Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Battle Lord Chronicles: Of Truths and Lies ❯ The First Round ( Chapter 26 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any related names or items. Kiara is owned by Yusuke'sSister.

 

Claimer: I do own the plot line, the title, the Kuro Tournament, Kristy, Jason, Jessica, Chris, Bashere, Rhurac, and anything else related to them.

 

(1) - Tenki translates literally to natural elements (as in wind, water, fire, etc.)

(2) - This means begin/start. My translation might be a little off for this one though, so if anyone knows Japanese and can correct me, please do!

 

"Talking"

'Thinking'

'Telepathy'

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------

 

Of Truth & Lies

 

Chapter 26

The First Round

 

----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------

 

A few minutes later all of the sixteen teams that had been invited had been called and were now waiting in the middle of the arena. I myself was staring at the ground beneath my feet, determined not look up at Bashere. I was ashamed to say that I hadn't been able to look away from him and our gaze hadn't broken until he himself looked away when the team after us had been called. I didn't want that to happen again, to be stuck in his powerful gaze, so I refused to look up, even though I could swear that I could

 

Despite this however, I had to admit that he wasn't at all what I expected my parent's murderer to look like. Though, really, I wasn't quite sure exactly what I had thought that he'd look like, but certainly I never thought that he'd look like he did. He was actually quite handsome--repulsive at the same time, granted, and his eyes really did creep me out, but he would probably be considered a lady's man if he was a ningen in the Ningenkai.

 

Currently, the announcer was going through an explanation of the tournament's meaning, which I mostly tuned out, Jason having already explained it to us. When he started to explain how the tournament would go, however, I paid attention and resisted the urge to look up to where he was.

 

"The Kuro Tournament," he was saying, "Will have five rounds: the preliminaries, the quarter finals, the semi finals, and the finals. The preliminaries will be held today and tomorrow and will consist of two teams facing off in one on one battles. The teams to win three out of five battles will continue on to the quarter finals, which will be held the day after tomorrow. The teams to win in the quarter finals will progress onto the semi finals, which will be held the next day. After the semi finals are completed there will only two teams with be left.

 

"Following that there will be a three day resting period for the two teams competing in the finals to get refreshed and train up a bit. Then that the finals will be held. This, however, is not the end of the tournament. After day the final round in completed one person on the winning team will be chosen to fight in a one on one battle to the death against Lord Bashere himself. If Bashere wins then he will keep his position, but if the challenger wins then they will take his place as the next Battle Lord of the Makai."

 

Immediately my eyes widened and I felt my shoulders tense. Battle Lord of the Makai? That's what this was about?! Everything suddenly clicked into place. It all made sense now. That was why the tournament had been banned so long ago. It wasn't because of the damage that could be done, but because the winner became a Lord that had more power than all of the Lords of the Makai, someone whom all of the Makai feared and respected. The most powerful being in the world.

 

Suddenly I realized that I had begun trembling and, for the first time in my life, I was truly terrified. I wasn't ready for this! I had never been in battle before, not really. I had only really fought against one youkai before and that had been before I had even known that youkai existed! Plus, it didn't even really count as a fight since all I'd done was shoot a fireball at it to kill it. No wonder Bashere had invited us to participate in this tournament; he wouldn't even have worry about killing us himself, the youkai in the tournament would do it for him!

 

I glanced nervously around at the other teams around us as this sunk in. These youkai were the best warriors in the world and probably in the Reikai and Ningenkai too. And I was going to have to fight them. I was going to have to fight powerful warrior who'd been training and fighting for centuries. I, who hadn't even known youkai existed a year ago. I, had never actually fought in a battle before. I, who was only even here for Bashere's amusement!

 

And what about the rest of my team, my friends? While all of them had been fighting for a while longer than me, none of them could compete to be the greatest youkai in the world! Even Jason, as powerful and confident as he was hadn't had much battle experience, if any at all. What would happen to us? Was our fate to be decided today, during the first round?

 

Suddenly, what had appeared to be a fun time fighting and getting revenge for my parents turned into what it really way: a tournament of death.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------

 

Three hours later found me and my team back inside of the waiting room. After the opening ceremony had finished all the teams had been told to go back into the waiting room. Then two teams would be randomly selected to fight against each other. The rest of the teams had to wait in the waiting room while the matches so that they would not be able to get a feel for the other teams' powers and get an unfair advantage. About a quarter of the teams had been called up by then and each match seemed to last about forty-five minutes to an hour to an hour. We wouldn't find out who had passed onto the next round and who had been eliminated until the end of the day when the tournament was paused until tomorrow.

