Holding On Until Tomorrow

Holding on Until Tomorrow
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters associated with Yu Yu Hakusho.

Warning: major yaoi, more angst, gore, violence, very strong language, and references to character death.

Chapter 12 The Exterminator
“Attention!” Juri called. “The Tournament Committee has decided that there will be a break while they determine what should be done about the ring. We will let you know when we have any new information.” Muttering, demons rose and stretched and moved off to find something to do. Touya watched as Kurama limped off the field with help from Yuskue while Kuwabara followed carrying the unconscious Hiei.
Shizuru followed Touya’s stare. “Shall we go and see how the boys are doing then?” she asked. Touya started in his seat and stared at Shizuru, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. Shizuru was smiling. The other girls quickly agreed and they went off to the locker room. Koenma had found a first aid kit and Yuskue was trying to convince Kurama, who was sitting on one of the benches, to remove his clothes so they could bandage his wounds. Hiei lay on a bench hibernating. Kuwabara stood at the window, mulling over what Toguro had told him before. His thoughts were interrupted as Touya gave a soft cry and he turned as Touya rushed to Kurama’s side.
“You’re hurt!” he cried.
“It’s all right,” Kurama murmured. “It’s not that bad.”
“Let me help,” Touya’s hands trembled as he pulled Kurama’s shirt up over his head.
“I’m fine,” Kurama insisted.
“Let me help you,” Touya said firmly. “You helped me before...several times…and I want to help you now.” Kurama smiled and nodded. Touya eased him into a lying position and started to pull Kurama’s blood-stained shirt off.
“Hey, why don’t we give Touya and Kurama a little privacy,” Shizuru suddenly announced. She stepped forward and dragged Kuwabara out of the room. Giggling, the other girls followed. Yuskue stuck around a little longer.
“What about three-eyes here?” he asked.
“He’ll probably be hibernating for a long time. I wouldn’t worry. Now come on!” Koenma dragged Yuskue out, shutting the door behind him. Touya and Kurama were silent as Touya slowly removed the shirt. Finally, it came off. Touya hissed under his breath. He hadn’t known that Kurama’s injuries were this bad…

