After the Match

Human World, Hanging Neck Island.

After Kuto's announcement, the crowd descended into angry boos and jeering. On top of that, some of them noticed that Chu was beginning to stir while Rinku stood next to him.

"Kill that loser!" An irate demon shouted from the crowd.

"Neither of them deserves to live after losing to a human!" Another demon shouted.

Like that, all the demons shouted angrily. Even though he was stronger than all the demons in the stands, Kuwabara, like Botan and Keiko found themselves intimidated by the fervor all the demons were showing.

"These demons are crazy." Kuwabara muttered. "How can they ask for the deaths of their own kind."

"You make it sound like humans are any better." Hiei said disdainfully.

"Demons are much more savage than devils.' James whispered to himself.

"Shut up~~~~~!" Yusuke shouted, getting all the demon's attention in an instant. "Who the hell do you think you are? You spent the entire match insulting us and I've listened to all your clever trash talk, too. I'll do what I want and none of you can order me. And if you've got a problem with that, I dare you to say it to my face. Then, you can say it to my fist."

Emphasizing his point, Yusuke raised his fist, and it began to glow with the blue light of his magic power or spiritual energy. This display silenced the crowd, immediately. After getting the result he wanted, Yusuke nodded his head. Then, he, James, Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Botan began walking toward the tunnel team Urameshi entered through.

Meanwhile, back in the ring area, Chu was standing from the ground with difficulty. He and Rinku watched the back of Team Urameshi as they left the stadium while Chu smiled slightly.

"Good on you, Mate." Chu said, watching the tunnel until he could no longer see the silhouettes of Team Urameshi.

"Well, I guess we should go, too." Irene said, standing from her seat among the stunned demons.

Agreeing with Irene, Erza, Genkai, Keiko, and Shizuru all stood up. Then, as Erza released her pressure, the demons around them snapped back to their senses and made way for the group of five to pass unhindered.

A few minutes later, Irene and the other ladies were out of the stadium. To no one's surprise, however, Team Urameshi and Botan were waiting for them outside the spectator entrance. However, when Yusuke saw Irene and Erza, they looked at Yusuke in surprise.

"You didn't tell me any of your people were coming." Yusuke said in surprise.

"Well, you didn't ask." James replied with a shrug. "And if you had been paying attention, you would have sense them a long time ago."

Instead of arguing with James, Yusuke looked away. Knowing that James was nearby, he had let his guard down quite a bit. Even though he was in hostile territory.

"Remember, I'm not here to save you, Yusuke." James said sternly. "I'm only on your team so that I can train."

"Yeah... I know." Yusuke said, annoyed that James had revealed his inner thoughts.

"Yusuke!" Keiko shouted as she ran toward Yusuke."

When she arrived, she wrapped her arms around her childhood friend. At the same time, Yusuke hugged her back subconsciously.

"*Sigh* It always looks like those two have a really good thing going on." Kuwabara said wistfully. Then, he began to smile happily. "Just like me and Yukina."

'That's right, Kuwabara still doesn't know that Yukina is Hiei's younger sister.' Botan thought to herself. 'I don't know why he wants to keep it a secret, but this is gonna get out sooner or later.'

'Say a word, and you die.' Hiei's voice rang out in Botan's head.

Hearing that voice, Botan began to shiver. Then, she glanced at Hiei who had replaced the headband covering his Jagan. However, when she saw the glow shining through the headband, she almost passed out.

'This is bad!' Botan thought to herself. 'Him being a telepath does not pair well with the fact that I'm a blabbermouth.'

Meanwhile, the rest of the ladies made their way over to the group. When they did, Irene and Erza took up positions near James while Shizuru started giving Kuwabara, who was still losing himself in his fantasies about Yukina, a tongue lashing that might break a record a two.

"So, you two won the right to come on this trip, huh?" James said, smiling at Irene and Erza. "Just outta curiosity, how did you and the others decide who would be coming?"

"Well, Lancer, Dante, and Lady had no desire to come in the first place." Irene said.

"Neither did Akua." Erza added.

"Right, she's so quiet I forgot about her." Irene said, nodding in agreement. "After that, we played several games to decide."

"What games?" James asked curiously.

"Mario Kart." Irene said with a slight smile. "By the way, might I suggest that none of the girls ever get driver's licenses?"

"Were they that bad?" James asked with a smile.

"They were." Irene replied with a smile of her own. "It's obvious that none of them have ever played racing games nor have they driven a car before."

"To be fair, there's no need to drive." James said after a short bout of laughter. "But wait, Mom has done both... A lot... So, how did she not win a spot for this trip."

Hearing that question, Irene and Erza began to giggle.

"She was too busy laughing at how bad everyone was." Irene said.

"So, she could not concentrate on the race herself." Erza said, continuing from where her mother left off.

"*Sigh* That sounds like Mom." James said with an exasperated smile on his face.

"If you kids are done catching up, I'd like to get back to the hotel." Genkai said, annoyed by all the demons staring at her with bloodlust.

Cutting their conversations short, everyone made their way toward the hotel where Team Urameshi was staying. Luckily, the suite they were assigned to was big enough to accommodate all of them, thanks to Koenma, no doubt.

Speaking of Koenma, he and ogre were still in their VIP room, having yet to leave the stadium.

"Koenma, sir is something wrong?" Ogre asked curiously. "The match is over, shouldn't we leave."

