"What the hell, Koenma?" Yusuke griped. "Didn't we do this mission like four years ago?"
"Did you think that Tarukine's gang was the only group of humans who deal in demon exploitation?" Koenma asked.
"But tons of them died in the whole Dark Tournament thing," Yusuke pointed out.
"That was only one crime ring," Koenma explained impatiently. "These people are from a different group entirely."
"Regardless, I have no interest in leaving my post in the Makai for this particular endeavor," Hiei announced.
Kurama raised a brow at his friend, but said nothing. Kuwabara, on the other hand, asked, "What, don't deem this important enough for you, Shorty?"
"I have no interest in freeing an ice apparition from her human prison. You should be more than capable of doing this yourselves."
"Um… Koenma, sir?" Yukina piped up. The group of fighters turned to look at her in surprise, not realizing the young ice maiden had stayed in Genkai's meeting room once the Rekai prince had arrived. "Who is the ice apparition this group is holding captive?"
"Her name is Asako."
Yukina gasped in horror. Hiei's attention was immediately piqued at his twin's distress. "You know her?"
"Yes," she replied shakily. "She was my best friend growing up. How long have they had her?!"
"Sources indicate she has been missing from the Ice Domain for three years."
"Oh my…" Yukina muttered. "That's… that's so long! I can't imagine the awful things they've probably done to her, trying to get her to cry…"
Koenma nodded and said, "We suspect that by this point that have broken her and have kept her as a continuous source of tear stones."
Yukina shook her head in disagreement. "No, Asako won't have broken."
"How do you know, Yukina?" asked Kuwabara.
"That is a long time to endure whatever practices those criminals can come up with to harvest the tear stones," Kurama agreed.
"In the Ice Domain, we are trained not to cry. We go through pain tolerance training, emotion control training, torture training… Asako was the top of our class at everything. There wasn't even any competition. No… I'm positive she has just been enduring their torture this entire time." The ice apparition turned to Hiei, her eyes pleading. "Please go with them, Hiei. If they've managed to capture and detain her all this time, then they're strong. Yusuke will need as much help as possible to get Asako out of there."
Hiei was silent a moment before breathing a sigh. He still didn't care about the other ice apparition, but if she was important to his sister, he would help. "Fine. I'll go."
"Thank you, Hiei!" said Yukina with a wide smile.
"Now that we're all on board," Koenma continued, not bothering to hide his irritation. "The guy heading this gang is called Lee Minato."
The Rekai ruler lifted a photo of a fairly nondescript looking man. He had brown hair that was closely cropped on the sides and a bit longer on top. He had beady grey eyes and a sneer that looked permanent. The four fighters committed the image to memory.
"This is the most recent photo we have of Asako," Koenma said, lifting another image.
"Wow, Yukina, you ice apparitions must all come from an attractive gene pool," Yusuke commented.
Hiei had to admit that the Ice Maiden in the picture was stunning. Long silver hair fell around her angular face. She had deep sapphire doe eyes that would have been more attractive if not for their cold emptiness. Her mouth was small, but her lips were full and elegantly arched. She was naturally beautiful, but the clench of her jaw, the frown on her lips, and look in her eyes indicated she was just like the rest of the wretched women of the Ice Domain.
"Asako," Yukina breathed, crimson eyes on the photo of her childhood friend.
"Don't worry, Yukina. We'll save her!" Kuwabara assured.
"I will conjure a portal that will bring you a few miles away from the gang's hideout. It's on a densely forested island, so our intelligence on their security is limited."
Yusuke shrugged and said, "No problem. We can handle some human thugs and their hired demon help."
"Let's not be too cocky, Yusuke," Kurama chided.
Hiei agreed with the detective, but instead asked, "Can we go now? I'd like to finish this so I can return to the Makai."
Koenma nodded. "I'll open the portal outside. Once you have retrieved Asako, call and I will create a portal to bring you back here."
The four fighters nodded their understanding and stood, ready to begin the mission.
"Morning, Ice Whore."
Asako gave no indication that she had heard the man. She remained sitting ramrod straight on the floor of her prison, legs folded beneath her. Her silence had long since fazed her captor, though, and he merely moved to stand in front of her.
