Little Tyke

"Rise and shine, Gura," a blond girl wearing a detective's cap shook a small-statured girl with light-blue hair as she slept, "It's the tournament today… are you sure you still want to participate?"

"Ngh, yeah," Gura nodded groggily, slowly opening her eyes, "After what that guy said, I can't back down now."

"I know how you feel," Amelia said, "But there'll be some tough people there. It's the biggest gathering of magical creatures in the world, after all."

"I know, that's why if I were you I'd be worrying about my own hide," Gura said, now sitting on the couch she was sleeping upon, "You're just a human. A pretty damn strong human, sure, but a human nonetheless."

"That's true, I suppose," Amelia agreed, nodding her head, "Still though, I've got nothing to lose. I especially can't stop now. I want to support you, after all."

"Y-you don't have to do all that for me," Gura blushed, "But thanks, Ame."

"Anytime, Gura," Amelia smirked, "Let's get you showered, stinky."

"Wh- like you smell much better," Gura stammered, crossing her arms and rising to her feet."

...

"Woah, those are some pretty strong guys over there," Gura said somewhat awed, "Why are there so many of them over there?"

"I think I remember something like this," Amelia thought for a moment, "They call it the Eon Tournament. The most powerful people from across the universe can partake in it. They say the prize pool is huge. And since there's usually so many participants, you usually get paid a hefty amount for winning only a couple matches. I hear you can even get some special weapons if you get far enough."

"Damn, this sounds awesome!" Gura grinned, "Let's get in line! Please, Ame?"

"Sure. I know you can pull your weight," Amelia grinned in response, "I'll join too. I don't expect to get very far but hey, maybe we can make a bit of cash."

"God knows you need it, Ame," Gura rolled her eyes, "Crime's gone down since the police implemented the Hero Program, right? That means business is slow, doesn't it?"

"Wow, is our little Gura using her brain for once?" Amelia said in faux-shock, putting her hands to her cheeks, "What a momentous occasion! How rare!"

"Shut up, obsolete detective. Let's get in line," Gura grumbled and lined up. It was… a huge line, to say the least. It took nearly an hour for it to be their turn. In time, though, Gura and Amelia reached the front of the line, finding a man looking to be in his mid-twenties. He looked up at the two girls.

"Ah, Amelia Watson, I know you'll do great," the man nodded, then turning toward Gura, "We don't let minors participate, though. It looks bad on our part."

"M-minor?!" Gura said in shock, "I'll have you know I'm 9000-something!"

"Really?" the man said and smirked, clearly not believing the shark girl's statement, "And I'm the Great Calamity."

"It's distasteful to make jokes like that," Amelia crossed her arms, "And she is that old, actually. You're looking at the princess of Atlantis."

"I guess I can't argue with a detective. So Atlantis is real, then?" the man asked curiously, "I always thought it off as an old wives' tale, but the more you know I guess."

He scribbled away at a piece of paper.

"Name?" he asked the shark girl.

"It's Gawr Gura, don't you forget it!" Gura grinned, pointing at herself.

He nodded and continued scribbling away.

"You're in," the man looked up from his papers, "May the gods favor your victory."

The two girls exchanged smirks and began walking off.

"You're still pissed, aren't you?" Amelia asked.

"So pissed," Gura nodded, "Thanks for defending me, though."

"He's an assumptive bastard, it was just the right thing to do," Amelia grinned, "You sure you can handle the strongest guys in the world?"

"I should be asking you that, stupid," Gura chuckled, "I'm the princess to Atlantis, you're just some detective."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, I'm just Amelia Watson, the world's greatest detective, nothing special, right," Amelia shrugged, walking to the detective agency with Gura.

...

"Hey, Reaper-chan!" a red-haired reaper wearing a black suit smirked, flashing his sharp teeth, "Did you hear the Eon Tournament's coming up! Get hyped!"

"Why do you suddenly care about the Eon Tournament?" a pink-haired reaper asked.

"Ooh, I think I know," an orange-haired phoenix teasingly said, "I bet he just wants to impress Ina-"

Shin quickly covered Kiara's mouth and frantically looked towards a black-haired girl with tentacles sprouting from her back, his face almost as red as his hair. Ina simply smiled at the boy while Calliope crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Y-yes, that is correct, Kiara-chan," Shin forced himself to say, slowly taking his hand off of the phoenix's mouth, "I'm doing it to get that special weapon!"

"Do you even know if it's a scythe or not?" Calliope asked.

"Even if it's not, I'm sure I could sell it for big bucks to get something awesome!" Shin said excitedly, "Why don't we all join? It'll be fun!"

"I don't see why not," Ina shrugged and stood up.

