"Welcome to the second-second screening process."
Ruby stepped aside and allowed the gaping candidates to have room to marvel at the sight before them.
A large room packed with many different types of game machines.
"This is not a normal house," Yusuke remarked.
"Maybe she likes video games," Kazuma murmured.
Why would someone like Genkai possess all these things? Then again, her temple is situated in the middle of nowhere, which sounds quite like a dull life for anyone.
Their thoughts were interrupted when Genkai lowered herself from the ceiling. She was on a small round platform with chains around her.
"I hope you all brought your quarters, these games will be the second screening."
A boy with monk clothing walked out of the crowd. "Please master, may I ask what playing video games has to do with learning great power?"
"Absolutely nothing, really," Genkai said. "But these are not ordinary games that you'll be playing. Ruby dear, if you don't mind."
Ruby nodded before motioning a hand at one of the games. "The Janken game over there will test your spirit awareness."
She then pointed at a machine with a punching pillow.
"The punching game shows your spirit's strength." Then, she gestured at the karaoke game. "And the karaoke tests your energy's ability to adapt and grow stronger."
Ruby stepped back to provide a clear view of the final game, which stood out due to its significantly larger size, occupying some space in the room comparable to a bowling alley.
"And last, here is the Arduino Game with the throwing knives, that can test your focus, testing your control over your Spiritual powers."
Miyuki eyed that game in particular and Yusuke saw it, which made him nudge her playfully. She gave him a look and he grinned playfully with a knowing look. Miyuki sent an elbow on the stomach, causing Yusuke to wince but still chortle.
"You can all try them each, but to get to the next step you have to pass three out of four games. If you cannot pass above two, it's game over for you. If you need help, I can gladly assist you with that. As for the other games, they are off limits, they're just for Master Genkai and Master Yara."
"Master Yara? Who is that?" Yusuke raised a brow.
"Probably some teacher friend of hers?"
"Alright, hand me that boxing glove!" One man walked up to the punching game. "Me and this game are old buddies."
He took a hard swing and punched the small boxing bag.
~BAM~
[18p]
Everyone laughed at the results while the man's jaw dropped. "That doesn't make any sense, I always get the high score at the punching game in my parent's pool house."
"Well, this isn't your parent's pool house," Genkai said. "It doesn't make any difference to that machine how physically strong you are unless your spirit strength goes along with it."
Humiliated, the man left fast to try out the other games, and Kuwabara took his place.
With a battle cry he launched his gloved fist forward and with a big hit, he scored 129p.
"One hundred and twenty-nine, what do you think of that Urameshi?" Kuwabara bragged as he grinned like an idiot.
"Hmpf, don't get too excited," Yusuke said as he took himself a boxing glove as well. "I think there is something wrong with the machine. Here let me check it out for ya."
~BANG~
To everyone's surprise, he managed to earn 155p.
"Nope, I guess it works fine." Yusuke's announcement gained a stink eye from Kazuma.
"Look at that kid, he score a 155." The compliments and amazement of others only made Kuwabara furious.
"Hahaha, yeah, you see that!"
"S-Shut up!"
"I'm better!"
The two boys bantered, but thankfully Miyuki put a stop to it by stepping in between and giving them a firm gaze. They shut their mouth immediately. With that, she reached for a boxing glove. Her hand froze midway as she accidentally glanced at the left-handed glove.
Miyuki's mind then recalled the events in the warehouse and how she punched Hiei in the face.
That power... Her eyes narrowed as her fingers curled up into a fist.
Maybe I should try it again.
Miyuki placed the glove on her left hand-.
"Hey, you sure about this, sis?" Yusuke grasped onto her left forearm. "I mean you broke this before."
Miyuki scoffed and ripped herself free.
"Whoa, chill, just don't want to break a nail now, or anything." Yusuke's joke made the men around them snicker.
Miyuki gritted her teeth, but ultimately took a deep breath and positioned herself for the game.
"Hey, you sure it's okay?" Kuwabara asked. "I mean this is more of a man's sport than anything."
