning struck down from the sky, nailing Hiei. "Here it goes!" he shouted.
'The Jaou Ensatsu Ken's greatest, most powerful secret technique-' Bui thought hurriedly. '-Ensatsu Kokuryuuha! If I avoid it, I can win!'
Hiei charged. 'A Kokuryuuha that is turned back will return to its caster!' Bui continued to formulate his plan. 'And then he will be scorched and devoured by the very Kokuryuu that he himself unleashed!'
"Take this!" Hiei shouted, electric red and black youki engulfing his arm. "Ensatsu Kokuryuuha!"
Bui let loose a terrible shout, summoning his Battle Aura further around himself and opening his hands. He grabbed the head of the Dragon, being pushed back with it as it tore around the stadium.
Hiei snarled. "Don't take my Kokuryuuha so lightly!" Thrusting his arm forward, he released another wave of youki, blue this time, to engulf the Dragon and strengthen it, turning its own aura from bright red to blue-white.
Bui remembered Toguro Otouto laughing at him. "I won't kill you yet. You will become stronger. You will then come seeking my life once again!" The remembrance gave Bui further drive and determination, and he roared with another wave of Battle Aura. 'I cannot allow myself to be defeated!'
The Kokuryuuha hit the weakest among the crowds, burning them to death. The flames broke through the ceiling, taking Bui with it and pinned him against one of the tall, curved rock formations of the island. Hiei jumped to the ceiling to see it.
But the memory of how Toguro caused the scar on his face gave Bui the strength to resist. He turned the Dragon back, and it flew towards Hiei, swallowing him.
"Hiei! No!!!!" Gwen cried out, staring at the Dragon.
Team Urameshi stared in mute shock as the Dragon spiraled in the sky. Koto urged a frightened Juri to declare the end of the fight. But just as Juri was about to announce Bui as the winner, a cloud of intertwining black and blue fire exploded in the sky above them, knocking her down. The cloud fell heavily to the ring, revealing Hiei, crouched behind Bui and surrounded by an eerie aura, but completely unharmed. The tattoo on his arm was gone.
"This, starting right now...is what I wanted to show you."
Yusuke and Gwen were deeply relieved to see Hiei alive. "This is where it begins," Shizuru said, her voice hushed and her expression frightened. "T-this is where Hiei begins showing what he's truly made of!"
"I-I'm frightened," whispered Yukina.
Keiko tried to comfort the Koorime. "H-He doesn't look all that different from how he was earlier, though...except that the dragon on his arm has vanished."
'I hope she's right,' Gwen thought as she looked at Hiei, and, for the first time, felt afraid of him.
~Keiko is right,~ Carnation purred. Gwen looked down, and smiled a little.
"You mean, this is the thing he has perfected?" asked Yusuke, startled.
"That's right," Kurama said. "Hiei has devoured the Kokuryuuha wave! He's become someone with enough power to contain and control the cast energy absorbed from the Kokuryuu! He is the one who has perfected the Kokuryuuha technique."
Bui was visibly scared.
"Somebody as capable as Bui must have realized this."
"Do you see this? This is the power of the one who has mastered the Kokuryuuha!" Hiei told him. "There are many who misunderstand this, but the Kokuryuuha is not just a simple projectile weapon... It is a nutritive that explosively raises the caster's youki. In other words, it is just fodder..."
Bui summoned a glare and gathered courage, savagely beating on his opponent. Hiei didn't move, but didn't seem to feel a thing either. In the open Jagan, Bui saw a terrifying image of Hiei, backed by the Kokuryuu, his own form standing prone before them. He kept hitting Hiei brutally, tossing him up and slamming him into the ceiling, then hurtling him back to the ground. Hiei only stood and smirked at Bui. The frantic warrior dashed forward to punch Hiei yet again, but Hiei caught Bui's first, and the Battle Aura dissipated.
"Come now," Hiei scolded. "Can't you even test me?"
Bui charged again, Battle Aura at the ready, but Hiei thrust his own fist forward, surrounded by a shock of electric blue and black youki, and flung Bui into the air out of the arena. Leaping after him, Hiei was surrounded by a long stream of youki and appeared to actually become the black Dragon.
Nailing Bui in the face, Hiei knocked him back to the earth, into a vacant part of the audience seating. Juri, seeing both fighters out of the ring, started counting.
"Kill me..." Bui pleaded softly. "Before, when I fought and lost to Toguro...there was still the possibility of me becoming stronger. I toughened myself to my very limits over the prospect of once again fighting Toguro again. However, Toguro has become even stronger. He instead opened up an overwhelming gap between our powers." A forlorn expression overcame Bui's features as he looked up at Hiei. "And now, here I have been completely beaten by you as well. There's no longer any reason for me to live."
"Hn. If you wanna die, then die on your own." He jumped back to the ring as Juri continued counting.
"8...9..."
"See, I hate being dictated to," he said quietly over his shoulder.
"10!!" Juri shouted. "The match is over! Contestant Hiei is the victor!"
"All right! Now we're one win and one loss!" Yusuke cheered. Kuwabara gaped as Hiei jumped down and walked over.
"Hey, are you sure it's okay for him to come close to us!?"
"That was awesome, Hiei," Yusuke congratulated him.
"You're invincible, aren't you?" Kuwabara asked. "You go ahead and fight the rest of them!"
But Hiei, legs trembling, denied it. "I can't do that. This technique also has a fatal flaw. In order to allow my extremely overworked spectral power and physical strength to recover..." He yawned. "...I've got to completely hibernate for several hours. No matter how prefected the technique becomes, there's nothing I can do about this."
Yusuke blinked. "Hibernate?"
"What are you, a bullfrog?" Kuwabara asked scornfully.
"Now listen!" said Hiei stubbornly. "I used this technique because I've put my faith in all of you good-for-nothings! If I wake up...and we've lost...you're all going to...get it..." With that, he passed out.
Kurama chuckled and Yusuke burst out laughing, finding it hilarious how Hiei kept the arrogant facade even when he was about to collapse. Gazing at Hiei's tranquil features in sleep, Koenma said thoughtfully, "Looking at his sleeping face, you wouldn't think that this was the same guy who ran so wild until just moments ago."