"Ooh, yeah!" Kiara's eyes flashed with excitement, "Come on, Calli! Let's sign up!"

"I'm really outnumbered here, huh?" Calliope groaned, "What do you think Death-sensei will think?"

"You really should start making decisions on your own, Reaper-chan," Shin piped in, "Old Man Death can manage his own life."

"...You're an awful reaper, you know that?" Calliope finally conceded, letting out a small chuckle, "I'm in. Maybe we'll win."

...

A girl with navy-blue hair with a pair of black-framed glasses turned a key in a door and entered her apartment, tiredly plopping down on a nearby couch. She sniffed, detecting a heavenly smell coming from her kitchen. A man with white hair and blue eyes came out of the aforementioned room, holding a large tray of what seemed to be skewers of some sort, as well as managing to balance two small bowls of rice in one arm.

"Hi, honey," he said, smiling and setting the skewers and rice down on a nearby coffee table, "I've been working on my beef yakitori recipe. I hope they're to your liking."

"Mm, Akihito, kiss," A-chan groaned. The man happily complied and he sat down next to the manager. She threw her arms around him and shared a deep and intimate kiss. Pulling away, a small trickle of saliva left their mouths.

"One of those days, huh?" Akihito laughed, handing A-chan a yakitori and a bowl of rice.

"Yeah," A-chan nodded, her face already filled with beef from the yakitori, "YAGOO worked me like a dog today. I had to go from one building to the other building to the other… you get the idea."

"Sorry to hear that, pumpkin," Akihito stroked the girl's cheek before chuckling a bit, "That Tanigo guy is funny, though. I should hang out with him more often."

"The last thing Japan needs right now is two more middle-aged men going out to bars and getting piss drunk," A-chan chuckled, still chowing down, "Speaking of which, break out the sake tonight. Everyone knows yakitori goes best with alcohol, after all."

"You sure?" Akihito asked, "I mean, we both know how you can get when you drink a bit too much sake."

"Yeah," A-chan winked with a sly grin, "That's kind of the point."

Akihito smirked and rose to his feet, heading towards the kitchen and rummaging through a small cupboard.

"Oh, by the way, A-chan," Akihito addressed from the other room, "I heard about that Eon Tournament thing. You going?"

"Nah, not my thing," A-chan shook her head and sighed, "Why? Do you wanna?"

"I would like to, if it's alright with you," Akihito said, "I understand if you don't want me getting hurt out there."

Akihito walked out of the room with a bottle of sake and two guinomi. He set them down on the coffee table and sat down next to his wife.

"No, you can go. You're more than capable of protecting yourself, and if you want to go, I can't stop you," A-chan rested her head on Akihito's shoulder, "I trust you."

Akihito chuckled and let the moment sink in.

...

Amelia and Gura arrived at the gate to the arena. Amelia seemed fairly calm about everything, but Gura was both parts eager and terrified. Nervous, she entered the large circle and noticed many powerful-looking individuals, some more than others. Suddenly, a massive TV screen looming above the arena flashed on, revealing the tournament bracket. It was almost too difficult to read considering how large the bracket was, but an intercom began to play an excited announcer's voice.

"Hell-ooo, everybody!" the speakers boomed, "Welcome to the Eon Tournament! I'm Mr. Tale, and I'll be your announcer for today!

"To all our participants, we'll be giving you your seats and a copy of the bracket," Mr. Tale said eagerly, "May the gods favor your victory, folks!"

Gura gulped as men in black suits and sunglasses began handing each participant two papers. Right when she felt as if she was going to chicken out at the last minute and leave, Amelia put her hands on the shark girl's shoulders.

"It'll be fine, Gura," Amelia grinned, "I believe in you."

Gura almost teared up when she said this, but she shook her head and gave a smug grin.

"Hah! I know," Gura played off her anxiety, "I'm the princess of Atlantis! I've got nothing to worry about."

Amelia rolled her eyes and received her two papers from a suited man. He then motioned towards Gura and handed her the papers as well. Taking a closer look, she found that one was a large unfoldable piece of parchment that revealed the entire bracket for the tourney. She then glanced at the other, which read "SEAT PLACEMENT - SECTOR 8, ROW 5, SEAT B".

"Must be our seats," Amelia grinned, "Let's go, Gura."

Gura nodded and headed to her designated seat. Plopping down next to Amelia, who was assigned the seat to her left, she glanced over to her right, where she saw four odd-looking characters. The one immediately next to her was a kind-looking girl with tentacles sprouting from her back. She seemed to be reading an interesting tome.

"Uh, hi," Gura introduced herself, "I'm Gawr Gura. Good to meetcha."

The girl looked up from her book in surprise, glancing at the shark girl.

