Author's Note: This is my first Hiei fanfiction story; he is my all-time favorite…and I LOVE HIS CHARACTER so much. I would love to receive criticisms to know your opinion. I am not perfect…so help me! I hope you'll like seeing another side of the characters as the story flows!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It was written and illustrated by my idol Yoshihiro Togashi. I only own Sayuri and a little bit of the plot.

Chapter 1: Dreams and Awakening

"Free me…" The voice was echoing in Hiei's mind. He was treading the cold and snowy path of a place where he first breathed into life. He cursed and shivered, all he wanted was to get out of this wretched place that held one of the most painful memories he had. If he can freely exercise his desires, he would have burned the place to irreversible meltdown. His midnight black hair that defies the gravity is being blown back down by the strong blizzard. He held is new cloak closer. He needed a change of cloak as he already outgrew the old one he had. He was now standing at a height of 5'10. His new cloak is still black but is lined with white and grey on the edges and falls right under his knees.

"Search for me…I have been waiting centuries for you…" The same voice was egging him and it's starting to get louder. His path was put into halt when a huge glacier stood in its elegance in front of him. He sees talismans and warding around the glacier as if to keep something away or keep something from going out. He gazes deep inside and sees a figure trapped. He could not make out the figure but it has a form of a woman. He felt his arm tingle; his dragon was reacting and begging to be released. Alas, the dragon freed itself under his control and smashed against the glacier, melting everything in its path. The steam rise after the onslaught and he saw a silhouette floating amidst. Once the chemical reaction from fire and water cleared, he saw a woman clad in a beautiful pearl white kimono with deep blue printed flowers which was held together with a blue obi. Her silky silver hair was glistening, free flowing until her waists—it was teasing the wind, not a flaw not a curve on them. Her face was small and was edged by her straight bangs that covered her forehead until her eyebrows. He can clearly see that this woman was breathtaking. Her lids slowly opened and revealed the most dazzling icy blue orbs but it held no emotion in them. He realized that this being though beautiful was one of them. A Koorime.

Her tantalizing blue orbs slowly locked with his crimson ones. The coldness vanished and was replaced with unfathomable longing. She descended upon the snow and he sees her ankles slowly embedding the surface. She approached him walking then picking up pace, reaching of him as if she feared of losing him again. Just before she reaches him…he woke up.

This was not the first time he dreamt of her. It has been months since she invaded his slumber, his world that should have been his refuge and it bothered him. He isn't the type to meddle on things he deemed not worthy of his time but having to dream about this woman annoyed him greatly. He found himself at the foot of the mountain sighing as he reluctantly leaped through every branch of trees; moving high up the slopes covered in massive snow. With his inhuman speed, he was able to reach the Koorime village. He settled on a high tree branch and beckoned his power of sight—the Jagan eye. His Jagan eye searched for every face of the Koorime in the village to find that woman. He decided to run her through with his sword as soon as he finds out that she's a threat and is only luring him to this god forsaken village of women. Although, it's hard to tell time as the village never basked under the sun's radiance, he does notice that his surrounding's slowly engulfed by the dimness of the night. He closed his eyes and slowly recalled his dreams of her, trying to take whatever information he could gather just to find this woman. His concentration was abruptly disrupted with a beeping sound that seemed to come from his pocket. He opened the communicator Koenma gave him. After the screen cleared, he saw the toddler version of Koenma peeking as if he's going to pop out of the small screen.

"Hiei! This is urgent; we recently detected a phenomenon in Koorime Mountain." Just as Koenma said, Hiei felt a pulsing energy coming from his left. He gazed and found it's radiating from the peak of the mountain right above the village.

"I noticed that you are near, please check this out and eliminate if it is a threat. Kurama is coming in 10 minutes." Koenma continued and the screen went back to blank.

"Damn it!" He grudgingly leaped from the branch and travelled towards the peak where the unusual energy emitted. Just when he reached the apex, his own energy pulsated. He became paralyzed and was immediately brought to his knees. He was aware of this feeling—in his dream. He watched his arm tremble and dark fire is starting to form. The snow under his palms began to melt faster and burying his arms to the melted snow.

"No…stop." He tried to command it using his Jagan eye. He removed his cloak and watched the warding bandages being forcefully obliterated by his dragon.

"I said stop!" The dragon sprouted from his arm and shoot up to the dark skies. The force of the release shook the mountain and an avalanche formed; raging towards the village.

"No…" He was suddenly worried of the tragedy that will befall on the cursed village until he found that it was enveloped with glacial shield. He almost forgot that the elders of the village were also strong ice demons.

His eyes followed his dragon as it slowly descended towards the familiar mound a few feet away from him. His eyes grew when he saw the familiar glacier. It was the glacier from his dreams. Moments after his dragon crashed on to the glacier, he just stood there with his mouth gaping and waiting for the onslaught to end. And just like his dream, he watched the steam clear and waited for what arises. Instead of a beautiful woman, he was suddenly pushed back with a force he is so familiar with yet he is unsure of. It was similar with his black dragon in a way but also different. He was greeted with a white energy that seemed to loom and tangle with his own. Once he was able to get a full view he saw his darkness flames dragon entwined with a pure white dragon. In a brief moment both energies dissipated and he felt his dragon return and calmed. He can feel contentment and ease being radiated from his own power. He grabbed his cloak and tossed it on his right shoulder as he made his way through the rummage. Steam was prickling his face as he gazed around only to find an unconscious woman in the middle of the mess. He reached for her and noticed that her kimono was damp; he eased his cloak and covered her body before scooping her to his arms. Kurama arrived just in time for Hiei to ask him to contact Koenma.