Kuwabara took out a pen. "Should we scribble something on him?"
Gwen smiled, subconsciously thinking, 'Hiei's cute when he's asleep... Wait, wait a second! Did I just think that?' She blushed a deep red.
The girls noticed this. "Are you all right, Gwen?" Botan asked with a perky grin.
"Hai..." She continued to blush, and hid her face. 'Why can't I stop this?'
~You like him, huh?~ Carnation asked the hanyou telepathically.
~...I don't know what you're talking about!~ Gwen said.
~Right...~
"You know," said Yusuke observantly, "they did a good job of smashing this place up something fierce."
Kurama smiled. "Once again, we've been made aware of the force of Hiei's Ensatsu Kokuryuuha."
"While the man who launched it is sound asleep over there."
"He has used up all his energy," Koenma reminded them. "He doesn't have much choice."
Yusuke turned to the ring - what was left of it, anyway. "Be that as it may, what are we going to do about the next match with the ring the way it is?"
"Who cares about the ring?" Kuwabara asked, coming over and clapping Yusuke over the shoulder. "With the momentum we've got going now, I'm going to go out there and pluck us another victory!"
Toguro Ani, however, had different ideas. Sending a spark of youki to Kuwabara's awareness, he smirked as the carrot top turned to him. Drawing in some sort of strange ki, he created an illusion of himself transforming into a towering black shadow creature that may as well have come from a nightmare. Kuwabara quivered.
"Huh," grunted Yusuke nonchalantly. "That bastard's just trying to provoke you. Don't let it bother you."
"Who, me?" Kuwabara replied, overly excited. "Don't be a dumbass! I was just staring them down, that's all."
"...For the next short while," came Koto's voice over the mic, "we will be taking some time out in order to repair the ring."
Kuwabara sighed. "Well, well, a break, huh? Nothing we can do about that. I guess I'll go back to our waiting room."
"Your intuition is indeed sharp."
Kuwabara turned around, startled. Toguro Ani smirked. "I mean, fo you to be having a premonition of you own death..."
"W-why you...when did you get over here!?"
"You have grown surprisingly over these last few months. However, the difference in our powers is just too great." Toguro looked down solemnly, but the smile remained on his face. "You know this as well. You are certain to die. How fortunate for you that your execution has been delayed. You should spend this intermission time to make sure that you leave no regrets behind in this world." Cackling, he strode away.
The waiting period seemed to pass in a fuzzy haze of people asking him what was wrong and his sister and crush trying to psych him up, but all too soon, Kuwabara was back at the ring - helpfully supplied from the first stadium by Toguro Otouto - to face Toguro Ani. His proud boasting all for naught, Kuwabara vainly tried to boost his spirits, fingering the Tameshi no Ken he had received from Suzuki.
"Well then, I'll just go put the squeeze on him!" he said loudly, stepping forward to the ring. On the opposite side of the floor, Toguro Ani dropped down from his brother's shoulder to take his place as well.
"Begin the match!" shouted Juri.
Loud shouts rang out as Kuwabara sent his reiki into the Tameshi no Ken, creating his sword - multi-colored shocks of ki surrounded him in a protective barrier and the sword hilt had erupted with a long, sharply edged blade. Kuwabara panted slightly.
"How about that!? You nervous?"
"Wow! I never thought that Kuwabara would have a sword like that!" Gwen exclaimed.
"Neither did I!" Botan agreed.
"I'm going to settle this right away! Here goes!"
Toguro Ani muttered to himself, too quietly for Kuwabara to hear as he rushed forward, "That sword is definitely trouble. I tink I'll use that one trick..." Unbeknownst to Kuwabara, the ring tiles crackled and split beneath Toguro Ani's feet.
"You're mine!"
"Why isn't he moving out of the way?" Yusuke asked, confused. Kuwabara's sword messily sliced Toguro in half, cutting through his body and leaving part of his head and torso hanging off the left side.
"Nani!? W-what's going on...?"
"You did it Kuwabara!" Botan cried.
"The bastard won," said Shizuru, obviously shocked.
"Incredible!" gasped Yukina.
"I can't believe he won that fight that fast!" said Gwen.
"Hey, did he really just win?" Yusuke asked Kurama, back on the stadium floor.
"I'm not sure," the redhead replied.
"I-I did it!" cried Kuwabara. "I beat Toguro Ani!"
Juri neared Toguro hesitantly, clearly disgusted and slightly, for lack of a better term, freaked. "The winner is Kuwa-"
Suddenly, to the stunned surprise of everyone in the stands and Team Urameshi, five long skin-toned spears shot out from somewhere behind Kuwabara, piercing through his back. He fell to the ground, gasping for air, and the Tameshi no Ken spun across the floor.
The "spears" withdrew to form fingers of a hand poking out from a crack in the tiles, and Toguro Ani climbed out. "It pleases me that you are so naive that I was able to fool you," Toguro said.
Kuwabara strained to turn around. "How come there are two of him...?"
Toguro laughed, and the Toguro that Kuwabara had cut through suddenly tore through the ring and came out on the other side, as Toguro's hand. "The one that you sliced was a living doll that I made out of my own body," Toguro explained. "An imitation." He recalled his hand and licked off the stream of blood running down his thumb. "I did feel pain, but not as much as you are now. What's more, it's not just my shape I can alter." His head bulged out to the left and waved tauntingly. "I am also capable of relocating my internal organs, brain, and so forth into my arms or legs." His brain grew out under the skin of his right hand.
"I moved my entire self behind you through the soles of my feet," he said, clearly pleased with himself, "by drilling my way through the floor tiles!"
"What kind of bastard are you!?" Kuwabara asked, not really expecting an answer.
Toguro's finger rakes reached out and picked up the Tameshi no Ken, withdrawing it.
"This is quite a handy instrument, huh? Is it a memento from Genkai?" asked Toguro Ani.
"Memento...?" Kuwabara asked dazedly.