"You will break someday," Minato promised. "There's no hope for you, so long as you refuse to cry. You will spend the rest of your life in here, starving, thirsty and sleep deprived. I will keep coming up with new ways to inflict pain on you. But if you cry, all that can change."
The ice maiden said nothing, and continued to stare ahead, unblinking. The crime lord whistled and in came one of his demon minions dressed in an ice resistant suit. The demon carried a bag with him that he set down beside the female. Minato backed out of the room, allowing the hydraulic door to lock back into place. Asako let her energy fill the room, freezing everything. She knew it wouldn't have any deterring effect considering the demon's suit, but she couldn't simply sit there and take whatever was in store for her.
"Today, I want blood," the demon announced with a twisted grin. He squatted in front of her and opened the bag. From it, he withdrew jagged blades, a lighter, and an assortment of other tools. He picked up a small knife and flicked the flame to life at the tip of the lighter. He passed the flame back and forth across the blade several times, heating up the metal. With a grin, the demon pressed the hot blade flat against the side of her neck.
"You Ice Maidens are bizarre creatures," he mused. He pulled the blade away, leaving a long, triangular shaped burn behind. He began passing the blade over the flame again. "Not a sound or even a flinch. But can you last the entire time it takes me to carve you up?"
"I forgot how much I hate Cultivated Humans!" Kuwabara roared in frustration.
"I think the end is finally in sight," said Kurama, lashing his whip and taking out several more of the creatures.
Hiei turned to look over his shoulder at the doorway into the next room. "Incoming!"
Demons poured into the room, flying at the four fighters.
"Oh, come on!" Yusuke shouted his frustration before firing off his Shotgun.
Asako kept her eyes trained ahead despite the hand threaded through her hair pulling her head to the side. The position allowed her torturer to run his tongue up the side of her neck. He growled in appreciation and continued to swipe his tongue across the rivulets of blood he had drawn. Moving until his lips brushed her ear, he muttered, "Time to keep cutting."
He yanked her hair back, forcing her to the floor. Asako didn't react. She watched the scene as if from above. Her eyes travelled over the too thin frame of the pale woman below her. Her skin was covered in scars, bruises and newly opened wounds. Her silver hair was a matted, tangled mess. She watched as the demon pulled another blade from his bag. He carefully positioned the tip of the knife over the left side of her chest and began retracing an old, thick scar. The ice apparition couldn't remember what the woman looked like without scars.
"Well, that was more trouble than this woman could possibly be worth," Hiei complained, wiping his sword clean on the cloak of the demon at his feet.
"She's Yukina's friend," Kurama reminded.
Hiei rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. The four fighters made their way deeper into the building, allowing Kuwabara to take the lead given his attuned spiritual awareness. They had been walking for some time when they finally saw the silhouette of a figure up ahead in the darkened corridor.
"Hey!" Yusuke shouted. The figure froze then darted into a room. The four ran ahead and stopped in front of a heavy, locked door. With one hard kick, Yusuke had the door tumbling to the ground. A blast of arctic air hit them and a demon in a bizarre looking protective suit flew forward.
"Hiei, you get the girl!" Yusuke ordered, dodging a punch.
"Have the oaf do it, since he loves women so much," Hiei snapped.
Kurama flicked his whip to block an attack aimed his way and said, "You're the only one of us who is resistant to ice, Hiei."
"Fine," he growled and slipped into the room while his comrades took down the demon in the hallway. The human, Minato, was in the room, standing over the ice apparition with a gun pointed at her.
"Don't come any closer or the girl gets it!" he warned. Hiei flitted forward, knocking the weapon from the human's hand. He reached out and grabbed the man by the collar. Immediately, static crackled on his skin and he let out a pained groan. Tendrils of smoke escaped from between his fingers. Summoning his strength, he pushed through the pain and threw the human out the door into the hallway with a simple warning for his friends, "Don't touch his clothes!"
He cast his gaze down at his hand and found that it was terribly burned. The fire apparition tried to flex and curl his fingers, but merely winced in pain. He hoped this was an injury Yukina could heal, because the damage was pretty severe. There was also a strange tightness behind his breastbone. Ignoring the unexplainable feeling, Hiei turned his attention to the ice maiden. She had pushed herself to her feet and had backed herself into the corner of the room. Her hands were raised in a defensive fighting position.
"We're not here to hurt you," he assured.
"Who are you?"
"We work for Koenma."
