Akina's POV
I am finishing up washing all the plates after breakfast, whilst Goro dries them. "Shall we train today?" Goro asks me as he finishes up drying one plate and puts it on the side. "We could ask Kenichi to help us." I look over to him and say, "Not this morning, Goro. I actually have some personal things to tend to." This leads to Goro turning to me and saying, "I thought you've already given Yusuke a lecture and a good hit in the head." I shake my head at him as I say, "I only had the heart to lecture him last night. He had enough blows to the head yesterday. Anyways I tended to his wounds this morning, before he decided to go off outside and train on his own." Goro tilts his head and asks, "But isn't his face still decorated in bandages?" I walk away from the sink and grab another tea towel as I reply, "Yusuke is stubborn and doesn't wish for me to use my healing abilities. But he did settle for plasters, gauze and such." Goro shrugs and says, "That's better than nothing."
Kuwabara then emerges out of his room now fully dressed and ready for the day. "Hey has anyone seen, Urameshi? I didn't spot him when we were having breakfast." Kuwabara asks, leading to me saying, "He had breakfast before the rest of us as he wanted to pop out and train. I believe Hiei has also just left." Kuwabara nods and says, "Thanks, Akina." And with that he makes his way to the door whilst grumbling, "He shoulda left a note, the jerk!" I sigh and turn to Goro with a sheepish smile and ask, "You wouldn't mind following and maybe helping him find Yusuke? He could get lost, and well..." To which Goro catches on my train of thought and finishes my sentence by saying, "When he finds him, he may decide to engage in a stupid fight with him. I'm okay with that." I give him a side hug and say, "Thank you, you're a life saver." He chuckles as he removes himself from my hug and throws aside the towel, before then making his way to the door, calling over his shoulder, "You owe me one!"
I chuckle and turn back to the plates awaiting to be put away, until I hear a door open. I look over my shoulder to see Kurama exiting his room in fresh attire. He looks at me and pauses briefly, before his eyes seem to take in the surroundings. "Is it only just us both here?" Kurama calmly asks me, leading to me nodding before saying, "I have a proposal to make." He tilts his head at me but nods slightly, leading to me saying, "I propose that we both have a long awaited talk whilst the others are not with us." Kurama nods and says, "We can, but first I wish to watch today's fight so that I can learn about our next opponents." I nod in understanding as I turn back to the cupboards that I require to place the plates away. "Why don't you come with me?" I hear him ask, making me slowly turn to him to see if he meant what he said and that I was not hearing things. I see how he looks hopeful and sincere, just like all the times he has previously asked me to join him in things. I smile and nod. "Let's go."
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Third Person's POV
The Puppet Master was sat before a mirror, just staring at their reflection in silence. They are completely still in all forms of movement, one would believe them to be dead, but they aren't. A hand appears on their right shoulder, causing them to place theirs where it rests. "What are you hopping for?" A female voice asks from behind them. "None of your business, devil." The Puppet Master responds with no obvious indication of emotion in their strange voice. Suddenly another hand appears, but placed on top of the Puppet Master. "When will all of this end?" Another female voice sobs out from behind the Puppet Master, who in response punches the mirror, making it shatter. They then stand up and move away from the dressing table, and instead make their way over to a large dusty chest. They open the lid and stare at what sits inside, which is a golden scroll encased in dark purple energy. "Soon." The Puppet Master says. "Soon this will all end, and the bitch won't know what's coming her way."
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Akina's POV
My ears are occupied with various cheers overpowering the noises coming in the fight in the ring far below where me and Kurama stand. I watch as a green Demon got decapitated incredibly quickly by the unusually pale man that seems to have something attached to him. The man holds up the Demons head by its hair, making the crowd cheer at the sickening sight. "It's over in seconds yet again! And with another decapitation!" Koto announces to us and the rest of the audience. "I must admit, I'm starting to get attached to the move. No pun intended of course!" I narrow my eyes at the fighters and say, "They are fascinating aren't they." Kurama looks at me and says, "They will definitely pose a challenge." I then continue to listen to Koto's announcement, "Alright that's three streak wins, which means the Dr Ichigaki team will advance!" The fighter throws the severed head at the pile of the other severed heads of the other unfortunates, which now sit at the feet of the short and stumpy Demon that is cackling at the results.