"Then again, after leaving a memento to pupil so foolish as you, she won't be able to rest in peace, now that she's dead."
"N-nani? What did you just say!?"
"What are surprised at? Do you mean you didn't know? Genkai is dead. She's been killed!"
"D-dead...?"
"Genkai has died?" asked Keiko. Gwen's hair shadowed her eyes.
"T-that can't be... So that's it... Everyone else knew, huh? Am I the only one that didn't know!?" asked Kuwabara angrily.
Toguro's finger rakes reached out and stabbed Kuwabara in the chest, circling around his heart.
"There's no need to grieve. You'll be going where Genkai is very soon. All I have to do is squeeze my fingers together, and I can pluck your heart right out!" exclaimed Toguro Ani.
"Kazuma-san!" Yukina cried.
"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted.
Ani cackled. "Your pals are all so cold! Nobody told you!? All right, then. Before you die, I'll explain it to you - how powerless and misesrable you ningens are - with a puppet show!"
He made a Young Genkai puppet. "Once upon a time, there was a young man and a young woman. The woman's name was Genkai, and she was a beauty without equal. And the man...was my younger brother, and went off by the name of Toguro.
"The two of them were friends who worked to master the martial arts. However...as the months and years went by, the woman grew hideously older..."
"Brother!" Toguro Otouto shouted.
"It's okay, let me do this!
"Contrarily, the man used the power of the Makai to better his martial arts, and he kept his youth. And so, the old woman became envious of the man, still in his youth, and challenged him to a duel. However, as heartbreaking as it may be, she met with defeat in her challenge."
The finger rakes stabbed through Genkai's doll's torso.
"Botan, is this true? Has Genkai died?" Keiko asked the Grim Reaper.
"Mm-hmm," she replied.
"It can't be...!"
Ani continued his tale. "And so, Genkai was killed by my brother, and has gone to heaven.
"Where she lived happily ever after," he ended with a cackle.
"You're wrong! Ba-san didn't fight out of envy!" Yusuke shouted.
Gwen stood up. "That's right!"
"He's just being asinine," Sakyo said.
"It's a bad habit that Brother has," replied Otouto.
Kuwabara stood on shaking legs, hands fisting at his sides. "That tears it...completely...!"
"You're full of spirits, huh?" asked Toguro perkily. He withdrew the Tameshi no Ken from his pocket and held it out. "However, I have your trump card right here. You cannot cut through me with your reiki alone."
Kuwabara continued to tremble, but it wasn't out of fear. "Tojikomeru..."
Toguro smiled wickedly. "You're the who's going to be silenced! Die!!"
His hand spun forward in a drill shape, straight for Kuwabara's chest.
Suddenly, it stopped, pressed against Kuwabara's skin. "What's happening here?" Toguro asked, slightly frightened and more than a little confused. "I can't pierce your skin!"
"I see," said Kurama, "Kuwabara's strength and his resolve appear to be closely related."
Kuwabara, meanwhile, was glaring down at Toguro with a venom he had never shown before. "I'm going to make you..." he began threateningly, "I'm going to make you pay!!"
Pulling back his hand, he flung it forward, blasting hundreds of rei shuriken at the youkai before him. "Burn in hell!!"
Toguro grimaced, clearly terrified. "Nani!?" He was flung back against the ring, cuts appearing all over his body, limbs detached from their proper places, blood splattering everywhere. He coughed up a spray of blood.
"You did it!" shouted Yusuke exuberantly.
"Kazuma-san...!" whispered Yukina.
"Nicely done, Kazuma," Shizuru murmured.
"And now, I will begin the count!" cried Juri, running over. "1...2...3...4...5...6..."
"You lowlife..." Kuwabara muttered. "This is your own fault for making fun of Genkai Ba-san's death."
"7...8... Ah-h!"
Toguro's eyes snapped open. "Stop that. Your count is meaningless." His limbs stretched out and sewed themselves together. "To think that you could shoot reiki like shuriken knives from out of where your sword emanates... You're more clever than I expected."
Kuwabara shivered again. "Nani...!?"
Toguro laughed. "But it's not good to overexert yourself. You see? You've got too many injuries to be releasing your reiki in a way you're unaccustomed to." His body continued to reform itself, each detached limb reaching out of its source to re-stitch itself. "Moreover, unfortunately for you, that attack did no damage to me."
"What are you, immortal?" Kuwabara hissed, voice quivering.
"As long as you don't crush my heart and brain, you have no chance of surviving. However, since I can move my heart and brain at will -" he demonstrated by switching around the locations of one hand and part of another arm "- there's no way you can tell where they are!"
"Kuso...!"
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to have you sprawl out on the ground. It's what suits you best!"
With another hideous laugh, Toguro sent his fingers circling Kuwabara's back and stabbing cleanly, lifting him up to the ring ceiling and then throwing him back down to the floor. "Rot in hell!"
Yusuke lurched forward on the sidelines. "Kuwabara!"
"If I don't do at least this much, there's no telling what you'll try to do," Toguro explained, pinning Kuwabara to the floor.
"K-kuso..."
Juri snapped out of some revere. "Contestant Kuwabara is down! I will begin the count!"
"There's no use in struggling!" Toguro assured him. "Being stuck in so unsightly a manner to the ground looks good on you."
"Kazuma...!" Shizuru whispered.
"Even if you were able to get up from there," Toguro continued, "I am capable of moving my organs around at will! How about that?" His eye moved into his thumb and his head replaced an arm. "There's no way for you to attack me, is there?"
Kuwabara growled.
"Don't go anticipating a ten-count defeat, either. I'm going to lop your head off and kill you, see?"
"Don't you worry!" Kuwabara countered. "I'm going to knock you flat! You can be sure of that!"
Toguro replaced his organs. "Oh? Fascinating. For someone in the position of a frog to be disscted, you sure make me laugh." He formed a long, scalpel-style sword with his right hand. "Go do your bawling in the next world!" Another eerie cackle. "Now then, let's put an end to this chit-chat."