Shaking his head, he opened the first aid kit and rummaged through it. Kurama put on a brave face when Touya put antiseptic on the open wounds; he flinched slightly, but no sounds came out of his mouth. When Touya was satisfied that the wound had been adequately cleaned, he took one of the bandages from the pile Koenma had brought with the first aid kit and began wrapping it around Kurama’s arm.
“How are you feeling today?” Kurama asked. Not expecting the question, Touya paused in his bandaging. He seemed to be thinking.
“Better. A lot better. I’m still a bit tired, though it’s not as much as before,” he finally answered.
“I’m glad,” Kurama whispered. He reached up with his unbandaged arm and gently stroked Touya’s face.
“Lie still,” Touya ordered, trying to get back in control. Kurama couldn’t help sighing softly as Touya began to patch him up again.
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When Yuskue and the others entered nearly an hour later, Kurama was heavily bandaged, but looking much better than before.
“Hey, you look better,” Yuskue said, grinning.
“I’m feeling better,” Kurama murmured. “Though I’m far from healed. It’s going to take quite some time for me to recover.”
“Well, you sure as hell earned it,” Yuskue smiled. Kurama smiled faintly. There was a loud crunching sound. It sounded like…heavy footsteps. Very heavy footsteps.
“Hey guys, I think we’d better check this out!” Yuskue cried. He, Koenma, and Kuwabara ran out to the field to find the source of the noise. “Please don’t be a huge monster!!” He stopped.
“HOLY FUCKING HELL!!”
“Does he count?” Kuwabara asked. Toguro was stomping towards them, though the only reason why he was stomping was because he carried the ring from the old stadium on his back. They had never seen so much strength before.
“Anyone care if I puke on myself?” Yuskue asked.
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Hiei slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. It was not a place he was familiar with at all. His eyes scanned the room until they rested on Kurama, who was sitting on a bench reading a book. Touya stood behind him with Koenma, both leaning against a wall. Kurama smiled when he saw his friend was waking up.
“Ah, you’re finally awake,” he said.
“Where am I?” Hiei demanded, sitting up. “And how long have I been out?”
“We’re in the locker room,” Kurama answered calmly. “You’ve been hibernating for a little over six hours.”
Hiei couldn’t believe it. “Six hours?! Well who won the tournament?”
“I’m afraid I can’t answer that yet. Nothing has changed since you were last conscious. Yuskue and Kuwabara got bored and went for a walk.”
Hiei rose angrily. “You’re not making sense!”
“It’s taken time to reestablish things since you leveled half the stadium,” Touya answered calmly, ignoring Hiei’s sudden burst of anger. “They were going to fly in a carrier plane from the mainland to transport the ring from the old stadium here but Toguro saved time by just carrying it here on his back so we’re going to begin again shortly.”
“What?!”
“Attention please! We are finally ready to begin the third match in thirty minutes. Would everyone please find their way back to their seats and the fighters make their way to the ring? And Juri, if you can hear me GET OVER HERE!” Koto announced.
Kurama rose and closed his book. “Shall we go?” He asked Hiei.
“Yeah,” Hiei nodded. He began to leave. Kurama started to follow, but hung back at the last minute.
“I’ll cover for you,” Koenma said softly.
“Thank you,” Kurama smiled. “I won’t be very long.” He turned to Touya. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” Touya stubbornly replied. His gaze softened. “Stop worrying about me, okay?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t help it.”
“I know.” Their lips met for a brief kiss.
“See you later.”
“Bye.” Kurama watched his lover leave, then sighed softly and went to rejoin his team.
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Kuwabara stepped forward into the ring looking as confident as he could manage. The Elder Toguro deftly jumped off his brother’s back and landed in the ring. Both of them headed towards each other.
Oh Kazuma, please be careful. Yukina thought. Kuwabara’s hand tightened around the Trials Sword.
“Ready? Begin!” Juri called. Kuwabara focused his energy into the Trials Sword. He seemed to be in pain but was really in control of the power emanating from the sword. A general cry of shock came from the audience. Kuwabara’s sword was humungous. He ran forward. The Elder Toguro calmly stood there though the ring beneath him began to crack.
Okay, now what’s he doing? Yuskue thought. Kuwabara brought the sword down and seemingly split the Elder Toguro in half, but he just put himself back together again. Something that looked sort of like spaghetti shot out and stabbed Kuwabara in several places. Blood gushed out. He fell hard to the ground, the Trials Sword flying from his hand. It turned out that the spaghetti-like things were Toguro’s fingers.
“You look surprised, my dear Kuwabara,” Toguro cackled wickedly. “I bet you didn’t know that I had a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“What the hell?” Yuskue asked.
“You see, I can move my body’s vital organs wherever I wish. Injuring me is very complicated.” Toguro saw Kuwabara’s sword lying a few feet away and merely had to stretch out his fingers to retrieve it. “This is truly an exquisite sword. You inherit it from her?” Kuwabara gasped softly. “You’d think she’d leave something like this for her apprentice but I guess Yuskue wasn’t strong enough.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Kuwabara cried. “Genkai is just sick!”
“Oh that’s perfectly sad. Your friends have been keeping secrets from you. Genkai is dead. She’s been dead for two days now.”
Kuwabara’s eyes widened in shock. “No…it can’t be!” He looked over at Yuskue, who refused to meet his eyes.
“Oh my gosh, is it really true Botan?” Kayko asked from the stands. Botan had wrapped her arms around herself and was fighting back tears. Touya wore a pained expression.