The remaining fighter of the losing team definitely doesn't look eager to be anywhere near the ring. Or at least that's what I thought, as I see an even larger Demon walk out and kick the scared Demon aside. "A giant ox cyclops." I breath out. "I forget Demons have various races that we cannot imagine." In the corner of my eyes I notice Kurama's lips twitch upwards for a moment before continuing to be serious as he says, "Something tells me he will lose." The giant ox Demon practically ignores Koto due to how much he wishes to fight and starts shouting at Team Ichigaki, "You've unleashed the wrath of the minotaur!" He releases a battle roar before charging at the team, making me lean forward slightly as I watch. And just as he was about to hit him, the two Human members of the team suddenly use their attacks on the Demon removing his arms brutally. And as he cries out in pain another Human member that looks older than the other two stands in front of the Demon and then uses his attack to behead him.
Cheers echo through the stadium again, as the audience is happy with the additional death. "Goro has family here, who can give us additional information on these guys." I inform Kurama as I turn to face him, knowing full well our observing session has come to an end. "The attack energies of those three fighters are undoubtably Human." Kurama gently shares with me. "But something is not right with them, don't you agree?" I ask him gently with a concerned look.
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Third Person's POV
Lady Hitomi enters her brother's private watch room with a confused look on her face, making Lord Kenichi look away from the window and ask, "What's wrong, sister?" She slouches into one of the comfy chairs and releases a groan as she says, "Mother is aware that I'm here." Lord Kenichi shakes his head slightly as he says, "What do you expect, sister? You decided to look into the background of all the teams in this Tournament as well as ask your team to try and look for Chiharu. So you're not really hiding from our mother's ever watchful eyes are you?" With that Lady Hitomi pushes herself up from the chair and says, "Well sorry that I get bored just sitting around and watching people fight so that some people can get some riches out of it." Lord Kenichi looks at her and suggests, "You could visit Goro and Akina. Maybe add your own input on their training instead of hopping around catching mother's attention." Lady Hitomi shakes her head as she says, "I don't think so. I mean how can I look at Goro without seeing her, which will remind me that I failed to convince my brother of how dangerous Chiharu is towards him and her. And if I look at Akina, who knows if I'm just gonna feel hatred towards her because she's the girl that bitch killed her for not being." Lord Kenichi looks at his sister with a saddened look on his face as he realises why his sister had been acting out and avoiding everyone unless called upon. He gently pulls her into a hug which leads to Lady Hitomi beginning to sob as she also took in what she said. For Chiharu may not have succeeded in kill Hitomi when they fought, but she did succeed at breaking her. Just like she does to others.
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Meanwhile in the Dog Demon Kingdom, Lord Riku walks through the corridors towards an unguarded worn out large door. He stared at the door for a while before pushing it open, allowing him access to a dark dusty room that has all of the furniture and decorative pieces covered in cloth. Riku makes his way over to one covered piece of furniture that sits against the wall that was but a small distance away from what is clearly a bed that is under a very large piece of fabric. He removes the fabric to reveal a dressing table that has a mirror and draws. He first stared in the mirror and almost flinched when he believed to have spotted his daughter behind him, but instead he shakes his head.
He then stares at the draws that are apart of the dresser. He gently rests his hand on the first draw farthest to the right and slowly pulls it out. Inside the draw is a dusty book, which he removes but places on the dresser without giving it much of a glance. Instead his eyes focus on a tiny hole that was the size of the claw on his pinkie finger, making him smile slightly as he remembers doing the same method as a young pup to hide secrets from his family. But much like his mother, he could smell out a secret from his child and so became aware of the fact that his daughter had in fact inherited his and Chiharu's foresight. Chiharu didn't know because their daughter was gifted it in a different way. He inserts the claw on his pinkie finger into the hole, activating a mechanism that makes a hidden compartment inside the draw open underneath the dresser where a person's legs would normally occupy the space. He kneels down to find that in the compartment are many scrolls encased in what was left of his daughter's energy.