It was then that Kuwabara spotted the Tameshi no Ken, just behind Toguro. 'If I could just grab that...!'
"6...7..."
"I don't know what it is you plan to do next," Toguro laughed, "but your time is over!"
"8...9..."
Shizuru stood before her seat. "Kazuma!"
"Die!!" shouted Toguro.
"Now! Sword, extend!"
Toguro stopped short and turned around, looking over his shoulder. "Aw, hell..."
Kuwabara stood, wavering only slightly. "You're the one who's gonna be dissceted! Go to hell!"
Once again, Kuwabara neatly sliced Toguro into pieces, his sword returned to his hand. "Hey, sweetheart!" he called to Juri. "How about a count?"
"Uh...Contestant Kuwabara is up on the count of nine! Instead, Contestant Toguro Ani is down! 1..."
"The count is unnecessary! I may have dropped my guard for a moment, but Kuwabara, once again, you have failed to do any lethal damage to me!"
"K-kuso..."
'Stupid youkai always getting back together! I wish he'd go to hell!' Gwen thought angrily.
~Hate Toguro Ani?~ Carnation asked.
~Why would anyone like him?~
~Good point.~
"How do you like that?" Toguro asked wickedly. "There's nothing you can do, is there? Once my body is all connected again, you're finished!"
A strange pink glow was being emitted from the Tameshi no Ken, and Toguro stopped speaking to gape.
"This really is a handy instrument," said Kuwabara appreciatively, seeing the large round disk the sword had become. "It changed its form to match my mood right now perfectly."
"What are you going to do...!?"
"It's true that without knowing where your weak spots are, there's no way for me to attack. However, if I were to smash your entire body, what would happen then!?"
Kuwabara brought down the flat instrument onto his opponent's head. "Hey, sweetheart, don't just stand there!"
Juri started. "R-right away!" She peered into the cracks of the ring. "I will comfirm it... Contestant Kuwabara is the winner!"
"Wow... He won!" Shizuru exclaimed.
'Yeah... with a fly swatter...' Gwen thought before laughing her head off, making the girls look at her strangely. Canation sighed and shook her head.
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Well, a lot of cursing in this chapter... I am beginning the 27th chapter, but I'm unable to promise any quick updates.
I don't own YYH... *cries* STUPID LAWYERS! *lawyers come in* I... I mean... Uh... I LOVE lawyers! ^_^U
WARNING! - In the Kuwabara fight, it would be slightly gory and sickening, so... if you get queasy, just remember... I warned you.
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Two Hearts, Two Minds, One Soul
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tough Battles
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Bui summoned an enormous axe, holding it out to the side despite its obviously tremendous weight.
"That's your weapon, is it?" Hiei asked quietly. "My, my, you intend to treat me like a small fry?"
Flinging off his cloak, Hiei revealed his tightly and heavily bandaged right arm and smirked.
Bui attacked, dashing straight for Hiei and leaping into the air, appearing to slice Hiei neatly in half with the move. But the little youkai appeared behind him, perfectly whole, and with an angry order. "Act like you mean it! I don't even feel like fighting back."
Bui pulled up the axe, bringing one of the huge blocks of the ring's pavement with it and throwing it at Hiei, who dodged easily by jumping out of the block's way. Undeterred, Bui continued tearing out the ring floor and flinging the tiles at Hiei, but Hiei was too fast to be caught. Many audience members, though, did not fair quite so well.
"It looks like Bui is enjoying himself," commented Sakyo.
"That's because his opponent is so incomparable to the one he had in the semifinals," Toguro Otouto said with a smug smile.
"Indeed," his brother agreed. "Killing someone like that is so much fun!"
"As I recall, that was the man who used the Kokuryuuha technique," Sakyo said.
"Hai."
"I'd like to see that again."
"All Bui's doing is killing the audience," Gwen said, obviously annoyed.
~In the process of trying to catch Hiei,~ her inner self replied as she appeared on Gwen's lap.
"You think you can toy around with me, do you?" Hiei asked Bui. As Bui flung another block to him, Hiei was ready.
The bandana over the Jagan burned away. "Jaou Ensatsu Rengokushou!"
Hiei punched the blocks away easily, crumbling each to pebbles as they came at him and sending the rubble flying away. As he soundly shattered the last, Bui appeared from behind the fragments, his axe at the ready and nearing Hiei every second.
"Hiei!" Gwen shouted.
Rather than run this time, Hiei used the last of the Rengokushou to stop the blade on his fist, cracking it at the handle and sending it flying towards Juri, who tensed and squeaked as it brushed by her ear and landed, instead, in the audience.
Bui created another axe, and Hiei was still unimpressed. "Enough already! No matter how many of those axes you produce, it won't do you any good!" Bui threw the axe, but Hiei caught it easily by the blade and sent it up in flames.
Everybody gasped, including Gwen and the rest of the Urameshi team. Kurama and Gwen realized that Hiei's energy was steadily rising, even enough to summon Kokuryuuha.
"I told you to come at me like you mean it. Do you think that non-youki-conducting scrap iron will be of any use against me? I've just about reached my limit with you!" Hiei challenged.
At last, Bui spoke. "Indeed. You don't appear to be an opponent I can beat with my armor in place." He removed his gauntlets. "I have been defeated only one time before. I had only intended to remove this armor when I fought that man once again."
"Hm. You're sure about this?" Hiei asked mockingly. "You'll end up taking my attacks dead-on."
"Not to worry," Bui assured him. He knelt to remove the bands around his legs.
"This is your chance! Your chance!" George was yelling from the stands where he sat with the girls. "If you put him away right now, you could win, you know! Right?"
"Think about Hiei's personality, would you? He would never do that," Botan said dryly. George deflated a bit.
"Yeah... Hiei has too much honor and pride to do something as low as that," Gwen added. George shrunk in embarrassment.
"Besides, this is a fight between men, after all," Shizuru explained. "If he were to do such a gutless thing, what fun would that be?" George shrunk down further into his seat.
"Sou, sou!" Keiko said sternly. George was the size of a small bird.
