SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Lucky Pendant

By: KC

Okay, all this is my first "serious" Yu Yu Hakusho fic. No OOC, no SI, no OEX (Over Exaggeration), nothing like that. It's also my first POV. Also, if you haven't seen the YYH movie (yes, there is a movie), then you'll miss most of the point of this fic. It takes place during the Dark Tournament, and I'm adding another round here for my own convenience. (If this was a part of the series, Team Masho would show up in round 4.)

Enough explaining! Disclaimer time! (Bleh!) *Hands a piece of paper to Bakura* Read it.

Bakura: KC does not own any Yu Yu Hakusho. If she did, she definitely wouldn't be in the hole fifty bucks to her mother. She also might not be torturing me and the other Yu-Gi-Oh bishie.

0.0 *Gets angry and growls* THAT WASN'T IN THERE!!! *Discovers Bakura is actually Yami Bakura* YOU LITTLE...!!! *Pulls out tessen and goes to bean Yami Bakura*

Yami Bakura: *Leaves Bakura's body right before he gets hit, so Bakura gets clobbered instead*

Bakura: Ow... *Falls over*

0.0 Oops...uh...Valgaav, go get the first aid kit...Enjoy the fic!

***

We were laughing. Kuronue and I had pulled off the biggest heist in our history, maybe in demon history, and we were feeling pretty good about it.

He shushed me. "We're not in the clear just yet," he reminded me.

I nodded, but still smiled. The weight of the Ryoki, a highly valuable mirror, in my arms, and the knowledge that we had managed to swipe the most highly-guarded object in the Demon World, were making me somewhat giddy.

It was then that we heard the sound of a posse behind us.

"Run," I hissed.

We both went as fast as we could. I still felt cocky. We were miles ahead of our pursuers. They would never catch us.

Something small zinged by my ear, and I paid no attention to it. It was when I heard the distinctive snap behind me and the sounds of Kuronue turning around that I stopped.

The flying object had snapped the chain of the pendant that Kuronue wore off his hip. He was going back to look for it.

"Kuronue!" I yelled.

"I need it!" he called back to me.

Throwing caution to the winds, I followed him. That meant I was there to see the whole thing.

A rain of sharpened poles fell from the branches of the trees around of us. We had sprung a trap!

I watched, unable to do anything as my best friend was enclosed within the poles. I stared in horror as one of them pierced his leg, shooting up a stream of blood.

"Kuronue!" I screamed again, knowing there was nothing I could do to help him.

He looked back at me, the pain he was feeling showing in his eyes.

"Run, Kurama," he gasped.

"No," I whispered softly, shaking my head. "I won't leave you!"

"No!" he yelled. "Get out of here, Kurama! Go! RUN!"

The posse was approaching fast. Fear was racing through my veins.

I didn't stop to think anymore.

I did what my almost-brother said. I turned and ran.

***

Chapter One: Nightmares

***

"Kuronue! KURONUE!!"

"Kurama! Wake up!"

That woke me up with a jolt. My friend Hiei's face was a definite comfort after that nightmare. It was also a relief to know that it really was just a dream, that I wasn't going insane.

"Are...are you okay?" Open concern is something entirely new to Hiei. If it weren't the middle of the night, and if we weren't alone, he'd never do this. Yusuke would never let him live it down.

"I'm fine." I forced a smile. "It was just a dream. Go back to bed, Hiei."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Nobody tells me what to do." He went back to his bed in the room we share anyway.

Hiei is a living oxymoron. If any psychologist ever found him, he'd have a field day - before Hiei killed him, that is. Hiei isn't much of a people person, to say the least. Most people tend to stay away from him, and he likes it that way. I think I am his only real friend.

I lay back down and put my pillow over my head. I wish I could be alone, but Hiei would definitely notice if I left the room. He sleeps like a cat - one eye open and completely alert all night. If I went outside, he would follow me. That would only defeat the purpose.

What is going on with me? It's been years since I've dreamed of Kuronue, but for the past three nights - ever since we came to the Dark Tournament - I've dreamed of the night when I lost him. I've also got this unshakable feeling that somebody is watching me.

Foxes are predators. We don't like to feel hunted.