"No. Who are you," she demanded, her voice sounding frightened. "His clothes have hundreds of tags sewn into them that burn ice maidens. It was a way to make sure I couldn't harm him. But you…"
Hiei glared at her and snapped, "Don't overthink it. Let's go."
"No."
"You don't have a choice in the matter. Especially considering you've cost me my hand."
He moved in closer to her, about to toss her over his shoulder, when her hands shot out and latched onto his shoulders. Their eyes met and he gave her his fiercest glare. Her sapphire eyes gazed blankly into his, before there was a sparkle of realization. "I know of you…"
"No. You don't," he assured with a growl.
"Your eyes," Asako muttered. "They're just like hers… Yukina's. You're her brother."
"You have no idea what you're talking about," he hissed, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her closer. "Let's go. And don't bring up such nonsense again, or I will – "
"Not threatening our ward, are you, Hiei?" Kurama asked in a bemused tone.
"Not unless she forces me to," he responded. He asked the ice maiden, "How much strength do you have? You look like death."
"Hiei," Kurama shook his head in exasperation.
"I'm not going with you," she said. "Just let me go."
"I told you, that's not an option," Hiei snapped.
Her aura glowed blue around her and the temperature in the room immediately dropped. Her eyes iced over and she said, "If you take me, you will never be able to make me cry. Save yourself the trouble."
"We're not trying to take you prisoner," Kurama reassured, raising his hands in defense. "We were sent here to free you."
"You've done that. Let me go."
"You're in no condition to be out on your own. Look at yourself," Hiei snarled. "Any low class demon could take you down."
"I'll take my chances," she insisted, snow beginning to swirl around her palms.
His patience officially gone, Hiei moved in closer, backing her into the wall. "I'm not dealing with your dramatics. You're right; I am her brother. So just try to freeze me."
Asako paused, and he took advantage of it, tossing her onto his back. Her arms locked around his neck and her legs around his hips. "Was it really so hard to admit?"
Hiei faltered, realizing how quickly she had deduced how to use his temper against him. She knew his impatience would prompt him to concede to what she already knew to prove her ineffectualness. Ice maidens truly were cold, calculating creatures.
"Oh my gosh, Asako!"
"Yukina?" There was a shadow of surprise on the silver haired woman's face.
Yukina wrapped her friend up in a hug and the group soon heard tear stones clattering to the floor. Through her tears, she managed, "Asako, what did they do to you?!"
Hiei had to admit that in the brighter light of Genkai's temple, the newly freed ice maiden's torture was evident. Her skin was sickly pale and littered with scars. Some were from cuts, some from burns. A fresh burn shone on her neck and there were a few thin cuts on her throat. She was on the edge of emaciation, which was clearly visible considering her only clothes were a thin pair of shorts and a cropped tank top. Perhaps worst of all was a cut on her chest, clearly an old scar that had been split open innumerable times, and once more recently. It took the form of a heart, carved out above where the organ resided.
"Most things," Asako answered blankly. She blinked once before looking at Yukina. "Could I bother you for something to drink?"
"Oh, of course! I'll get some food, too," Yukina agreed quickly. She hurried from the room and Asako glanced at the four fighters before sinking down next to the coffee table. Her expression was arranged to be carefully blank, but Hiei assumed she was uneasy based on her general lack of eye contact.
Yukina returned with tea and a platter of steamed buns she must have made previously and reheated. The boys took up seats at the table as well. Yukina sat beside Asako and Hiei sat on her other side. Kuwabara sat on Yukina's other side and Kurama and Yusuke sat opposite the ice maidens. The silver haired ice maiden lifted the teacup to her lips and took several sips.
"I hate to be intrusive, Asako, but Koenma will want a full report on what happened in the time you were held by Minato and his men," said Kurama apologetically.
The ice apparition looked at him vacantly for a moment before reaching for a bun. She nibbled it slowly, drank several more sips of tea, and then sighed. "What do you want to know?"
"How did they capture you?" Yusuke asked.
"I left the Ice Domain and there were a bunch of demon thugs hanging around in the forest below where the Domain floats. The crime ring had several camps set up in the forest full of demons waiting to stumble upon an ice apparition. They didn't know exactly where the Domain floats, or how to get there, but they had hoped one would venture out. They overwhelmed and captured me, then brought me to the building where you found me. I don't know how long ago that was, though."
