"Let's play a game."
Botan shivered. His voice felt so cold, and while she didn't believe the demon pursuing her deserved to get off scot free (he tried to kill her, for Pete's sake!), she didn't believe he deserved the callousness Hiei had in store for him.
"It's a simple game," the fire-demon explained, "even a fool like you could play."
"And if I play," the demon spoke, his voice gravelly. "What will my prize be?"
"The ferry-girl."
Botan gasped. Did she hear right? Was he really going to…? "H-hiei?"
Hiei didn't spare her a single glance, blood red eyes remained focused on his soon-to-be-dead prey. The fire-demon smirked, clawed hands reaching up to undo the bandana covering his Jagan Eye.
"The game," Hiei said, "is a simple hunting game. The objective will be to find the ferry-girl before time runs out. We will start here." Hiei dug the heel of his boot into the ground, making a hole.
"Idiot! The ferry-girl's right there," the demon shouted, pointing at Botan, who shrunk back, trying to hide behind her bangs.
Hiei arched an eyebrow. "Is she?" And with a snap of his clawed fingers, Botan was gone, traces of her vanilla scent lingering in the air. Hiei waited a few minutes, before a timer (small, round, and red in color) appeared in his open palm (it was a device Hiei stole from Yusuke some time ago).
"We have 10 minutes to find her. Who ever finds her first wins. No weaponry is allowed. Simple, right?"
The demon chuckled. "Is that all? Ha! I'll find the wench and when I do, I'll force you to watch as I eat her heart out!"
Hiei remained neutral, keeping his inner demon from coming out and ripping the foolish imp apart. Instead, he cracked his claws. He kept the fact that this was a shadow game to himself.
Hiei clicked his tongue. "Game start."
So I just finished watching yu-gi-oh season 0 and ohmygod I absolutely loved it.
Yami Yuugi is probably my absolute favorite character. He plays these darkness games with bad people (people who typically hurt Yuugi or Anzu or anyone close to the two), leaving them tormented and broken.
Season 0 Yami Yuugi kinda reminded me of Hiei and that's where this idea came from.