Ayaka's visions would come to her in whispers. Whispers that would confuse and agitate her greatly. Riku could recall moments when Chiharu would break down in front of him crying about how she believed their daughter to have lost her mind as the girl would scream out and give in to her Demonic form and be very violent. Of course out of fear of his daughter hurting herself he had to investigate himself, and when finding a moment where she appeared sound of mind, he had suggested to her that she could right down any thoughts that trouble her before she enters these episodes. And thankfully she did. This helped him identify and inform her that the whispers where the future, but being delivered in a way that doesn't give her full understanding. For she could write down a person's name and yet have no idea who they are or what they look like. She would only know what the whispers told her. He still recalls how she had written about a woman who was excited to have a baby, but had no idea that she had foretold her own future until it came about the time, the whispers returned and only she and her husband could hear them.
Lord Riku frowns when noticing that the scrolls are not organised neatly. Instead they were jumbled and looked as if they had been thrown carelessly into the compartment. He growls when realising what this means, someone wanted a vision and took it. He turns and stomps out of the room as he yells, "SOMEONE GET ME MY MOTHER!"
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Goro's POV
I have to be honest with myself, when I say I just didn't want to follow the boys, but I did. Terribly. I lost Kuwabara at first due to smelling some delicious food. I then caught on Kuwabara's scent and located him on his own. "Where's Yusuke?" I ask Kuwabara, making him say, "I have no idea. I found him earlier but now I can't find him again!" I release a groan before saying, "Akina's gonna kill me." This makes Kuwabara ask me, "Huh? What do you mean?" I shake my head and confess, "She wanted me to keep an eye on you two, but I got distracted. So..." Kuwabara looks at me with pity as he asks, "Have you prepared a last will?" I shake my head in response to his question and look down in sadness.
My nose catches something that makes my head snap up. "I can smell Yusuke! He's nearby!" I exclaim and turn to Kuwabara with excitement as I say, "Follow me." And with that I begin running towards the source of the smell. Oh the wonders of having my nose. I pause when seeing a large black male killing another fellow Demon with an axe in front of Yusuke. I raise my hand up to block Kuwabara from taking a step further as I continue to watch. "A mindless creature. He did not deserve the pleasure of ending the Spirit Detective's life. That's reserved only for me." The tall Demon says to Yusuke before he turns away from him. "If of course, you can survive this island long enough to face me in the arena." And with that he leaves. "Oh man...he killed his teammate over you!" Kuwabara breathes out in disbelief, announcing our presence to Yusuke. "Uh huh. I'm a real celebrity." Yusuke says in an unbothered tone as I make my way towards him, and Kuwabara obviously decides to rush over to him. "So what happened? Why didn't you use your Spirit Gun?" Kuwabara asks leading to me saying, "I also would like to know that." Yusuke turns to us as he says, "Well...funny thing...."
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So I finally had a good idea occur when he was about to answer us. I had thankfully convinced the pair that it would probably be best for us to return to our room in the hotel and so here we are. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU CAN'T USE YOUR SPIRIT GUN?!" Kuwabara cries out in disbelief. "Try a bit louder Kuwabara. I don't think the entire island has heard you yet. Probably just the hotel." I say in annoyance as I clutch my poor ears, now envying the ears of Humans. "I shot my Spirit Gun four times in one day during training and I always get it back in the morning. Sure it wasn't up to full strength, but I'm not even getting a stupid tingle." Yusuke inform us calmly from his place on the chair. "What could it mean?" Kuwabara asks.
"There are many things you need to learn." A very gentle and youthful female voice comes from the Masked Fighter who has decided to join us. "Spirit Energy is linked to emotions. You must know your feelings to control your strength." I raise my eyebrow at her for this was different to what Chiharu had taught myself and Akina. "Ok, Urameshi, we're friends aren't we?" Kuwabara asks as he grasps a hold of Yusuke. "Please tell me if that's Genkai?!" His begging makes Yusuke panic, making me shake my head at the pair. "Yeah I kinda thought that too. But that's not her voice at all! Hey who the hell are you?" But she doesn't answer him and instead says, "Be prudent with your powers Yusuke. We don't want another one of our teammates to end up crippled and screaming in pain." At this I think back to breakfast, for Akina and I had monitored Hiei as he was leaving. I could smell it, and even Akina could sense it as he had avoided any form of contact with her.