Ignoring Ogre, Koenma stared at the ring, lost in his thoughts.

'Why is the newest Satan here?' Koenma asked himself. 'I'll have to talk to him and find out his purpose.'

"koenma, sir?" Ogre asked once again after not receiving a response to his first question.

"Shut up, Ogre." Koenma said in annoyance. "Just pick me up and carry me home. I'm getting sleepy and I skipped my nap today."

"Yes sir." Ogre replied in a dejected tone.

"On second thought, let's go to Yusuke's room." Koenma said, changing his mind. "I just remembered that I have something to give him."

Around an hour later, Team Urameshi and their acquaintances arrived at the hotel. Then, after team Urameshi got cleaned up, they sat in the hotel suite's living room. Taking the time to get to know each other a little, they began chatting about everything and nothing all at the same time.

Naturally, the exception to this friendly atmosphere was Hiei, who was glaring at James, Irene, and Erza. Although James had his powers sealed, Irene and Erza did not. And with Irene at the minor god-rank and Erza at the ultimate-rank, Hiei was feeling threatened. However, what really bothered him was that James made it clear that the two women were part of his peerage.

"Why are you hiding your true strength?" Hiei asked in irritation. "What is your motive for participating in the Dark Tournament?"

"I would like to know the answer to that question as well." A male voice said as the door to the suite opened.

Looking toward the suite's entrance, Koenma, in his teenage form, and Ogre entered the suite.

"Who the hell are you?" Yuusuke said, taking a defensive position in front of Keiko.

"That really hurts, Yusuke." Koenma said, putting on a feigned expression of hurt and disappointment. "How can you not recognize your boss?'

"My boss?" Yusuke asked, starting to chuckle. "You're saying that you're Koenma? I'll admit the pacifier is a good touch. But there's no way. Koenma is a brat who has yet to finish teething. You're just too big..."

"That's what she said." James said with a smile.

"... to be Koenma." Yusuke continued his sentence before staring at James with a twitching eyebrow.

Not only Yusuke, but everyone other than Irene, Erza, and Genkai stared at James at a loss.

"*Sigh* You all had better get used to jokes like this." Genkai said while shaking her head. "Because no matter how much you want him to stop, he won't."

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." James said with a smile. "I feel physical pain when I hold it in for too long."

"Anyway." Koenma said, deciding he did not hear that basic sexual inuendo. "Would you mind if I had a private conversation with you, J?"

"*Sigh* I thought this conversation would happen later." James said, exhaling a bored sigh. "Fine, let's go."

Nodding his head, Koenma turned around and made his way to the door.

"Ogre, you stay here." Koenma ordered.

"Yes, sir." Ogre replied.

"You don't mind if I bring my [Queen] with me, right?" James asked as he stood up from his seat while gesturing at Irene.

"Not at all." Koenma replied.

"Then, shouldn't I go with you too, sir?" Ogre asked in a worried tone.

"There's no need to worry, Ogre." Koenma said in response. "It's part of devil culture to bring one's [Queen] with them during important discussions."

Finished speaking, Koenma walked out of the hotel suite. A moment later, James and Irene walked past the Ogre to follow Koenma. As they did, James patted him on the shoulder.

"Seriously, there's no need to worry about Koenma's safety." James said with a smile. "You wouldn't be able to protect him if we wanted to attack, anyway. Irene alone could kill everyone on the island in less than half a minute."

Naturally, that did not alleviate the Ogre's wariness. It left the others in the room, except for Erza, Genkai, and Yusuke, shocked.

"So, who is he?" Hiei asked as soon as James and Ireen left the room.

"Sorry, Hiei, but I can't tell you that." Yusuke said while shaking his head.

Hearing Yusuke's refusal, Hiei stared at him with even more intensity.

"Don't look at me like that." Yusuke said with a serious expression on his face. "I won't tell you unless he says it's okay."

"Yes, I'd suggest you drop this matter until J decides to tell you on his own." Erza said seriously.

"Hmph!" Hiei snorted in discontent.

Meanwhile, Botan, Keiko, and Shizuru were sitting together and discussing the same topic.

"Botan, do you know who he really is?" Keiko asked curiously.

"From what I can tell, he's really important." Shizuru said.

"I have a guess, but I don't think I want to say it." Botan said. "If he is who I think he is, I' rather keep it to myself."

"Botan, come on." Keiko said, shaking Botan by the shoulder.

While Botan was trying her best to not disclose the information she knew, Koenma, James, and Irene arrived on the hotel's roof. Then, after staring at a smiling James with intensity, Koenma finally opened his mouth to speak three minutes later.

"Why would someone as prestigious as the newest Satan of the Underworld come to this tournament?" Koenma asked, trying to be as intimidating as a teenager sucking on a pacifier could possibly be.

"Just for a little training." James said with a smile.

"How could this be any kind of training for someone as strong as you?" Koenma asked curiously.

"There's a lot that Master can do with her runes, ya know." James replied. "All you need to know is that I'm not here to mess up the proceedings. Hell, I don't even intend to interfere with Yusuke's growth. Oh, but I will be killing Elder Toguro. There's no way around that."

Hearing that, Koenma opened his eyes and mouth wide. Seeing the pacifier not falling out of Koenma's mouth, both James and Irene were intrigued to know how that worked.

"Anyway, let's go back inside." James said with a smile. "We're missing the celebration party."