Kohaku: I'm such an idiot. How could I do that? I just insulted so many authors, without a second thought. Idiot. Idiot. Just shoot me now. Please, Hiei, let me borrow your sword.
Hiei: No. You'd dirty it with your stinking human blood.
Kohaku: Meh. Read this. I don't care if you flame it, I deserve it, for all that I've done to those writers out there who were never meant to receive abuse.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.
The stew bubbled cheerfully on the stove as Yukina stirred it slowly with a spoon. Though most ice apparitions wouldn't have gotten anywhere near a flame, the young ice maiden found the red-orange depths, with its core of turquoise, strangely familiar and intriguing. Switching off the heat, Yukina poured the soup into two bowls and set it on the table to wait for Genkai.
When she'd first come to Ningenkai to live with Genkai in the temple, she'd been amazed by all the foreign things that the Human World had to offer. Though Genkai didn't use many of her old electrical appliances other than the normal facilities and her gaming systems, Yukina was fascinated by all the old machinery stored elsewhere in the temple. The first day, she'd spent nearly an hour inspecting a device she'd found hidden away in a cardboard box. Kazuma had called it a computer. Yukina giggled at the memory. She'd never seen anything so interesting, a metal box that could write words at the touch of a button. The Human World was so different from her home in the Demon World!
The weather was very different too. Snows seemed almost warm, instead of the merciless frigidity of the Makai ice. Yukina tipped her face up to the light filtering in through the screen door, smiling. I think I'll go take a walk.
She sat on the steps of the temple, watching birds above her swirl in the air, chirping a beautiful song. One of them came down and hopped over to Yukina. He whistled inquisitively at her, and the ice apparition slipped a hand into her kimono. She drew out the little bag she always kept there, extracting a handful of seeds from inside and offering it to the bird. He ventured forward, pecking cautiously at the seeds. Eventually, he hopped onto Yukina's hand, gazing at her with an intelligent dark eye.
Yukina had always been good with animals. Though most in the Glacial Village did not associate themselves with others outside their race, Yukina would go daily to a spot on the outskirts of the village to visit her friends. There was Mimi, the little fox; Xiru, the sparrow with a beautiful song; and Cinn, the raccoon with a limp. They were so tame that they would play with her, and Yukina came to believe that they almost had a type of speech that she could understand.
'Your eyes are pretty,' the bird sitting in her hand chirped. Yukina smiled. "Do you really think so?"
'Yes. I saw someone with your eyes, once. I went to look closer, and he tried to spear me with a sharp stick.' Yukina gasped. "Really? When did you see the person that tried to spear you?"
'I don't really remember. Perhaps, if you told me your name, I could ask him if he knows you. He has your same eyes. You don't get this beautiful red color very often.'
"Oh, could you find him for me? Tell him that my name is Yukina, and that I'm looking for my brother. Perhaps that is he. If you find him, please tell him that I've set out a bowl of stew, and he's welcome to eat it for lunch."
'Certainly. I'll go right now.'
Yukina smiled, watching the little bird fly off. Something rustled behind her, and she spun around.
But there was nothing there. Even so, Yukina couldn't shake the feeling that someone had been close by just a minute ago, listening to her conversation with the bird. She knew that she should've been scared because someone was spying on her, but all she felt was a strange sort of peace. She felt…
Safe.
In a tree not far away, a short demon dressed all in black watched a bird flying over to him. Uncharacteristically, he extended a hand and allowed the sparrow to land. "What?"
The bird chirped. 'Your sister is looking for you. She says her name is Yukina, and that you are welcome to lunch anytime.'
"Hn. I don't have a sister named Yukina." The youkai abruptly dropped his hand. "Go and tell her that her brother is probably dead, and she shouldn't have such silly aspirations."
Hiei waited until the sparrow had flown away, then leapt down from the tree and looked up at the sky's positioning. Noon. It's time to find some lunch.
Yukina entered the temple and saw Genkai, sitting at the table and calmly eating the stew Yukina had set out for lunch. One bowl was already gone. Before Yukina could ask, Genkai spoke.
"It was gone before I came. Probably some phantom took it while you weren't looking."
Yukina smiled. The person who the sparrow saw, the person watching me, the person who took the stew…they're one and the same. Even though he hadn't shown himself to her yet, she knew that wherever he was, dead or alive, her brother was watching over her.
Kohaku: I feel just a little better…
Hiei: ((Rips paper to shreds)) I don't talk to birds.
Kohaku: Well, in my story you do. So sue me. R&R, everyone!
Kohaku Minamoto