"That kid is right." Someone agreed. "I didn't come here to see some little girl cry about losing to a game."
The brows on Miyuki furrowed, but she didn't lash out like her brother, she instead clenched her left fist and then raised it high...
~SMACK~
Everyone fell into dead silence as the screen showed the final results.
[158p]
She actually scored as high as her brother with only three points difference.
Hn, take that, dickheads. Miyuki didn't even bother to look at the males, as she took off her glove and threw it over her shoulder, which was caught by Yusuke.
While walking she felt something rather off on ... herself... She glimpsed at her burns on the left shoulder. Carefully she brushed the rough skin surface, and surprisingly it felt a little warm.
My hand just probably went cold. Miyuki shook her head, then left for the Janken game.
"What the- HOW?!" While Kazuma exclaimed Yusuke stared at Miyuki's back with wide eyes like she was an alien or something.
Damn... Yusuke scratched his cheek with his index finger, only to go stiff in seconds. Wait a minute, does that mean she can kick my ass?!?
*~~*~~*
Everyone was busy trying to outdo one another while Miyuki silently observed people and tested her own limits.
At the Janken game, she did a decent job, but compared to Kuwabara and others it was pretty low, even if it did reach the required score limit. It was a bit disheartening, but that didn't discourage her from trying more.
Miyuki was heading over to the Karaoke stand next, though she wasn't too keen on it-.
~THWACK~
Miyuki turned to the side and examined the Arduino Game.
At the moment, some ninja guy was occupying it.
As the targets darted and sporadically shone with a red light, he skillfully managed to hit them in time. There were occasional misses, but overall, his performance was remarkable. However, as Miyuki approached, she couldn't help but notice a faint purple and blue aura enveloping the knives whenever the ninja's hands made contact.
Focus and control over your Spiritual Abilities. Miyuki nodded to herself.
Finally, the ninja finished with a high score.
When he turned around he detected Miyuki's presence. As he walked past her, he shot a cocky smirk as if challenging her.
"Tsk," Miyuki scoffed then went to the front of the game stand.
She eyed the moving human cutouts. Some were at the bottom moving left to right. But some would fall, or get pulled back up. The targets were placed on their chest and head, and they also flashed brightly by the lights that were placed there.
The ninja had left the knives on those targets as well, probably to show anyone to give up now.
With one push of the blue button, the arena cleared and the knives returned to the table.
Miyuki let the tip of her fingers brush up against those throwing knives, feeling a sense of warmth coming from the familiarity.
It made her think of Master Mitamura. I hope he and the others are doing well.
She stole a glance from the scoreboard. Don't let him down now.
~Click~
With a deep breath, she finally grabbed the throwing knives and positioned herself in front of the game.
"It doesn't make any difference to that machine how physically strong you are unless your spirit strength goes along with it."
She looked at both hands that held two knives each.
Focus... Her eyes closed once more and inhaled through her nose.
~BEEP~
The timer began to count down. Miyuki rolled her neck, her posture slightly relaxed, but her good eye only focused on the moving cutouts with their lights still off.
As she was eyeing the targets, she didn't notice her left arm emitting tiny sparks of white flash for a moment.
But, one participant behind her had caught on and decided to watch her curiously. As luck would have it, Yusuke and Kuwabara had also made it to the
"Hey Urameshi, your sister is there!" Kuwabara said as he and Yusuke approached the Arduino Game Area. "Wanna try that game out?"
Yusuke looked at his sister for a moment, then smirked. "Nah, let her have her fun."
The two went behind the small monk boy and watched her, even a man in a light gray turtle neck shirt with square glasses had decided to join the small audience.
"This should be interesting."
Yusuke crossed his arms.
~BUZZZZ~
Miyuki's gaze darted left to right. Her posture was loose but her grip on the knives was steady.
~Ding~
There was red from the left.
~THWACK~
Bullseye.
Came another red flash from the right, and a knife was tossed.
She hit the head once again.
The number of the targets began to increase, but so did her speed. Her focus hadn't wavered for a moment. She just kept on picking and throwing knife after knife, but none of those sharp weapons had missed a target.