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Akina's POV
How am I stomaching all this? "I got the eighth battle for you in just a minute." Koto informs us all. "But before we get to the good stuff, let's take a look at our progress so far. The advancing teams from the first seven massacres are..." And with that the scoreboard lights up and shows us names. "Urameshi Team! Dr Ichigaki Team! Team Masho! Team Goukai Six! Team Uraotogi! Gorenja Team! And Team Kaido!" Koto lists off the Teams that are through to the next rounds. "There's only one more slot for the second round. And the next two teams are about to brawl for it!" And with that the crowd goes wild.
And the crowd goes additionally wild as Koto encourages them to go wild, especially as one of the teams has Toguro fighting. "About time I witness a fight of his." I whisper out, causing Kurama to suddenly get closer to me and stare at the fight with fear as Toguro steps into the ring. "Ah yes, the person who needs no introduction. The president badass of the tournament." Koto says with cheerfulness in her voice. And with that the crowd begins to cheer his name as they watch. He pauses for a moment and seems to be looking somewhere in the audience, making me use Goro's enhanced sight to see Toguro is looking directly at my brother, who is sat with Goro, Kuwabara and the Masked Fighter. I then sense the two seem to leak out some of their Spirit Energy at each other making me shake my head. Thankfully the two stop as Toguro turns his focus back to the opponent he is presently going to fight. Or should I say opponents, for he is up against a team that call themselves The Spirit Warriors. All of them were indeed quite large, possessed weapons and had a variety of types of Demons, but I have a strong feeling that they won't win.
The team power up their energy collectively and let it burst out in various directions, possibly as an act of intimidation. When the light show ends, Toguro just calmly walks towards them, before stopping before them. I use Goro's enhance hearing to listen to Toguro speak to them in a calm tone, "If you don't mind, I'd like to fight against your team single handily." I see as the strange piranha looking one glares at him and hisses, "What are you saying?! Don't you have a team?!" It is then Toguro smirks and says, "Of course, but they happen to be extremely lazy and they don't wanna fight." This answer upsets all of them, as now a Demon that looks like a sickly pale sumo wrestler asks, "You arrogant man, are you mocking us?" But Toguro doesn't get given time to answer as another member which has a horn on the top of his head smiles and says, "Five fights in a row, you'd be exhausted." Toguro looks at him and calmly says, "Well, actually I was hoping all five of you would fight me at the same time." This then makes another member of the team with brown hair and holding a large sledge hammer bark out laughter before saying, "I see, the puny man is serious. His fame must be affected his head."
I look over to Kurama and say, "They mock him and call him arrogant, they will be proven to be the arrogant ones as something tells me Toguro will kill them all." Kurama looks at me with a saddened look and says, "What you say is true. For Toguro is well known amongst the Demons as many have died by his hands." And with that said, I turn back to look at the fight. "Look at us. Everyone on our team is two times bigger than you!" The sumo Demon says to Toguro, who again says calmly back, "You have size, and that is all." The sumo Demon takes offense as he shouts, "Fine! If you're a fool with a death wish, the so be it! Five on one right now!" And in hearing this Koto eagerly asks with the microphone close enough to pick up her words, "Mr Toguro, are you sure you agree to this?" And without looking away from his opponents he answers, "Naturally, they're my terms. Sorry if it makes it harder to announce." And with that the team members surround Toguro, making Koto yelp and run away from them before she announces, "Spirit Warriors versus Toguro begin!"
The sumo Demon lifts his leg before stomping it, making the ground shake and slightly crack open on one side of the arena, but Toguro doesn't flinch. The Demon repeats this action with his other leg, causing the same thing to occur to the ground on the other side of the arena. Still Toguro doesn't flinch. "These warriors take advantage of their large bodies to channel greater Spirit Energy." Kurama quietly informs me as we await the next move. "I believe I'll use my hundred hands technique to finish." The sumo Demon says as he places both of his fists on the arena floor. "You have great power. You're right to be proud. It's unfortunate you have to die now, but I will honour you 45% of my strength." Toguro calmly says before he clenches his fists and powers up, causing his muscles and veins to bulk up greatly. I can't help but gasp in surprise at this and ask a loud, "45% of his strength?"