Getting mouthfuls of pillow instead of air, I finally pulled the thing off my face. God only knows why I put it there in the first place. I might as well forget about sleeping tonight. There's no way I'll be able to relax that much.

I wrapped my hand around the pendant that hung on my neck. I never take it off. It's the only thing of Kuronue's that I still have.

He had always insisted that it was lucky. I sighed and rubbed it. I normally don't believe in that kind of thing, but if I ever needed luck, it was now, during the tournament. Risking my life on a daily basis is a part of life here. I don't like to, but what else can I do?

I decided to go outside anyway. Maybe the fresh air would clear my head.

It was only when I sat up that I saw the shadow over my bed and the silhouette standing at the window.

***

"Jeez, Kurama, you're a real mess." Subtlety doesn't seem to be a word in Yusuke's vocabulary.

"Why, Yusuke, I hadn't noticed," I responded sarcastically.

"Really?" Kuwabara asked, that confused look ever-present on his face, only replaceable by the dumbstruck look he gets when he sees Yukina. He's one of the few people Hiei actually feels somewhat sorry for, and that's saying a lot.

"Sarcasm just evades you, doesn't it, Kuwabara." Pity doesn't seem to keep Hiei from tormenting him every chance he gets.

"What're you saying, half-pint?!"

"I'm saying you're an idiot."

"You little shrimp! I ought to beat you silly!"

That is something I would pay to see. Hiei has never been "silly" in his life.

"Try it, you big oaf."

"Why you...!"

"Children!" Yusuke intervened. "Save it for the tournament!"

I just leaned against the wall and started to rub my pendant. Let them fight it out. This one has been coming for quite a while, and I have other things to think about. Like, who was outside the window last night? By the time I had gotten to the window, the person was already gone.

Also, in the building with the apartments the fighters in the tournament are allowed to stay in, our room is on the third story. Whoever our 'visitor' was last night, he went to a hell of a lot of trouble to look in.

And why do I feel like I recognize him?

"Yusuke's right," The masked fighter said quietly, jolting me back to reality and the argument. "You two don't have any energy to waste fighting with each other."

"Fine." Kuwabara leered at Hiei. "You're lucky he said something, twerp, or I would have beat you into a pulp."

That is highly unlikely.

Hiei just looked back at him. "You're not worth it."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Kuwabara spluttered.

"Exactly what it sounds like." Hiei turned away.

Before another fight could spring from the embers of the first one, we heard the announcer say, "Round three is now beginning! Teams Yurameshi and Ryoki, please enter the ring!"

Ryoki?!

That's the name of the -

"In case you didn't hear, Kurama, the round is starting now." Hiei was looking at me with an annoyed half-glare.

"I heard it the first time," I snapped at him, standing up straight. "I'm not Kuwabara."

I guess I get cranky when I don't sleep all night.

Hiei raised an eyebrow and lowered his voice. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," I muttered. "Why do you ask?"

He simply pointed to my chest.

I looked down. Without realizing it, I had clamped my hand over the pendant and begun to squeeze it. My knuckles had turned white from the effort I had no clue I was making.

I quickly let go and placed the pendant back under my shirt.

"You're starting to worry me, Kurama," Hiei said softly.

"I'm fine," I said shortly, turning away. I definitely wasn't fine, but the last thing I needed was Hiei watching me like a hawk, which I knew he would do if he was worried about me.

"I'm fine, Hiei," I repeated. "Let's go."

***

I followed the rest of my team out into the sunlight, greeted by the crowds' raucous jeers. What a wonderful way to start a day. I can't even blame it on lack of coffee, seeing as I don't drink it.

I glanced at the other team. All were tall, and each wore a hooded black robe.

Hiei cursed under his breath."If we can't see them, we can't read them," he muttered to me.

"I know," I replied, still irritated. I'm not an idiot so stop treating me like one.

It was then that I realized the energy emanating from one of my opponents was familiar to me.

I also saw that he was looking at me.

***

So, how do you like it? Writing it was certainly fun! (Especially the Hiei/Kuwabara banter - I've always wanted to do one of those.) There will be...let's see...four more chapters! Please R&R and I will try to post them ASAP! Of course, I have to finish them first...maybe if I get enough positive reviews, I'll write faster...*hint hint* ^.^