She hit them all, on the head or chest, even those that hung from the ceiling.
With one more swing, she hit another target.
Miyuki had broken out of a cold sweat, panting a little with an aching chest. She looked at the scoreboard again, and much to her astonishment, she gained a high score, beating the ninja guy with at least ten points.
"Damn sis, that's a lot of points." Yusuke's playful tone made Miyuki's face shift slightly. "But hey, want me to check it out in case it's-?"
Miyuki locked eyes with her twin. Her hand took the last knife from the table and tossed it to the side.
"Broken...?"
Bullet-sized sweat drops rolled from Yusuke's face as he saw that knife effortlessly hitting another target straight in the head.
A small electric shock wave popped on that weapon for a second before dying down. He didn't notice that detail as he was more concerned about Miyuki not breaking eye contact with him. That cold glare she was sending to him, gave the shivers down his spine.
"Hn." Finally, she walked away, her eyes still glaring and flashing with a tiny twinkle of emotion.
"I don't know about you Urameshi, but she looked like we pissed her off," Kuwabara murmured.
Yusuke took a loud swallow. "Yeah, no shit Sherlock."
The monk boy stared at Miyuki for a moment, then turned to Yusuke. With a smirk, he turned away and tried his luck with target practice.
"Wow, she's good." Ruby breathed out as she made it up to where Genkai was.
"You ain't wrong little raindrop." Said Genkai. "I'm surprised she didn't break that old junk given how much Spiritual Energy she had put into her efforts."
Genkai narrowed her eyes on Miyuki's frame. "But I have to give it to her, she had a great deal of restraint on her emotions to prevent that."
"She needs to stabilize it," Ruby added. "That way her bending skills might work much more effectively."
Genkai nodded.
"We shall see..." She looked down again and her eyes got caught by Kuwabara, then later on by Yusuke.
*~~*~~*
Hours of playtime later, the number of candidates slimmed down to 20 people total, excluding the Urameshi girl.
Thankfully, Yusuke had made it to the next round as well.
However, the next challenge they encountered was vastly different from the previous ones. Behind the enchanted thread fences stood a big forest. It was full of towering trees with their leaves blocking out most of the sunlight, leaving nothing but darkness inside. The air that seeped out felt so cold that it could make a soul even shiver.
"Alright people, now that the weak have been eliminated, the tests will be far more severe from here on out."
"Hey, my insides feel all funny." A random guy breathed, his body shaking.
He wasn't the only one though, many of the participants looked rather pale at the sight of the woods.
"Master, the forest seems to have its own life source."
Miyuki narrowed her eyes at the young monk boy.
"Yes, to say at least," Genkai replied. "It's known as the Dark Forest, and it's as old as the human race. It has become a sanctuary for the oldest and most primitive demons."
She pointed one hand up to a big tree far away far away from the Dark Forest's area.
"On the other side of the forest is a giant tree. Make it there and you pass the test. You have two hours."
"Uaagh, I'm not getting near that forest. I give up!"
With that, the player and the other frightened rabbits made a run for their lives.
Genkai could only laugh at their reaction. "Yes, run along, I don't blame you. Even a person with the slightest spirit awareness can feel this forest will tear you into pieces if you let it."
"There is some truth to what this woman says." A man with green hair said. "Only those who had gone through the training should cross into these woods. It is no place for a boy for instance, let alone a young boy, or a little girl."
He looked directly at Miyuki, who replied with a raised brow.
"Speak for yourself, I'm not about to get scared off by a little walk through grandma's forest," Yusuke exclaimed without much thought.
"Watch your mouth you dumb little brat!" Genkai scolded.
Ruby was getting concerned and turned to Miyuki who let out a frustrated sigh.
"You're just trying to get rid of me so I won't learn Genkai's powers instead of you, is that the big plan?" Miyuki's eyes widened and quickly marched over in his direction. "Hey, you wouldn't by any chance be a- OW-OW-OW-OW-HEY LET GO!"