"Oh, hi," the girl smiled sweetly, "I'm Ninomae Ina'nis. You'll be participating in the tournament as well, correct?"

"That's right," Gura nodded, then looking towards the three others, "Those are your friends, right? They're gonna be participating too, yeah?"

"Yep, they are," Ina'nis confirmed, "The one with the orange hair is Takanashi Kiara, the one with red hair is Watanabe Shin, and the one with pink hair is Mori Calliope. They're all pretty strong."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Gura chuckled, "What about yourself?"

"I mean, I'm strong, I suppose," Ina'nis reasoned, "Not nearly as strong as them, though."

"That's fair, but don't sell yourself short," Gura said, "I'm sure you'll get far."

"Humu, you say that like you know me," Ina'nis giggled, "How can you be so sure?"

"It's just a feeling," Gura smirked, "Let's do our best out there."

"Mhm!" Ina'nis agreed. The first match had begun. Seemed like a man named Yoshinogo Akihito versus a girl named Charlotte Suzu. Gura looked at their battle with determined eyes.

"What a first battle, huh?" Akihito chuckled, drawing a fencing epee, "It must be fate…"

"How else would you explain it?" Charlotte giggled, revealing a pearly set of fangs, "It won't end like last time."

Akihito grinned and the battle continued.

...

Gura and Amelia had made it to the quarterfinals, and needless to say Gura felt like she might throw up. She took a look at the bracket. It seemed like Amelia was up next, about to fight Yoshinogo Akihito, the one from the first match. The detective rolled her eyes as she made her way down the stairs. Akihito brushed some dust off of his fencing epee and he met eyes with Amelia. She sighed.

"Yoshinogo Akihito, hm?" Amelia said, "You know, I'm not sure why you're trying to hide the fact that you're a dhampir. Your friend that you fought earlier didn't bother, and no one cared. People have outgrown the prejudices."

"Ngh, how did you know?" Akihito stumbled back, "And what you say is untrue. I can't let people know, they'll kill me."

"I doubt it," Amelia chuckled, "You're stronger than you let on. That blood-wave technique? I sure as hell don't want to be on the opposite side of that."

"How do you know about blood-wave?" Akihito grumbled.

"Honestly, I know a lot more than I'd like," Amelia grinned sadly, "And I know enough about you to know I don't want to fight you. I concede."

"H-huh? We haven't even fought yet…" Akihito stammered.

"I know I won't stand a chance against you," Amelia waved goodbye as she headed off the arena, "Take care of A-chan, alright?"

Akihito gasped before smirking.

"You're an odd one, Miss Watson."

...

Amelia went back to her seat, not saying a word to the shark girl.

"You didn't even try," Gura said.

"Yeah," Amelia said.

"That's not like you," Gura murmured.

"I know," Amelia looked down.

"Whatever," Gura sighed, "I'm up next. Wish me luck."

"Mmm, yeah," Amelia nodded, appearing to be deep in thought about something. Gura walked down the stairs and found herself in the arena. Then, a man from the same row as her rose to his feet and walked down the stairway and into the arena. He wore a black suit and had red shaggy hair. His teeth were sharp and he had a scythe hanging from his back.

"Ay, the hell were they thinking, bringing a kid out here?" the man laughed, "Go home, kiddo."

"Grr…" Gura snarled, "I'm not a kid…"

"Huh? Kid says what?" the man teased, cupping his hand to his ear in an exaggerated manner.

"I said I'm not a kid!" Gura yelled, summoning her trident. She shook off a bit of water droplets that hung from it as she glared at the man.

"I see… trident users are few and far between nowadays, but they're beautifully crafted weapons…" the man pondered, "Are you perhaps an Atlantean?"

"Not just any Atlantean! You're looking at the heir to the throne!" Gura stuck the trident into the ground and crossed her arms smugly.

"Damn, the royal family must be pretty well-off considering they can afford to give a 7 year old trident-wielding lessons," the man smirked.

"Goddamn it- I've had enough of your shit!" Gura growled, taking her trident, "You're Watanabe Shin, right? Ina'nis was talking about you."

"H-huh?" Shin's face became red all of a sudden, "Ina-chan was talking about me…?"

"Uh…" Gura looked at Shin with a confused expression, "Yeah…?"

"Heheh, that's good to hear," Shin chuckled, taking a red scarf from his pocket and wrapping it around his neck, "Yeah. I'm Watanabe Shin, better known as the Scythe King. I'm the savior of the Underworld and Death's loyal left hand. Hope you're ready, little tyke."

"I'm more than ready…" Gura smirked, "And for the last time, I'm not a kid!"

Gura took her trident and clashed it with Shin's red scythe. As metal struggled against metal, Shin laughed wildly.