"I wish I hadn't said anything..."
"Usually, armor is worn to defend against attacks from the outside." Bui removed his helmet. "But in my case, it's a little different." Finally, he dicarded the cover over his mouth. "I wear it in order to suppress my own power. A terrible power that not even I am able to reign in."
An enormous greenish-blue aura formed around Bui's body, lifting him in the air.
"Battle Aura - his fighting spirit..." Kurama whispered.
"So you mean that's his true armor?" Yusuke asked.
"Yeah...but this is the first time I've ever seen one so intense that it could levitate the person's whole body."
"You get serious too," Bui said with a cocky smile. "We'll make this something to remember."
"You're right," Hiei said. "I think I'll do just that." Then, with a vivid red aura surrounding him, Hiei jumped, kicking Bui's armor, but the Battle Aura deflected the attack. As Bui angled his body and shot down towards Hiei, Hiei sent the Rengokushou at his opponent in a spiral pattern, wrapping around him and trying to burn Bui's body. Bui curled in on himself and let loose an explosion of youki in another burst of the Battle Aura, attacking on the next moment by throwing a sphere of the Aura at Hiei.
"Shineh!"
Hiei responded with a great wave of fire, perforating the Aura and detonating it from the inside out.
"Aura Battle Cross Attack!" A giant shuriken of the Battle Aura shot down towards Hiei. Hiei blurred out of its way, but the shuriken followed him where he went.
"All right...!" He materialized right behind Bui, smirked, then blurred out again. The shuriken hit Bui hard, and he fell to the ground, causing an explosion that created a crater in the ring.
Team Urameshi stared expectantly, hoping that the trick had defeated Bui. "That was a brilliant way of fighting fire with fire," Koenma said. Hiei landed on the crater's border, confident, but widened his eyes when the smoke cleared; Bui was still standing, unharmed.
"I told you to get serious. Did you think that such cheap tricks would get you anywhere?" Flaring his Battle Aura again, Bui levitated and landed on the other side of the crater. "My temper is short. If you're going to continue to be so full of yourself, I'll kill you before you can use your Korkuyuuha!" Bui rose in the air again.
"Hn. Is that so? You want to see it that badly, do you? You're going to regret this," Hiei said, ripping the ward on his fist and beginning to unbandage his right arm.
"Hiei's bandages are the same as with Bui's armor. By using those special bandages to seal up his spell, he's been using his own power. Once he releases it, he'll have more power than he can control..." Kurama told his teammates. "I fear for the girls' safety, because if the two powers collide, the stadium will be blown away!"
The bandages fell to the ground, and for the first time, a tattoo of a black dragon could be seen spiraling around Hiei's right arm. The arm, then Hiei's whole body, was surrounded by an aura of black youki. "There's no turning back now. I've forgotten how to wrap it up again." He smirked, rather self-satisfied. "Now, let me show you the perfected Ensatsu Kokuryuuha!"
Team Urameshi watched Hiei with apprehension, Koenma ready to launch the rocket pack and escape from the stadium. Shizuru shivered, Hiei's youki giving her a chilling sensation.
"This Hiei fellow..." Sakyo said calmly. "It looks like he's going to be showing us the long-awaited Kokuryuuha technique, huh?"
"Aa."
"When was the last time he let us see it?"
"During the first round of this tournament."
"Is that right? It's been that long, has it?" Sakyo laughed softly.
"For it to appear again in the finals... It's been made out to be quite grandiose," Toguro Otouto mentioned.
"There's no comparison between Zeru and Bui," Sakyo muttered.
Columns of electric black youki dropped from the sky and rose from underwater, hitting the stadium, causing parts of its structure to shatter and fall.
Koto dragged Juri, who was paralyzed with terror, out of the ring. Hiei stood firmly as a lasso of black youki spun around him, its origin on his arm. The ring shattered around him.
The crowd watched in mingled horror and fascination as a jolt of fiery red lightning struck down from the sky, nailing Hiei. "Here it goes!" he shouted.
'The Jaou Ensatsu Ken's greatest, most powerful secret technique-' Bui thought hurriedly. '-Ensatsu Kokuryuuha! If I avoid it, I can win!'
Hiei charged. 'A Kokuryuuha that is turned back will return to its caster!' Bui continued to formulate his plan. 'And then he will be scorched and devoured by the very Kokuryuu that he himself unleashed!'
"Take this!" Hiei shouted, electric red and black youki engulfing his arm. "Ensatsu Kokuryuuha!"
Bui let loose a terrible shout, summoning his Battle Aura further around himself and opening his hands. He grabbed the head of the Dragon, being pushed back with it as it tore around the stadium.
Hiei snarled. "Don't take my Kokuryuuha so lightly!" Thrusting his arm forward, he released another wave of youki, blue this time, to engulf the Dragon and strengthen it, turning its own aura from bright red to blue-white.
Bui remembered Toguro Otouto laughing at him. "I won't kill you yet. You will become stronger. You will then come seeking my life once again!" The remembrance gave Bui further drive and determination, and he roared with another wave of Battle Aura. 'I cannot allow myself to be defeated!'
The Kokuryuuha hit the weakest among the crowds, burning them to death. The flames broke through the ceiling, taking Bui with it and pinned him against one of the tall, curved rock formations of the island. Hiei jumped to the ceiling to see it.
But the memory of how Toguro caused the scar on his face gave Bui the strength to resist. He turned the Dragon back, and it flew towards Hiei, swallowing him.
"Hiei! No!!!!" Gwen cried out, staring at the Dragon.
Team Urameshi stared in mute shock as the Dragon spiraled in the sky. Koto urged a frightened Juri to declare the end of the fight. But just as Juri was about to announce Bui as the winner, a cloud of intertwining black and blue fire exploded in the sky above them, knocking her down. The cloud fell heavily to the ring, revealing Hiei, crouched behind Bui and surrounded by an eerie aura, but completely unharmed. The tattoo on his arm was gone.
"This, starting right now...is what I wanted to show you."