 

During this waiting time I was a nervous wreck, though I managed to hide it well. After all, weren't youkai in many respects similar to animals, and didn't people always say that animals could sense fear? But, though I hid it, I couldn't change they way that I was feeling inside. Would we be chosen to go today? Who would we go against? We would manage to survive? Or would we...No, no, I couldn't think like that. I took in a deep breath and then let it out in a sigh.

 

"Hey," Jason suddenly said, swinging his arm over my shoulder. "Relax, okay? Believe it or not, you're going to do fine. You're more than ready for this."

 

"After nine months of training?" I snapped back irritably.

 

Jason chuckled, not at all put off by my attitude. "Experience may make up part of a person's skill level, but you'd be surprised how much genetics and raw power can do. Plus, you have had nine months to refine that power and, even if that can't compare centuries of experience, I'm positive that you'll do fine. Just take it one battle at a time, 'kay?" he said, and hugged me tight.

 

I nodded and sighed, resting my head against his shoulder. I felt lucky to have a brother like him. Jason may annoy the hell out of me most of the time, but he was the one immovable force in my life, the pillar of strength that I knew I could hold onto when everything else got turbulent and stormy. He had practically raised me and, when this whole youkai thing came about, he used almost all of his free time--and mine, granted--to train me. I had to trust him on this one, no matter that my instincts were telling me to run for the hills.

 

At that moment that red skinned youkai returned to the room and all of us sat up, tense. He was the one who told us which teams were up next, so the last match must have just finished.

 

Sure enough, the youkai held up stood up in the middle of the room and called out, "Next up is Team Tenki(1) versus Team Kagekaze. Please enter the arena."

 

I immediately tensed up. Crap. This was it. We were going to fight now. As we stood up, Jason squeezed my shoulder in encouragement and then began to lead us toward the door. A team of mismatched youkai exited just in front of us. They were the ones that we would have to fight, I thought. They were the ones who would help to decide whether we would live or die, let alone make it to the next round. Taking a deep breath, I exited behind my brother out into the light again.

 

Unlike when we were last out here, there were now two large shaded benches set up on opposite sides of the arena. The other team, Team Tenki crossed the arena toward the bench on the far side, so we took the other one, which happened to be the closest one to the door to the waiting room. The large screen was on the side of the stadium to our right and the section that the announcer and Bashere we in was to our left. All around us, the crowd roared in excitement.

 

Sitting down on the bench I let out another breath. I was nervous as hell, despite my brother's pep talk.

 

"Alright," the announcer said as the crowd quieted down. "Here we have Team Tenki and Team Kagekaze. Not much is known about Team Tenki but, even more so, Team Kagekaze has completely come out of the woodwork. No one has ever heard of them, let alone has any information on them, so this will probably be either a pretty interesting match or a very disappointing one!"

 

'Thanks for the vote of confidence,' I could help but think with a grumble. At the same time, however, this reminded me of one of the reasons as to why I was here. I was here to test my strength and prove that I was good enough to be a youkai. I lifted my gaze and glared purposely at Bashere who, fortunately, wasn't looking at me but instead speaking with someone on his left. I was here to do my parents proud.

 

"The teams will choose who goes when during each match, but no one is allowed to go twice. The team to win the majority of the matches with move on to the next round. There are no rules as to what you can do to your opponent, but please attempt to keep all attacks with in the stadium. There is a shield around the seating areas incase anything happens, but damage to the arena still has to be taken care of before the next match. No one, from either team, is allowed into interfere during the battles or else that team automatically forfeits. Let this match begin!" Immediately the crowd cheered vivaciously again and Team Tenki huddled around, deciding which them would go.

 

"I'll start," Touya spoke up. "I participated in the Dark Tournament, so it'd be best to start off with me, someone who a few of the spectators might know."

 

Jason, who was our team's captain, nodded in agreement. "Alright," he said. "That makes sense." He then clapped the blue haired youkai on the shoulder, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Good luck."

 

Touya nodded stoically, appearing to be completely at ease, and then headed to the center of the arena. Already the participant from the other team was up standing there, waiting. It was a female youkai, though I wasn't sure of what type. She was of average height and build and had spiky white hair and yellow eyes. Her outfit was completely white and consisted of a pair of loosed pants and a Chinese-style sleeveless top. Her feet were bare.

 

Once Touya was standing across from the girl, the announcer spoke up again. "The first person who is unable to continue to fight, who forfeits, or who dies is the looser. Shihajimeru(2)!"

 

Immediately Touya and the other youkai leapt away from each other. Without wasting any time, Touya called up his ice and attacked his opponent with a flurry of tiny ice needles. The other youkai quickly brought up her hand, electricity sparking between her fingers. With a flick of her wrist a bolt of lightening shot at the incoming projectiles, melting them instantly and continuing on towards Touya. The blue haired youkai quickly raised both of his arms in front of him, calling up a large wall of ice. The lightning was absorbed by the wall, though the ice also mostly melted as a result.

