Author's notes (2009): Wellll, I've salvaged this as much as possible from the Utter Terrible that was the original version, but the whole heroically-saving-a-guy-from-bullies-whilst-discovering-hidden-powerz is still rather cheesy. xD;; I couldn't really think of another way to start the fic off, but it'll get better, I promise. This story does contain two OCs, but they're not Mary-Sues; even in the original version I was determined not to go down that road. In all other aspects, I hope that I can manage to keep everyone in-character and everything true to canon, although bear in mind that I'm still only on Season 3 of the anime, so I don't quite yet have the entire picture.

With the warnings over, let us proceed with the fic!

Disclaimer: Don't own; don't sue.

Ice Maiden

Chapter 1

"Oh look, it's snowing again," I commented to myself as I looked up at the pale grey sky from which the first flakes were just beginning to fall. Annoyingly, the snow wasn't settling – except on me, turning me into a walking snow-girl as I made my way towards the main school building. Around me, other people were trying to scoop enough snow off the nearby plants and window ledges for a decent snowball fight. Some luck.

"Oh look, it's snowing again," observed Kurama with a smile.

"Hn. This endless snow," said the fire youkai next to him, taking in the scene around them with no expression on his face. Kurama's smile turned into a knowing one; he was well aware that Hiei disliked anything which reminded him of the ice world where he'd been born, and the Koorime who'd cast him out of it – except Yukina, of course. Droves of students who took the bus to school every day were walking across the field, some stopping to throw snow at each other on the way. Secretly, Yusuke Urameshi, stopping for a minute to fall behind his friends, gathered up enough snow to make a small snowball, then hurled it at the tall man in front of him. Kuwabara stopped dead as the freezing snowball hit him in the back of the neck.

"URAMESHI!"

Yusuke grinned innocently until Kuwabara tackled him down onto the grass, wet with melted snow. Soon they were wrestling on the ground, while Kurama smiled in amusement and Hiei rolled his eyes and said, "Morons."

As I got further across the field, I noticed two big senior students with huge lumps of dirty snow - they'd obviously spent a while accumulating it all - in their hands, advancing on a small boy in front of me: a second year at most, definitely younger than them. I frowned, hoping I was mistaking their intentions, but sure enough they crept up behind him and pelted him with snow, malicious grins on their faces. The guy stumbled forward and fell over, snow in his face and packed behind his glasses. The goons just laughed at him and I glared, wishing I had a snowball to hand.

Only a few seconds after I had thought this, I felt something cold and powdery in my hand. What the… I looked at my hand, and there was a small snowball forming in it. How did I do that? I watched, and it seemed the snow falling from the sky was gathering in my hand somehow, making a ball.

I didn't waste any more time trying to figure it out, as the bullies were probably about to leave. Not leaving time for myself to have second thoughts, I shouted,

"OI!"

One of them turned round at the shout, and I hurled the snowball with all my might, and with more accuracy than I knew I had, straight into his face.

A direct hit! I couldn't believe it!

A triumphant grin spread itself across my face, which faded slightly as the bullies began to advance on me. Behind them, their victim scrambled to his feet and fled while his aggressors were distracted. Ah well, I thought, at least I managed to get one hit in before they pulverised me. Somehow, that wasn't too comforting.

"You lose, Urameshi! Give up." Kuwabara had his friend pinned to the ground. He rubbed wet snow in his face.

"Ok, ok, just get off me." Kuwabara let up and Yusuke got up, brushing snow off himself. Suddenly he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned to see two big guys with snowballs advancing on a little guy – it was obvious they were picking on him.

"Would ya look at that," he said in disgust. Kuwabara turned to see too, and scowled as the bullies attacked the smaller boy with snowballs.

"They should really try picking on someone their own size," he said. "Thugs like that got no honour. They need someone to teach them a lesson."

Meanwhile, Kurama had noticed something the others had missed. In his mind, he contacted the telepathic Hiei.

[Hiei, look at that.]

[Ice demon.]

[Or part-demon. Her spirit energy is above normal human levels, but not by much. What is she doing with the snow?]

Yusuke smacked his fist into the palm of his other hand. "I think we should be the ones to educate them."

"Yeah."

They started forward, but Kurama said, "Wait," his eyes fixed on the girl behind the bullies.

"What?" asked Yusuke, but just then a shout rang out.

"OI!"

Yusuke wheeled round to see what the others had been watching – just in time to see a snowball hit one of the big guys straight in the face.