Miyuki dragged him away by the ear. He managed to free himself and with an angry expression he turned to his sister. But the moment his face got into hers, the level of his anger dropped fast to the point of dread.
Before he could think of backing away, Miyuki grabbed a hold of his collar to keep him in place. "If you even want to make it into the forest alive then you better shut your damn face!"
Yusuke swallowed hard, and then Miyuki tossed him away.
"Darn..." Kuwabara couldn't help but fix up his collar, feeling rather hot but cold at the same time.
"Enough fooling around, and let's begin!" Genkai clapped her hands. "Best of luck and I hope you don't die."
With that, the braver ones positioned themselves for the run.
"Ready."
Yusuke took his stand as well, and of course, Kazuma decided to be next to him.
"If you're gonna do this run, then so am I!" Kuwabara grinned widely
"Set."
"Stop getting so excited, it's embarrassing!" Yusuke grumbled.
The ninja warrior and the man with green hair got in position as well. Miyuki took a stand behind them and the small monk boy decided to stand next to her.
Once more, she felt her alarm bells ringing in her head, but she kept her suspicions to herself.
For now.
"Go!"
Everyone took off and with one jump they made it to the other side of that small fence and inside the woods.
Miyuki was running next to Yusuke and Kuwabara while the other participants were behind.
However, they weren't the only ones that started to run. Genkai was also running along the group and caught up to them with ease.
"We will be waiting for you by the tree. If you're smart, you'll use your spirit awareness to find the quickest way. Goodbye."
With that, she sped off.
Damn, she is as fast as Hiei. Miyuki thought.
"She is so fast, are we sure she is not like an alien?!"
"This is real-life idiot, not the Dragon - Ball Z!"
Yusuke turned to Miyuki gobsmacked. "Since when do you watch anime?"
"I don't!" Miyuki snapped. "But you do. Loudly might I add!"
"No, I don't!"
"Bullshit!"
~Rustle-Rustle~
"What the?"
Everyone looked upward and saw Ruby swinging from tree to tree.
She was using some water arms like tentacles to swing by faster.
Impressive. Miyuki took a small stop though as she felt something strange.
She looked down at her left arm and felt that warm sensation again.
Weird... First in the warehouse, but now here in this tournament...
What could this mean?
She shook her head and ran in some random direction, but the moment she did, the warm feeling faded from her.
Leaving her as cold as ice...
"Okay, now what?" She leaned a hand against a tree trunk.
Her answer soon came...
In the form of a giant Black Widow that lowered itself down onto her hand.
FUCKING HELL! Miyuki jumped and slapped the spider off its thread fast before backing away into the direction she came to.
Right away, the warm feeling had returned.
"Huh?" She touched her shoulder gently, then darted left to right. Wait... Is... Is this trying to lead me out of this place?
Miyuki gave one last look at her burn marks, then at her skin where some of the veins looked like they were faintly... illuminating.
I guess it can't hurt to give it a try.
She hastily made her way back to the exact spot where she had originally started. As anticipated, the sensation of warmth enveloped her arm once again, but more intensely. Henceforth, she raised her left hand, using it as if it were a guiding compass, and commenced following the trail it directed her towards.
She took a corner, and another, then a few more turns.
As she followed her way, she hadn't come across any demons or other creatures so far. Judging from the sound of cries from the distance, others were not as lucky as she was. At times there was the sound of animal growls or whines and such was heard.
Miyuki was forced to ignore all that and kept on sprinting.
Finally, she emerged from the woods. The warm feeling dissipated, yet her arm retained a residual heat. Leaning one arm on her knee, she took several deep breaths, her other hand instinctively resting on her chest.
Miyuki took a small look over her shoulder.
"Hn." She brushed her hair from her face, then walked up to the hill where Genkai and Ruby were waiting.
When she arrived, they looked at her, impressed.
"Hmpf, one hour and thirteen minutes. Not bad for someone with your condition." Miyuki weakly nodded and just let herself collapse under the shadows of the tree crowns, hand still over her heart.
She glanced at Genkai's watch and saw the time. I should probably get my medication.