 

From the start Touya was at a large disadvantage, and this only became more clear at the two leapt around the stadium, exchanging attack after attack. Being paired off against a lightning youkai was even worse for an ice user than going against a fire user because not only was the lightning very hot, but it could electrify too. Plus, it was a much more wild and sporadic element, which made it harder to predict. Still, Touya pushed on, scoring several good hits on the lightning youkai.

 

After about ten minutes it appeared as though the tide was starting to turn in favor of Touya. Seeing this, the ice youkai pushed even harder, trying to finish the match. However, the lightning youkai, though getting tired and slowing down, was not to be underestimated. Using the last of her energy, she sent a massive barrage of lightning at Touya. Touya attempted to shield himself, but some of the lightning managed to hit him. Fortunately, the lightning was fairly weak at this point and didn't harm him to badly. He was, however, rendered unconscious and thus down for the count.

 

"Winner," the announcer announced. "Is Team Tenki!" At the same time a score board flashed onto the big screen, showing one point for Team Tenki and zero for us. The crowd went wild, even as the lightning user fell to one knew from exhaustion. Medics came out onto the field from a small door beneath were the large screen was and carried both Touya and the other youkai out. Once they were gone, the announcer continued, "Will the participants of the next match please step up."

 

We all glanced at each other, worried. We had already lost the first match. Finally, Chris squared his shoulders and put his chin in the air.

 

"I'll go," he said firmly. The rested of us nodded mutely and then wished him good luck. As he walked to the middle of the field, a youkai from the other team did too.

 

It was a male this time and, in contrast to the last youkai, he was very muscled, to the point that he would be called a body builder in the Ningenkai. He was darkly tanned and had brown hair and forest green eyes. He wore a pair of loose brown pants, no shirt and, like the lightning user, no shoes. The youkai's face was impassive, showing neither cruelty nor kindness. Over all, I couldn't help but think that he minded me of a statue. Perhaps a gargoyle...

 

Once Chris and the youkai were standing across from each other, I was able to get a good feel for just how large the youkai really was; he was nearly twice as tall as Chris and nearly three times as wide. He truly towered above my currently blue haired friend, creating a massive shadow in the afternoon sun.

 

Before I could even shake off my awe at this great being, the announcer spoke up to signal the beginning of this battle, "Shihajimeru!"

 

Immediately Chris jumped backwards, just as the giant youkai slammed his hands downward. To my shock--and the excitement of the crowd--the giant's blow created a crater in the ground. The attack didn't stop there however, as starting from the crater a wide rift in the ground opened up, heading straight for Chris. Thinking quickly, Chris placed his hands on the ground before him and caused a thick sheet of ice to form fairly far in all directions from where he was standing. This meant that even when the rift spread under him, Chris was still standing on solid ground. And, besides that, now he was in his element.

 

Grinning widely, Chris willed his ice spear to form in his outstretched hand. As soon as it did, he spun the spear over his head before stabbing it unto the ice covered ground before him. Instantaneously, large spikes of ice, more than ten feet tall and four feet in diameter, shot up from the ground one after another, progressing in the direction of the oncoming giant youkai. Said giant stopped his change and stomped viciously on the ground. In response a large wall of rock three feet thick rose from the ground before the--apparently--earth youkai. The wall protected the youkai from Chris' attack just as the ice reached him.

 

When the dust settled Chris was nowhere to be seen. The crowd in the stands watched on in anticipation as the earth youkai glanced around the arena warily. Then, suddenly and without warning, Chris appeared in the air above the earth youkai, his ice spear poised for a downward stab. The earth youkai's eyes widened in shock, as he realized that he had no time to dodge.

 

At that moment however, just before he made the kill, Chris hesitated. Seeing this, the earth youkai quickly reacted and took control and the situation by reaching up and slamming his mist into Chris. Chris went flying off to the side before rolling to a stop where he lay, unmoving.

 

"Winner, Team Tenki!" the announcer called out as the crowed lifted into a roar once more. At the same time the scoreboard came onto the big screen, showing that the score was Tenki: 2, Kagekaze: 0.

 

I bit my lower lip worriedly as I watched the medics take Chris away on a stretcher. This wasn't good. The Tenki only had to win one more match for them to win this round and we didn't even have a single point yet. Chris could have won his match, if only he hadn't hesitated at the end. Of course, I probably would have hesitated too. All of us--besides Jin and Touya--had been raised in the Ningenkai. Despite our naturally violent nature, our upbringing meant that we didn't have the same ruthlessness that most youkai had.

 

Of course, this also set me into another bout of worrying. What if I hesitated too during my match? What if lost and thus lost the whole tournament for my team? Would I even get to fight in the first place? Would I get to test my strength against these great warriors?