Yusuke and Gwen were deeply relieved to see Hiei alive. "This is where it begins," Shizuru said, her voice hushed and her expression frightened. "T-this is where Hiei begins showing what he's truly made of!"
"I-I'm frightened," whispered Yukina.
Keiko tried to comfort the Koorime. "H-He doesn't look all that different from how he was earlier, though...except that the dragon on his arm has vanished."
'I hope she's right,' Gwen thought as she looked at Hiei, and, for the first time, felt afraid of him.
~Keiko is right,~ Carnation purred. Gwen looked down, and smiled a little.
"You mean, this is the thing he has perfected?" asked Yusuke, startled.
"That's right," Kurama said. "Hiei has devoured the Kokuryuuha wave! He's become someone with enough power to contain and control the cast energy absorbed from the Kokuryuu! He is the one who has perfected the Kokuryuuha technique."
Bui was visibly scared.
"Somebody as capable as Bui must have realized this."
"Do you see this? This is the power of the one who has mastered the Kokuryuuha!" Hiei told him. "There are many who misunderstand this, but the Kokuryuuha is not just a simple projectile weapon... It is a nutritive that explosively raises the caster's youki. In other words, it is just fodder..."
Bui summoned a glare and gathered courage, savagely beating on his opponent. Hiei didn't move, but didn't seem to feel a thing either. In the open Jagan, Bui saw a terrifying image of Hiei, backed by the Kokuryuu, his own form standing prone before them. He kept hitting Hiei brutally, tossing him up and slamming him into the ceiling, then hurtling him back to the ground. Hiei only stood and smirked at Bui. The frantic warrior dashed forward to punch Hiei yet again, but Hiei caught Bui's first, and the Battle Aura dissipated.
"Come now," Hiei scolded. "Can't you even test me?"
Bui charged again, Battle Aura at the ready, but Hiei thrust his own fist forward, surrounded by a shock of electric blue and black youki, and flung Bui into the air out of the arena. Leaping after him, Hiei was surrounded by a long stream of youki and appeared to actually become the black Dragon.
Nailing Bui in the face, Hiei knocked him back to the earth, into a vacant part of the audience seating. Juri, seeing both fighters out of the ring, started counting.
"Kill me..." Bui pleaded softly. "Before, when I fought and lost to Toguro...there was still the possibility of me becoming stronger. I toughened myself to my very limits over the prospect of once again fighting Toguro again. However, Toguro has become even stronger. He instead opened up an overwhelming gap between our powers." A forlorn expression overcame Bui's features as he looked up at Hiei. "And now, here I have been completely beaten by you as well. There's no longer any reason for me to live."
"Hn. If you wanna die, then die on your own." He jumped back to the ring as Juri continued counting.
"8...9..."
"See, I hate being dictated to," he said quietly over his shoulder.
"10!!" Juri shouted. "The match is over! Contestant Hiei is the victor!"
"All right! Now we're one win and one loss!" Yusuke cheered. Kuwabara gaped as Hiei jumped down and walked over.
"Hey, are you sure it's okay for him to come close to us!?"
"That was awesome, Hiei," Yusuke congratulated him.
"You're invincible, aren't you?" Kuwabara asked. "You go ahead and fight the rest of them!"
But Hiei, legs trembling, denied it. "I can't do that. This technique also has a fatal flaw. In order to allow my extremely overworked spectral power and physical strength to recover..." He yawned. "...I've got to completely hibernate for several hours. No matter how prefected the technique becomes, there's nothing I can do about this."
Yusuke blinked. "Hibernate?"
"What are you, a bullfrog?" Kuwabara asked scornfully.
"Now listen!" said Hiei stubbornly. "I used this technique because I've put my faith in all of you good-for-nothings! If I wake up...and we've lost...you're all going to...get it..." With that, he passed out.
Kurama chuckled and Yusuke burst out laughing, finding it hilarious how Hiei kept the arrogant facade even when he was about to collapse. Gazing at Hiei's tranquil features in sleep, Koenma said thoughtfully, "Looking at his sleeping face, you wouldn't think that this was the same guy who ran so wild until just moments ago."
Kuwabara took out a pen. "Should we scribble something on him?"
Gwen smiled, subconsciously thinking, 'Hiei's cute when he's asleep... Wait, wait a second! Did I just think that?' She blushed a deep red.
The girls noticed this. "Are you all right, Gwen?" Botan asked with a perky grin.
"Hai..." She continued to blush, and hid her face. 'Why can't I stop this?'
~You like him, huh?~ Carnation asked the hanyou telepathically.
~...I don't know what you're talking about!~ Gwen said.
~Right...~
"You know," said Yusuke observantly, "they did a good job of smashing this place up something fierce."
Kurama smiled. "Once again, we've been made aware of the force of Hiei's Ensatsu Kokuryuuha."
"While the man who launched it is sound asleep over there."
"He has used up all his energy," Koenma reminded them. "He doesn't have much choice."
Yusuke turned to the ring - what was left of it, anyway. "Be that as it may, what are we going to do about the next match with the ring the way it is?"
"Who cares about the ring?" Kuwabara asked, coming over and clapping Yusuke over the shoulder. "With the momentum we've got going now, I'm going to go out there and pluck us another victory!"
Toguro Ani, however, had different ideas. Sending a spark of youki to Kuwabara's awareness, he smirked as the carrot top turned to him. Drawing in some sort of strange ki, he created an illusion of himself transforming into a towering black shadow creature that may as well have come from a nightmare. Kuwabara quivered.
"Huh," grunted Yusuke nonchalantly. "That bastard's just trying to provoke you. Don't let it bother you."
"Who, me?" Kuwabara replied, overly excited. "Don't be a dumbass! I was just staring them down, that's all."
"...For the next short while," came Koto's voice over the mic, "we will be taking some time out in order to repair the ring."
Kuwabara sighed. "Well, well, a break, huh? Nothing we can do about that. I guess I'll go back to our waiting room."
"Your intuition is indeed sharp."
Kuwabara turned around, startled. Toguro Ani smirked. "I mean, fo you to be having a premonition of you own death..."