"Wow! You're tough for someone of your stature!" he grinned. His eyes widened with excitement as he pushed the girl back.

"And the next match has officially started, folks!" Mr. Tale boomed excitedly, "Looks like we've got Miss Gawr Gura versus Mr. Watanabe Shin! Let's give a nice round of applause!"

The crowds' claps synchronized with each other as the battle ensued, Gura summoning a bit of water to try and throw off Shin. He dodged every wave, pursuing the shark girl with his scythe in both hands.

"Remember folks, the battle ends when either party is unable to continue battling or when either party is pushed out of the ring! Let's get into this match, shall we?" Mr. Tale reminded and quickly went back to watching the duel.

Amelia looked on eagerly at the battle before her focus was broken by a hand waving in front of her face.

"Hello there? Is anyone home?" a cheerful voice asked. Amelia shot up and found herself staring down three different girls, one with pink hair and a cool aura, one with black hair and tentacles sprouting from her back, and one with orange hair and a friendly vibe. Amelia grimaced a little bit before smiling at them.

"Hey, what's up?" Amelia waved.

"You're with that Gura girl, right?" the orange-haired girl asked curiously, "Ina was telling us about her."

"Oh, yes, I'm with Gura," Amelia nodded, "So I assume you're with Shin?"

"That's correct," the pink-haired girl nodded, "If I remember correctly, I saw you forfeit not too long ago on that stage. Why'd you do that?"

Amelia looked down somewhat regretfully but then looked back up with a small smile.

"I know that guy. It was a loss on my end, no matter how you cut it," Amelia chuckled.

"Still though dawg, you could've at least tried," the pink-haired girl reasoned, "But that's not why we talked to you."

"Mhm!" the black-haired girl nodded, who Amelia finally recognized as the girl Gura was talking to earlier, "We want to get to know you."

"Huh? Why do you wanna get to know me?" Amelia turned her head.

"I don't know," the black-haired girl shrugged, looking off to the side, "You just looked kinda cool, I guess."

Amelia stifled a bit of laughter.

"Hey, it wasn't too funny, was it?" the black-haired girl grinned.

"No, it's just-" Amelia shook her head, "Never mind. I'm Amelia Watson, detective extraordinaire! And who might you three lovely ladies be?"

"Oh! I'm Takanashi Kiara!" the orange-haired girl bubbly piped in.

"It's Mori Calliope," the pink-haired girl nonchalantly said.

"And I'm Ninomae Ina'nis, but please just call me Ina," the black-haired girl smiled, "It's good to meet you, Amelia."

"Likewise," the two shared a quick handshake and quickly turned to resume watching the match.

...

Gura panted. This man was… a lot stronger than she had expected. She hadn't been able to go on the offensive since her opening attack. Shin swung his scythe wildly and without remorse. It wasn't surprising that he referred to himself as the Scythe King anymore. She dodged most attacks but had to resort to blocking a few with the handle of her trident. Doing a sort of roll to the side, Gura tossed her trident at Shin. And it worked. She struck him. But something was off. He reacted, but he pulled out the trident without issue. And revealed that he was hollow inside.

"Don't you get it, little tyke?" Shin smirked, "I'm a goddamn reaper. I'm Death itself. I can't be killed through normal means like this."

Shin zoomed forwards and, taking advantage of Gura's astonishment, punched her in the cheek, sending her flying out of the ring and hitting the arena walls. It was a K.O. Shin had won, and it was barely close. The pink-haired girl that was with Ina'nis ran towards the reaper and put his arm over her shoulders.

"Shin, you're gonna be the death of me one of these days," she groaned. Shin merely laughed. Amelia also ran towards Gura, controlled by worry. She picked up the girl's body and tears began to run down her cheeks.

"Are… you alright, Gura…?" Amelia asked.

"Heheh… I gave it my best shot… you proud of me…?" Gura asked, coughing a bit.

"I…" Amelia stammered before giving a warm smile, "Yeah. I'm proud. Really proud. You did good, sharky."

"Haha… I'm happy to hear it…" Gura smiled. Amelia picked up the girl and went over to Ina's group.

"That was a good battle," Ina grinned, "It's been forever since anyone's landed a hit on Shin."

"That's true," the pink-haired girl nodded, "He's not called the Scythe King for nothing."

"Speaking of scythes, it's our turn next, isn't it, Calli?" the orange-haired girl asked, "I don't want to fight you…"

"Aw, come on Kusotori," the pink-haired girl pushed her slightly, "It's been so long since we've sparred. Let's give it our all."

"Mm, yeah!" the orange-haired girl changed her sad disposition quickly to a bubbly cheery one.

Gura smiled weakly as she looked at this group.

"You know… I have a feeling we'd all get along…"