 

Jason, meanwhile, was also looking serious. After a moment of though, however, he turned to Jessica.

 

"Jessica," he said as he frightened green eyes met his steadfast blue ones. "We'll need you to go next. We've had two ice youkai go so far, so having someone who is half ningen, half angel, and not youkai at all will hopefully surprise them enough for you to quickly take out your opponent." Jessica nodded mutely in understanding. Then, taking a deep, albeit shaky, breath, she began to head toward the center of the arena.

 

Jessica's opponent was a fire youkai, at least from what I could guess. It was a female again, around perhaps 5'8" feet tall. She had dark skin, long red hair that was tied back in a pony tail, and shining golden eyes. Her outfit consisted of a golden tube top and a long deep crimson skirt with a slit on one side that ran all the way up to her waist. Her feet were bare beyond the golden anklets that adorned her ankles. A similar pair also rested on her wrists.

 

"Shihajimeru!"

 

Immediately, Jessica had to avoid a blast of fire sent away. She attempted to move backwards to collect herself, but the fire youkai wouldn't let her and instead set blast of fire after blast of fire. After a couple minutes the fire youkai finally backed off, a smirk on her face, while Jessica stood panting. The youkai then said something to Jessica and, though I was way to far away to hear it, even with my enhanced senses, it must have been a taunt because Jessica immediately glared at her.

 

Whatever had been said, I knew that the fire youkai would soon come to regret it, especially considering that she had given Jessica the time and space she needed to prepare herself. Proving my thoughts to be correct, at that moment Jessica began to concentrate. Not a moment later she was surrounded by a burst of white energy and, when the light died down, Jessica was standing there in all her glory, a large pair of pure white wings stretching for her back.

 

Immediately the entire arena went silent. They stared on in shock for a moment before whispers started breaking out all of the stands. They were all shocked that an angel was here in Makai, competing in the tournament. Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed that Bashere was leaning forward, interested. Even Jessica's opponent, the fire youkai, was gaping in shock.

 

Smirking--an expression that looked strange on Jessica's face, my currently green haired friend placed her hands before her as if she was holding a bow. Just seconds later a bow made of white energy appeared in her outstretched hands. Not wasting any time, Jessica let loose an arrow made from pure energy. Her eyes widening, the fire youkai watched as the arrow speedily approached, before quickly raising her hands up, causing a wall of fire to erupt from the ground before her. The arrow continued undeterred however, passing through the fire as though it wasn't even there. An added effect--for Jessica at least--was that the fire blocked the youkai's view, so she didn't even know that the arrow had passed until it lodged into her shoulder.

 

The youkai fell to her one knee with a grunt, one hand wrapped around her shoulder. When a shadow fell over her she looked up, only to find an arrow pointing between her eyes, held by Jessica who was hovering about a foot off the ground.

 

"Give," Jessica said firmly.

 

The youkai glared, a fire burning in her eyes, but self preservation won out in the end. "I give," she said grudgingly.

 

"W-winner, Team Kagekaze!" Even the announcer seemed shook up. There was only polite clapping from the crowd, who were still whispering fiercely. Jessica, however, just ignored them, retracted her wings, and then followed the medics--who were making sure to keep a few feet from her at all times--out of the arena.

 

I had to keep a smile from forming on my lips. Good, we were still in the running then. And just as Jason had predicted, Jessica had been able to win mainly by surprise, though her skill had a lot to do with it as well. Still, I couldn't help but shiver as I thought about what that fire youkai would have done if she'd gotten her hands on Jessie. It was kind of terrifying to see just what a fire youkai was capable of from an outsider's point of view. I wondered how others, especially my friends and family, viewed me.

 

Glancing over at what remained of my team, I noticed that just Jason, Jin, and I were left. That meant that only two of us would go--possibly, for it could still be just one, if we lost the next battle...--unless someone tied. Pondering this, I met Jason's eyes, only to freeze when I saw the concern that lied there.

 

"...Kristy..." he said hesitantly, "Y-you'll need to go next." He swiftly glanced over to where another youkai from Team Tenki was already walking forward before looking back at me. "I can't go yet since I'm going to face the captain." He hesitated again before enveloping me in a tight hug. "Good luck."

 

My eyes widened in surprise, but I hugged him back before pulling away and starting toward the field as butterflies pounded against the inside of my stomach. As I did however, Jason called after me, "And be careful!" I smirked lightly to myself before giving him a two fingered wave over my shoulder at him, not even turning around.

 

As I stood before my opponent, I could feel Bashere's interested gaze on me without even looking up. I squared my shoulders, setting my face into a determined look. I would do this. I would win. I would show them all what I could do. And, most of all, I would do my brother, the last of my family, proud.

 

"Shihajimeru!"