The sumo Demon launches himself at Toguro yelling, "You cannot frighten me! Take this!" However, before he lands a hit, Toguro moves with great speed and punches a hole through the Demon's chest with such ferocity that large amounts of his blood gushes out of his body, killing him in one blow. I can't help but clutch Kurama's hand tightly in fear and shock at this sight, and no doubt by how sweaty his hand is, he know doubt feels the same way as I do. But our fear is not felt by the other fighters in the ring, for as soon as the sumo Demon's corpse hit the ground, the Demon with the horn tries to crush Toguro with his weapon. But sadly Toguro used the same attack on this Demon, killing him in one messy blow as well. This time the piranha Demon tries to swing his weapon at Toguro as he removes his arm from the new corpse he has made, as well as the Demon with the brown hair does the same from a different angle. The two must believe they stand a chance by attacking simultaneously from different angles. However, Toguro is able to simultaneously end them with the violent blow, as he of course has two hands.
The crowd doesn't cheer as they truly are trying to absorb the quick gruesome sight going on before them. But also one fighter still remains. And this was a large bald muscular black Human looking Demon, who is wielding a large axe. He flares up his energy before Toguro again and lets it light up and explode violently around him, as if it would scare away Toguro. He releases a loud battle cry as he runs towards Toguro and starts slashing about his axe. But the axe only ends up slashing at air, as Toguro dodges each slash being sent his way with great speed, and he is just dodging and running backwards. "I am destined to win this fight!" The Demon shouts as he raises his axe way up high and seemingly slashes Toguro where his arm is, making me lean forward. I gasp and so does the fighter when seeing that the axe has not pierced Toguro's skin. Toguro calmly lifts the axe up with the arm that should've detached from his body and smirks at his shocked opponent. "But I was suppose to kill Yusuke!" The Demon cries out, clearly realising his end has come. "Must have been a misunderstanding. That boy is reserved for me." Toguro says before ending him with a punch, that instead of causing a hole to go through his stomach or chest, makes his torso separate from his lower body.
"Wow...The Toguro Team is the winner based on five entire kills by the big man himself!" Koto announces to the shocked audience, who then snap out of the shock and cheer at the results. "Trouble." Kurama breathes out, whilst I whisper out with a tone of worry, "Yusuke." This causes Kurama to look at me and say to me, "Let's leave and go somewhere private." And with that we leave.
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We are now in the forest near a small pond surrounded by bamboo. We are both sat on a rock with me staring down at the water with worry. "Akina, please don't stress yourself." Kurama whispers to me as he rubs my back. "How can you ask this of me, Kurama? Have you not seen what I have just seen? He only used 45%!" I couldn't help but snap at him. "I cannot lose my brother again, Kurama! Sure he came back the first time round, but we can't guarantee that Koenma can bring him back again!" I sob out to Kurama.
Kurama looks at me with concern and gently wipes my tears as he says to me gently, "We must have faith in your brother. He may be stubborn and foolish at times, but he was trained by Genkai. And I trust that she has taught him how to think more strategic and possibly help him unlock more power. I promise Akina, you won't lose your brother." I shake my head at him and say, "Don't make promises you can't keep." To which Kurama says, "I am determined to keep this one, as an apology for ruining our friendship."
I stare at him in shock before shaking my head and gently taking a hold of his hands as I say, "No, Kurama. The fault is mine, for I was the one who ended our friendship, because I was not level headed." This makes Kurama shake his head as he says, "No, I said things that were not true and made me a hypocrite. I am the one at fault." I sigh and say, "No, Kurama. The fault is truly mine. For even though I gave you so much anger over the secrets that you had kept, but I ignored how I have been withholding things from you as well. So what right do I have to be angry with you? What right did I have to end our friendship with you? And even through all those secrets we both have kept from each other and no matter what situation we were in, we always cared for each other."
Kurama stares at me for a moment before whispering, "Let us agree we are both at fault." I stare up at him for a moment and nod as well as ask, "Will you take back this foolish Human back into your friendship circle?" Kurama chuckles before pulling me into a hug and saying back, "I would be the foolish one not too." And I don't know why but I felt great warmth and my heart beats incredibly fast. I pray that Kurama cannot hear my heart beat.
We both pull away from each other's embrace and I say to him, "I will gladly share my secrets with you, but I must be honest I can't explain or reveal everything to you. Please forgive me." He smiles and says, "I will, for I will no doubt be doing the same." We both can't help but laugh at that for a while before I say, "I've missed you, Kurama." He places his hand on my cheek and gently says, "I've missed you too, Akina."