"W-why you...when did you get over here!?"
"You have grown surprisingly over these last few months. However, the difference in our powers is just too great." Toguro looked down solemnly, but the smile remained on his face. "You know this as well. You are certain to die. How fortunate for you that your execution has been delayed. You should spend this intermission time to make sure that you leave no regrets behind in this world." Cackling, he strode away.
The waiting period seemed to pass in a fuzzy haze of people asking him what was wrong and his sister and crush trying to psych him up, but all too soon, Kuwabara was back at the ring - helpfully supplied from the first stadium by Toguro Otouto - to face Toguro Ani. His proud boasting all for naught, Kuwabara vainly tried to boost his spirits, fingering the Tameshi no Ken he had received from Suzuki.
"Well then, I'll just go put the squeeze on him!" he said loudly, stepping forward to the ring. On the opposite side of the floor, Toguro Ani dropped down from his brother's shoulder to take his place as well.
"Begin the match!" shouted Juri.
Loud shouts rang out as Kuwabara sent his reiki into the Tameshi no Ken, creating his sword - multi-colored shocks of ki surrounded him in a protective barrier and the sword hilt had erupted with a long, sharply edged blade. Kuwabara panted slightly.
"How about that!? You nervous?"
"Wow! I never thought that Kuwabara would have a sword like that!" Gwen exclaimed.
"Neither did I!" Botan agreed.
"I'm going to settle this right away! Here goes!"
Toguro Ani muttered to himself, too quietly for Kuwabara to hear as he rushed forward, "That sword is definitely trouble. I tink I'll use that one trick..." Unbeknownst to Kuwabara, the ring tiles crackled and split beneath Toguro Ani's feet.
"You're mine!"
"Why isn't he moving out of the way?" Yusuke asked, confused. Kuwabara's sword messily sliced Toguro in half, cutting through his body and leaving part of his head and torso hanging off the left side.
"Nani!? W-what's going on...?"
"You did it Kuwabara!" Botan cried.
"The bastard won," said Shizuru, obviously shocked.
"Incredible!" gasped Yukina.
"I can't believe he won that fight that fast!" said Gwen.
"Hey, did he really just win?" Yusuke asked Kurama, back on the stadium floor.
"I'm not sure," the redhead replied.
"I-I did it!" cried Kuwabara. "I beat Toguro Ani!"
Juri neared Toguro hesitantly, clearly disgusted and slightly, for lack of a better term, freaked. "The winner is Kuwa-"
Suddenly, to the stunned surprise of everyone in the stands and Team Urameshi, five long skin-toned spears shot out from somewhere behind Kuwabara, piercing through his back. He fell to the ground, gasping for air, and the Tameshi no Ken spun across the floor.
The "spears" withdrew to form fingers of a hand poking out from a crack in the tiles, and Toguro Ani climbed out. "It pleases me that you are so naive that I was able to fool you," Toguro said.
Kuwabara strained to turn around. "How come there are two of him...?"
Toguro laughed, and the Toguro that Kuwabara had cut through suddenly tore through the ring and came out on the other side, as Toguro's hand. "The one that you sliced was a living doll that I made out of my own body," Toguro explained. "An imitation." He recalled his hand and licked off the stream of blood running down his thumb. "I did feel pain, but not as much as you are now. What's more, it's not just my shape I can alter." His head bulged out to the left and waved tauntingly. "I am also capable of relocating my internal organs, brain, and so forth into my arms or legs." His brain grew out under the skin of his right hand.
"I moved my entire self behind you through the soles of my feet," he said, clearly pleased with himself, "by drilling my way through the floor tiles!"
"What kind of bastard are you!?" Kuwabara asked, not really expecting an answer.
Toguro's finger rakes reached out and picked up the Tameshi no Ken, withdrawing it.
"This is quite a handy instrument, huh? Is it a memento from Genkai?" asked Toguro Ani.
"Memento...?" Kuwabara asked dazedly.
"Then again, after leaving a memento to pupil so foolish as you, she won't be able to rest in peace, now that she's dead."
"N-nani? What did you just say!?"
"What are surprised at? Do you mean you didn't know? Genkai is dead. She's been killed!"
"D-dead...?"
"Genkai has died?" asked Keiko. Gwen's hair shadowed her eyes.
"T-that can't be... So that's it... Everyone else knew, huh? Am I the only one that didn't know!?" asked Kuwabara angrily.
Toguro's finger rakes reached out and stabbed Kuwabara in the chest, circling around his heart.
"There's no need to grieve. You'll be going where Genkai is very soon. All I have to do is squeeze my fingers together, and I can pluck your heart right out!" exclaimed Toguro Ani.
"Kazuma-san!" Yukina cried.
"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted.
Ani cackled. "Your pals are all so cold! Nobody told you!? All right, then. Before you die, I'll explain it to you - how powerless and misesrable you ningens are - with a puppet show!"
He made a Young Genkai puppet. "Once upon a time, there was a young man and a young woman. The woman's name was Genkai, and she was a beauty without equal. And the man...was my younger brother, and went off by the name of Toguro.
"The two of them were friends who worked to master the martial arts. However...as the months and years went by, the woman grew hideously older..."
"Brother!" Toguro Otouto shouted.
"It's okay, let me do this!
"Contrarily, the man used the power of the Makai to better his martial arts, and he kept his youth. And so, the old woman became envious of the man, still in his youth, and challenged him to a duel. However, as heartbreaking as it may be, she met with defeat in her challenge."
The finger rakes stabbed through Genkai's doll's torso.
"Botan, is this true? Has Genkai died?" Keiko asked the Grim Reaper.
"Mm-hmm," she replied.
"It can't be...!"
Ani continued his tale. "And so, Genkai was killed by my brother, and has gone to heaven.
"Where she lived happily ever after," he ended with a cackle.
"You're wrong! Ba-san didn't fight out of envy!" Yusuke shouted.
Gwen stood up. "That's right!"
"He's just being asinine," Sakyo said.
"It's a bad habit that Brother has," replied Otouto.