Her brows knit together as if she was troubled by this, but her face remained otherwise expressionless. "Minato told me that my time there could either be comfortable or painful. He said that I could live comfortably in my room with clothing, regular meals and whatever else I may want if I just provided them with tear stones. Alternately, they would make me cry. Little did he know that a third option would hold true; I never cried."
Hiei was surprised as her lips twitched up into a smile. It was brief, but it spoke of the pride she felt in herself for her resistance. Kuwabara asked, "How did you manage that? It looks like they were awful to you!"
"Ice apparitions are trained not to cry, no matter the pain. It's really hard to break us," Yukina answered. "Asako was always the toughest apparition in our age group."
"I didn't have much choice," she shrugged.
"Why is it so important that you all learn to do that, though?" asked Yusuke.
"It keeps us safe," Asako said. "If people capture an ice apparition and can make her cry, then why shouldn't they go out and capture another and get double the tear stones? And when those two bring in a fortune, why not double that? But if one of us is captured and gives up nothing, then why bother capturing more? We're all unbreakable, so there's no point."
Yusuke nodded. "Makes sense. Still, that's rough for kids."
The silver haired woman merely shrugged again. Kurama then asked, "What were the conditions like for you while you were held by Minato? What did he do to try to get you to cry?"
"Well, it's pretty evident that they withheld food," she said. Her voice was flat, so Hiei wasn't sure if she was annoyed by Kurama's questions or if she was trying to jest. "They also withheld water and clothes, and disrupted my sleep cycles.
"They tried just about everything to make me cry. They beat me, choked me to near black out, burned me, used electric shocks and acid, nearly drowned me, cut me, you name it. They killed a human and a demon in front of me, cut off chunks of my hair, tied me up in painful positions … The only thing they didn't do was any form of sexual assault. Not for lack of trying, mind you. They just ran out of volunteers after a few unfortunate frostbite incidents."
"Oh, Asako," Yukina breathed, pitching herself forward and wrapping the other ice maiden in a tight embrace. "You shouldn't have had to go through all that."
Hiei had to admit that it was impressive that the woman in front of him had endured such a level of suffering without giving into the enemy. It made him angry that some pathetic humans and demons could spend three years doing that to someone, hoping one day they would succeed in breaking her down. Even considering all the bad things he had done in his lifetime, he couldn't fathom methodically trying to destroy a person.
"So… what now?" Asako asked, looking around the table.
"Now you stay here and recover," Yusuke answered.
"Yes, I'll heal whatever injuries I can," Yukina added. Her hands began to glow blue and she slowly worked them over Asako's body. Hiei watched some minor cuts and bruises disappear, but his sister's healing couldn't touch the scars. When she finished, the teal haired maiden asked, "Do any of you guys need healing?"
Hiei nodded. He withdrew his burnt hand from his pocket and presented it to Yukina. She cradled it between her palms. He could feel his skin repairing itself, but the uncomfortable feeling in his chest didn't go away. Regardless, when she finished, he stood. "I've been away from the Makai long enough."
He turned to leave but stopped when Asako said, "Don't you think that's dangerous after touching those tags?"
"No. Yukina fixed my hand, so there's no reason for me to stay,"
"Well, those tags have an effect on demonic energy. They lock it up. Can't you feel it?"
Hiei didn't respond, not wanting to concede that she had provided helpful information.
Asako continued, "There's no telling how long before you'll be able to access your demon energy. Last time they used those tags on me, I couldn't use mine for nearly a month."
Hiei's brow twitched.
"So then… Perhaps Hiei should stay here until his hand heals completely and his energy is usable," suggested Kurama.
"No chance," the irritated fire demon retorted. "Even without my energy I can easily hold my own."
"Still, someone should stay here as protection until we're sure the threat has been entirely eliminated. It's protocol. And if Hiei's demon energy is jacked…" Yusuke trailed off, leaving his implication hanging.
Hiei had a sinking suspicion that he was about to be very unhappy with his comrades.
Thank you so much for reading! I'm glad to be back with another HieixOC story. This one is already done and edited, and I plan to put out at least three chapters each week. As always, I own nothing, and appreciate all Likes , Favorites, Follows, and Reviews, and I will be replying to all reviews.
-Silver