“Why didn’t I see it before?” Kuwabara asked himself softly. He started to run forward but was stopped when Toguro reached out with his spaghetti fingers and stabbed him in the chest. Kuwabara struggled to hold back his tears. “Aw, don’t cry Kuwabara. It’s not your fault the old witch could stay longer in this world. You can ask her yourself in a few seconds. A few more inches and I can take your heart out.” The blood gushed out even more. Kuwabara grabbed the fingers and somehow managed to wrench them out. Toguro still laughed.
“Let me tell you the story of Genkai’s death. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Genkai, the most beautiful girl of her kind.” Toguro created a very realistic representation of Genkai with his spaghetti fingers. She was a fighter who wanted to be the very best in the world. Then she met a man named Toguro who also wanted to be the best and he agreed to play with her. They did everything together. So much that the man almost forgot his own brother. They even were in love. But then the woman turned ugly and no one wanted to be around her anymore.” The younger puppet-Genkai turned to an older, more familiar version of her.
“Brother…” the Younger Toguro growled in the back of his throat. The Elder Toguro took no notice.
“He’s just excited because this is his favorite part. You see, the man became a demon who would never get old and ugly like her. The ugly woman became extremely jealous of the handsome man and went to fight him but she was not strong anymore so the man was happy to murder her.” He stuck his other fingers into the puppet-Genkai’s chest much like he had done to Kuwabara. Yukina covered her mouth, tears in her eyes. Touya lowered his gaze. Shizuru looked pained.
“Is Genkai really gone?” Kayko asked, turning to Botan and gently shaking her arm. Botan didn’t answer, but stared at the ground.
“Muttering some final rubbish to her failed apprentice, the woman’s soul drifted away to some corner of hell. We live happily ever after!” Blood dripped out of the puppet-Genkai’s mouth. The Elder Toguro laughed viciously. Kuwabara was trembling.
“THAT’S ALL BULLSHIT!” Yuskue screamed. “GENKAI WASN’T JEALOUS! TOGURO KILLED HER ‘CAUSE HE COULDN’T HAVE HER!!!”
Kuwabara fell to all fours, tears leaking out of his eyes. He trembled badly. He slowly got up and his body started to glow a gold color.
“I’m going to kill you. You’d better know that,” he said. Toguro made the puppet-Genkai vanish.
“That’s very nice enthusiasm but you forget that I have your weapon,” he grinned. He pulled out Kuwabara’s Trials Sword. “I’d give it back but helplessness is much more fun.” He twisted his arm into a drill-like shape and shot it at Kuwabara’s chest. It didn’t go in. The glow surrounding Kuwabara’s body became more and more evident.
“What’s happening?” Toguro asked. “I can’t pierce your skin.” Kuwabara shot what appeared to be miniature spirit swords at Toguro and cut him to pieces but he just put himself back together again.
“I think I’ll skip all the formalities and get straight to your death. Make sure to tell Genkai how much we all miss her!” Toguro shot his hand at Kuwabara but this time wrapped his fingers around Kuwabara’s wrists and ankles and elevated him high in the air. “Allow me to reacquaint you with…the ground!” he threw Kuwabara to the ground hard.
“Bastard!” Yuskue screamed.
“Now’s your chance to cry and beg for your life just like your dear friend Genkai right before my brother killed her,” Toguro smirked.
Liar. Kuwabara thought.
“It is impossible to kill me!”
“I will beat you,” Kuwabara murmured, though Toguro heard it.
“Your voice grows very annoying,” he said. He fashioned his free hand into a long, deadly-looking knife. “Maybe I’ll cut out your tongue. My mother always wanted me to be a surgeon. Pity I played hooky the day we dissected frogs in class. Oh well. Here goes.” He raised the knife high above his head.
“Yikes!” Juri cried, stepping back.
“You monster!” Shizuru screamed. Kuwabara somehow managed to get ahold of his Trials Sword using his spirit energy. He sliced Toguro to bits but he regenerated again.
“You’re a very slow learner. Haven’t we already established that my body doesn’t like going to pieces, so it doesn’t?”
“Too bad,” Kuwabara spat. “It’s a look you deserve.” He held his Trials Sword high above his head. It started glowing a reddish-purple color. Toguro gasped softly. The Trials Sword materialized into a large purple tennis racket. “You know, I thought about what you said before and you’re right. There’s no way of me knowing where your vital points are. So I’ll just smash every little bit of you!”
“NO! GET AWAY!” Toguro screamed.
“Since we’re sharing, my mom always wanted me to be an exterminator. It’s time to make her proud of me. SPIRIT FLYSWATTER!” He brought the tennis racket down and smooshed Toguro into oblivion, ultimately winning the match. The entire stadium (for the most part) booed and hissed as Kuwabara made his way off the field.
“Hey that was really gr…” Yuskue stopped as Kuwabara punched him squarely in the jaw. He stumbled forward. “What was that for?”
“Why didn’t you tell me about Genkai?!” Kuwabara stormed forward and grabbed Yuskue by the front of his shirt. “You told everyone but me! Did you like making fun of me?! Did you get your entertainment?”
“Kuwabara listen…” Kurama said quietly, stepping forward.
“This doesn’t concern you!” Kuwabara growled.
“Yuskue didn’t tell Hiei or me either. We had to detect Genkai’s passing for ourselves,” Kurama continued.
“Is this true?” Kuwabara demanded. He let go of Yuskue.
Yuskue refused to meet his friend’s eyes. “I didn’t tell anyone. She…died in my arms. I thought by not saying anything it wouldn’t make it true. I’m sorry you had to find out the way you did and I’m sorry that you thought we were making you look like an ass. But I can’t apologize for dealing with this in the only way I knew how.” He started to walk towards the ring.
“Hey Uramaeshi?” Kuwabara asked.
“Yeah?” Yuskue asked, stopping.
“Win this.”
Yuskue nodded. “Right.”
To be continued…

A/N: I was so excited to write that first scene with Kurama and Touya. I know the episode centers on Kuwabara and his fight with the Elder Toguro but this is the first time Touya and Kurama have been alone for a while so I couldn’t help it. :P I cut it a bit shorter because I felt like it was a good place to stop. The next chapter might be a wee bit long. It’s going to combine four episodes (with much deletions) so it’s going to be a very long chapter. Maybe.