Kuwabara stood on shaking legs, hands fisting at his sides. "That tears it...completely...!"
"You're full of spirits, huh?" asked Toguro perkily. He withdrew the Tameshi no Ken from his pocket and held it out. "However, I have your trump card right here. You cannot cut through me with your reiki alone."
Kuwabara continued to tremble, but it wasn't out of fear. "Tojikomeru..."
Toguro smiled wickedly. "You're the who's going to be silenced! Die!!"
His hand spun forward in a drill shape, straight for Kuwabara's chest.
Suddenly, it stopped, pressed against Kuwabara's skin. "What's happening here?" Toguro asked, slightly frightened and more than a little confused. "I can't pierce your skin!"
"I see," said Kurama, "Kuwabara's strength and his resolve appear to be closely related."
Kuwabara, meanwhile, was glaring down at Toguro with a venom he had never shown before. "I'm going to make you..." he began threateningly, "I'm going to make you pay!!"
Pulling back his hand, he flung it forward, blasting hundreds of rei shuriken at the youkai before him. "Burn in hell!!"
Toguro grimaced, clearly terrified. "Nani!?" He was flung back against the ring, cuts appearing all over his body, limbs detached from their proper places, blood splattering everywhere. He coughed up a spray of blood.
"You did it!" shouted Yusuke exuberantly.
"Kazuma-san...!" whispered Yukina.
"Nicely done, Kazuma," Shizuru murmured.
"And now, I will begin the count!" cried Juri, running over. "1...2...3...4...5...6..."
"You lowlife..." Kuwabara muttered. "This is your own fault for making fun of Genkai Ba-san's death."
"7...8... Ah-h!"
Toguro's eyes snapped open. "Stop that. Your count is meaningless." His limbs stretched out and sewed themselves together. "To think that you could shoot reiki like shuriken knives from out of where your sword emanates... You're more clever than I expected."
Kuwabara shivered again. "Nani...!?"
Toguro laughed. "But it's not good to overexert yourself. You see? You've got too many injuries to be releasing your reiki in a way you're unaccustomed to." His body continued to reform itself, each detached limb reaching out of its source to re-stitch itself. "Moreover, unfortunately for you, that attack did no damage to me."
"What are you, immortal?" Kuwabara hissed, voice quivering.
"As long as you don't crush my heart and brain, you have no chance of surviving. However, since I can move my heart and brain at will -" he demonstrated by switching around the locations of one hand and part of another arm "- there's no way you can tell where they are!"
"Kuso...!"
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to have you sprawl out on the ground. It's what suits you best!"
With another hideous laugh, Toguro sent his fingers circling Kuwabara's back and stabbing cleanly, lifting him up to the ring ceiling and then throwing him back down to the floor. "Rot in hell!"
Yusuke lurched forward on the sidelines. "Kuwabara!"
"If I don't do at least this much, there's no telling what you'll try to do," Toguro explained, pinning Kuwabara to the floor.
"K-kuso..."
Juri snapped out of some revere. "Contestant Kuwabara is down! I will begin the count!"
"There's no use in struggling!" Toguro assured him. "Being stuck in so unsightly a manner to the ground looks good on you."
"Kazuma...!" Shizuru whispered.
"Even if you were able to get up from there," Toguro continued, "I am capable of moving my organs around at will! How about that?" His eye moved into his thumb and his head replaced an arm. "There's no way for you to attack me, is there?"
Kuwabara growled.
"Don't go anticipating a ten-count defeat, either. I'm going to lop your head off and kill you, see?"
"Don't you worry!" Kuwabara countered. "I'm going to knock you flat! You can be sure of that!"
Toguro replaced his organs. "Oh? Fascinating. For someone in the position of a frog to be disscted, you sure make me laugh." He formed a long, scalpel-style sword with his right hand. "Go do your bawling in the next world!" Another eerie cackle. "Now then, let's put an end to this chit-chat."
It was then that Kuwabara spotted the Tameshi no Ken, just behind Toguro. 'If I could just grab that...!'
"6...7..."
"I don't know what it is you plan to do next," Toguro laughed, "but your time is over!"
"8...9..."
Shizuru stood before her seat. "Kazuma!"
"Die!!" shouted Toguro.
"Now! Sword, extend!"
Toguro stopped short and turned around, looking over his shoulder. "Aw, hell..."
Kuwabara stood, wavering only slightly. "You're the one who's gonna be dissceted! Go to hell!"
Once again, Kuwabara neatly sliced Toguro into pieces, his sword returned to his hand. "Hey, sweetheart!" he called to Juri. "How about a count?"
"Uh...Contestant Kuwabara is up on the count of nine! Instead, Contestant Toguro Ani is down! 1..."
"The count is unnecessary! I may have dropped my guard for a moment, but Kuwabara, once again, you have failed to do any lethal damage to me!"
"K-kuso..."
'Stupid youkai always getting back together! I wish he'd go to hell!' Gwen thought angrily.
~Hate Toguro Ani?~ Carnation asked.
~Why would anyone like him?~
~Good point.~
"How do you like that?" Toguro asked wickedly. "There's nothing you can do, is there? Once my body is all connected again, you're finished!"
A strange pink glow was being emitted from the Tameshi no Ken, and Toguro stopped speaking to gape.
"This really is a handy instrument," said Kuwabara appreciatively, seeing the large round disk the sword had become. "It changed its form to match my mood right now perfectly."
"What are you going to do...!?"
"It's true that without knowing where your weak spots are, there's no way for me to attack. However, if I were to smash your entire body, what would happen then!?"
Kuwabara brought down the flat instrument onto his opponent's head. "Hey, sweetheart, don't just stand there!"
Juri started. "R-right away!" She peered into the cracks of the ring. "I will comfirm it... Contestant Kuwabara is the winner!"
"Wow... He won!" Shizuru exclaimed.
'Yeah... with a fly swatter...' Gwen thought before laughing her head off, making the girls look at her strangely. Canation sighed and shook her head.
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Well, a lot of cursing in this chapter... I am beginning the 27th chapter, but I'm unable to promise any quick updates.