"Oooh! Bull's eye!" said Yusuke gleefully. But then the two began to turn on their attacker.

"Okay, now it's time to help out," he decided.

I froze like the snow I'd just thrown as the two advanced upon me. Half my brain was yelling at me to run, the other half was saying it would be cowardly, and I ought to stay put. So, racked with indecision, I stayed still.

"Hey, did you just throw a snowball at my friend?" asked one menacingly, with a tone of voice which told me the answer had better not be yes.

"Uh…" Yet again: a dilemma. Should I deny throwing the snowball? But they wouldn't believe me. Yet if I said I did, I was sure to get beaten up.

Thankfully, I was saved from having to make that decision by a voice.

"Why don't you try picking on someone your own size?"

I jumped, and spun around. I hadn't even heard anyone come up, but suddenly two boys were standing right nearby. One had black hair; the other was tall with ginger hair, and both radiated an aura of cockiness, like they were the kings of a hundred school fights. Great, I'm caught between a pair of bullies and a pair of street brawlers. I suppose the enemy of the enemy is my friend…

The thugs looked them up and down. "Guess I shouldn't bother with a shrimp like you then," smirked one of them, sizing up the black-haired guy.

"I wouldn't be so sure," the guy replied, and then punched him.

It was a hard punch, straight to the gut. The guy went right down, completely and utterly winded, as his friend stared on in disbelief.

"Now, now, Urameshi," said the ginger one with a straight face, "pick on someone your own size." He went up to the second crony and made a big show of measuring him with his hand. "You seem to be about my size," he concluded, and then floored him with a well-placed right hook.

My 'saviours', their work done, turned to me. "Are you all right?" asked the guy called Urameshi, unnecessarily.

"Of course," I said simply. "They didn't touch me." I regarded the boys with some suspicion. Most of the guys I knew were, to put it plainly, pricks. "Who are you?"

"Yusuke Urameshi, and you're welcome," said the black haired guy.

"But I didn't thank-" I began, and then realised. "Oh, ha ha. Thank you very much for 'rescuing' me. I have to go now, I'm late." I really was grateful to them for saving my neck, but I didn't want them to think I was some kind of Damsel in Distress; in my haste not to sound all gushing and girly, I came over as rather standoffish. Oh well, too late to change that now.

"Hold up," said Yusuke, as I turned and began to walk away. "This is Kuwabara, by the way. How did you do that thing with the snowball?" he added casually, as if he were asking me for a recipe or something. I froze in my tracks. Did he see that? What do I do?

"What thing?" I asked innocently.

Suddenly two more boys were approaching us. They seemed to know the first two. One had red hair and the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen, and the other one had black spiky hair, and his eyes were piercing and red.

"Okay… who are all you guys?" I asked nervously. I'm surrounded!

"Oh, we're just new here," said the red-haired guy. Yusuke shot him a glance, but didn't say anything. "I'm Kurama, and this is Hiei."

"Hn," was all Hiei said.

"Articulate," I commented. The boys looked surprised, and then laughed. Kuwabara seemed to be laughing especially loudly, just to annoy Hiei. Hiei glared at him.

"Say, do you want to come someplace with us after school?" asked Yusuke. I was alarmed to say the least.

"No thank you," I declined quickly, and walked off, breaking into a run as the bell rang.

Kurama, Yusuke, Hiei and Kuwabara watched the girl go.

"We didn't even ask what her name was," said Kuwabara. He hit Yusuke over the head. "Idiot! You scared her off!"

"I didn't, your ugly mug did," retorted Yusuke, and the two began fighting again.

"It appears she's not going to make this easy for us," sighed Kurama, watching the girl reach the other side of the field.

"Of course not. She's an idiot human," Hiei replied scathingly. "But she'll need to learn to control those ice powers before she does something stupid with them."

Kurama nodded; not because he agreed with the wording of Hiei's comment, so much as the sentiment behind it. Koenma would need to be informed about the girl; they would need to find out a lot more about her, and there were things she would need to find out about, too.

"You do realise you will be the one to do it," Hiei continued.

Kurama glanced over and Yusuke and Kuwabara, who were still brawling and shouting childish insults, and tried to imagine either of them imparting life-changing knowledge about the existence of other worlds to a young part-demon. His lips twitched slightly as he imagined how that might go. Then he looked over at Hiei, and the smirk grew as he imagined Hiei trying to do the same thing.

"Yes, I think it had better be me," he agreed.

Author's Notes (2009): Please review, so that I know I'm not talking to thin air here ;3