Yu Yu Hakusho: The After Years

Episode 34: Things get Dicey

The Kabuki team had agreed to a battle royale with the Ketsueki team. Kurama folded his hands together and sighed; isn't that exactly what I had warned them not to do? Moreover, he noticed a team member of theirs was missing, the one in the fox mask. Noting this, he rubbed his hand along his jaw line, an anxious habit. For some reason, he had been on edge all day. It was like that feeling when you aren't sure if you've left the stove on at home or not. Like he was forgetting something very important, and it nagged at him like a mosquito constantly buzzing around his ears.

"Watching this team again?" said Yusuke, climbing over a seat from behind to join Kurama.

"Yes," said Kurama, "I've seen some of the previous matches with the Ketsueki team, and I have to say, none of them have been very pretty. I'm curious to see how the Kabuki team will handle things."

"Hey, they only have four people, doesn't that disqualify them?"

Kurama shook his head, "In this tournament, if a team has even just one person left standing, they may continue on. In theory, a team with a single powerful member can win the whole thing."

Yusuke pointed out the small demon with the knifelike claws, "You think that's why they keep putting the little guy out first? Maybe the rest of them ain't too strong."

"Could be," Kurama admitted, "but I seriously doubt it. Part of this is a strategy game, like chess. And in chess, the first pieces to sacrifice are the pawns."

"What about prawns?" Kuwabara said, as he made his way to his seat, his arms once again laden with snacks.

"Not prawns, he said pawns," said Yusuke, grabbing a box of yakitori from Kuwabara, "and what took you so long?"

As the years passed, the image of Kuwabara and Yusuke as an old married couple grew ever stronger. Kurama chuckled quietly to himself as he pictured it in his head.

"Oh, Koenma stopped me," Kuwabara said, turning his torso to reveal that Koenma, still in his adult form stood behind him.

Koenma looked teary-eyed, "You left me behind last time. What's the point of me reserving box seats if all of you are going to sit down here?"

Yusuke shrugged, "Sorry, Koenma, the cheap seats are closer to the action, is all. Didn't mean to leave you all by yourself."

"Speaking of which," said Kuwabara, "Where's the pipsqueak?"

"I've been here the whole time, idiot," Hiei called from the other side of Kurama. (And then immediately hated himself when he realized he responded to "pipsqueak").

Luckily for Hiei, the announcer began to speak before the cogs in Kuwabara's head had made the connection.

"As I said before, both teams have agreed to a battle royale. The first team who knocks out or otherwise incapacitates at least three members of the other team wins! A dangerous gamble, given the Kabuki team is down one member and the Ketsueki team's track record. Will our masked fighters survive? Or will the Ketsueki team continue on? Let's find out. Ready? Fight!"

No one moved at first. The fighter with the black and white mask stood foremost in the ring, staring down the clawed yokai.

"I saw your last match," the yokai said. His voice was high and goblin-like, as if it were filled with pure malicious joy, "I was impressed. I'm Ketsueki, it will be an honor to kill you all."

"I don't plan on making it easy," Rieka said, sweeping into a side stance to make herself a smaller target, "but since you're smart enough to tell me your name I guess you can't be as dumb as you look. Maybe this match will be a little more challenging after all. Then again, even dogs know their names."