"Want some water?" Ruby offered her leather pouch.
Miyuki stared at her smile for a while, before she nodded her head and took it while reaching into her pocket.
"Thank you."
*~~*~~*
Minutes had gone by since her arrival, but so far, no one else made it up there.
That was until Kuwabara decided to grave himself with his presence.
"Hello, boy." Genkai greeted him.
At first, he looked around from left to right in confusion, then grinned widely. "Am I really the first one? Really?"
"Well technically, she beat you to it." Genkai pointed at Miyuki. "But if we look at the Tournament only, then yes."
"Ouh-uh, yeah great job there Miyuki!" Kazuma gave her a thumbs up, but Miyuki turned her head away.
Seriously, when is he going to take the hint?
But what was even more puzzling was what can he see in her, to begin with. Sure he was his arc nemesis's twin sister, but that's beside the point...
Soon two more people came sprinting up to the meeting spot. It was the ninja and the other fighter with the green hair. By the look on their faces, they were unimpressed and angry for not being the first ones.
"I thought for sure we would be the first ones." The ninja huffed.
"We let ourselves have too much fun in there." The green-haired guy added.
"Hmpf." Miyuki crossed her arms and leaned back onto the tree with her eyes closed.
Fast forward a few more minutes and four more people arrived.
Miyuki was awake to see the later additions and coincidentally one of them happened to be that monk boy again. But when he arrived, he made eye contact and shot her a friendly wave...
She gave no response but felt that knot again. Making a mental note she glanced at the people who arrived.
But Yusuke was not one of them.
Where could he be?
~Clank~
"Times up!" Genkai announced. "Only you seven have passed."
"Uh, wait a second," Kuwabara exclaimed. "There should be one more guy coming."
"Sorry, I never make exceptions," Genkai replied.
In an instant, Miyuki got to her feet and was ready to get back into the woods. Ruby grabbed her shoulder-.
"WAIT FOR ME!"
"What?"
Everyone spun around in the source's direction, and sure enough, Yusuke was coming over.
"Urameshi!" Kuwabara called as Yusuke got in front of Master Genkai.
"You know, suddenly I'm reminded of a fortune cookie I ate that said the straight way is not always the fastest."
Genkai's face fell immediately. "Oh, but listen boy. Surely you didn't go straight through the forest."
"Yeah," Ruby nodded. "That way you would have faced the lethal man bat."
"What? You mean Baldock?" Yusuke asked. "Yeah, he was hanging out with me for a while. That guy was fast, but not nearly as fast as Hiei. I took care of him real good though, you'll see."
He then started to laugh with pride.
Ruby looked at him with shock, but then she turned to Genkai, and through her eyes, she could sense the same disbelief.
"Idiot!"
Yusuke stopped laughing and turned to Miyuki. "There is no reason for you to laugh, moron because you went over the time limit."
Right away, Yusuke's heart sank into his shoes. "What? Is that true?"
"Yes, and it's your stupid fault!" Kuwabara grabbed him by the collar.
"It seems to be." Genkai breathed. "But I believe I will make an exception."
Relief fell onto the trio's shoulders.
Especially with Kuwabara and Yusuke, so much so that they began to hug one another.
However, the wholesome image was broken by their realization and the two ripped themselves from one another and bicker like an old married couple.
"Okay everyone, let's settle down," Genkai called.
"Let's move on to the next"
Well, now that this is settled Miyuki turned to the remaining competitors.
Only six fighters left-.
"About damn time you old witch." A new, cranky voice greeted, and soon a new figure approached in bare feet. "Do you have any idea how long I had been waiting for your lazy butt to get here already?"
"Oh, dear." A small drop of sweat rolled down from Ruby's forehead.
"Gaah... Another old hag?" Yusuke asked.
"Who do you call an old hag you little dipshit?" He and Kuwabara jumped at her loud volume.
"Oh quiet you, Drama queen!" Genkai snapped and Master Yara turned around with a small chuckle leaving her throat.
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's move on to the next area, shall we?"