"Koenma, we found a girl where the aura was emitting from. She's unconscious." Kurama held the communicator towards the unconscious Koorime in Hiei's arms.

"Bring her back here." Koenma abruptly said and opened a portal for Hiei and Kurama. The two turned to the gaping portal and disappeared from the mountain.

Just as they left, two cloaked figure arrived at the peak. They started looking around the rubble of ice and snow. One of them raised his hands and signaled to move together.

"She is not here. Her scent was here but I can no longer trace any of her presence." A huge cloaked man spoke with his deep rumbling voice.

"We will have to let Master know." A relatively smaller figure said with a feminine voice. With that both of them disappeared from the site.

-o-

The Spirit World's medical team rushed to gather the unconscious Koorime from Hiei's arms. Her slender petite figure was laid on to a stretcher and she was rushed to one of their medical facilities. Kurama and Hiei were summoned to Koenma's office immediately. They reached the tall double door and gently pushed them open. They were greeted by a muffled sound behind heaps of paperwork. A toddler popped out to the sides and motioned them to take a seat.

"Take a look at this." Koenma grabbed what seemed to be a remote control and a huge flat TV descended in front of Hiei and Kurama. The picture played and they found the same woman standing on the screen. She was walking with another ice maiden like any typical girls with their friend. Then she was suddenly brought to her knees begging her friend to run away. She was glowing and for a moment there was a blinding light along with the appearance of a great white dragon. The elders of the village came rushing towards her and were chanting the sealing spell.

"Seal her! Do not let her get away."

"I can't believe it, the prophecy came true. The Heretic!"

"We can't let them meet! We have to make sure none of our maidens' fall for the cursed fire tribe!"

"We must prevent the prophecy! We must kill the imiko."

She was rampaging and destroying everything she could. However, her eyes were blank and it was as if she was possessed. Hiei felt a tug inside him. They called her heretic—she was an ice maiden like them but was treated like an abomination—like him. The scene ended with her being trapped in a frozen barrier. Koenma flipped the remote and the TV returned to its original hidden compartment.

"We tried so hard to figure out what prophecy the ice maidens were talking about. However, this happened five thousand years ago. She is ancient." Koenma sighed at a loss of information.

"Have you discussed this with the Koorime elders?" Kurama laced both of his fingers and seemed to be in a deep thought.

"No, I have not. I fear for what they might do to the woman. As far as I'm concerned, all of this was not her intention. She seemed to have abruptly lost control of the power she may not be aware of." Koenma walked back to his chair.

"She might be dangerous." Kurama added which sparked an idea within Koenma.

"I have requested the medical team to place a sealing brace on her wrists. However, she is going to be defenseless from every demon attack. Right now, she's merely as weak as a normal human. I wanted to assign Yusuke in guarding her but he won't come back in 2 weeks. I am afraid that he's still in honeymoon stage with Keiko. I can't risk their marriage for protecting a very beautiful ice maiden as that." Koenma placed his hand on his chin.

"How about you, Kurama? Can you take care of her for the mean time?" Koenma placed both of his palms on his desk and leaned over to Kurama.

"I must apologize, Koenma—but I have to deal with my mother's recent hospitalization. I can't look after her at the moment. Please reconsider Hiei for it." Kurama glanced at his three eyed friend. Koenma is aware of this circumstance.

"I am avoiding assigning this to him because of the fact that Hiei has something against the ice maidens. However, if you accept Hiei—I'll be in your debt and I promise to double your pay." There was clear hesitation on Koenma's voice.

"Only for 2 weeks, reassign it to the detective after." With that, Hiei left and went to the medical facility where they kept her. It went smoothly much as to Koenma's surprise. However, Hiei has his own agenda of finding out who this woman is and what is her purpose with the prophecy that mentioned an imiko.

"That went surprisingly well for Hiei. Ah, if only I can guard that beauty myself." Koenma and Kurama just chuckled.

-o-

Hiei was walking towards the room where they kept her. His left hand held the knob and twisted the door open. He let himself in and dragged his lazy feet towards the foot of her bed. He gazed at her sleeping figure and placed both of his hands in his pocket. She's centuries old and she seemed to look the same. Only the strongest demons can remain young looking or rather this may be the effects of her body being frozen. His gaze travelled from the messy bangs caressing her forehead until her pinkish small lips. He clearly remembered they were pale and blue when he found her sprawled on the snow bed. There was a subtle rise and fall of her chest and color starting to come back on her pretty face. He felt that tug again, his brows furrowed and he cursed. He needs to figure out what is causing him these unwanted tugs from within. Before he could leave the room, he heard a muffled moan. He saw how gently her eyelids flutter to open. Her slender hands were trying to shield her blue orbs from the blinding rays of the bright lights. He watched her slowly struggle to sit and grab for anything she can hold on for support.

She can feel her world spinning as the bright lights harass her eyes which had long been closed into slumber. She felt her body ached all over as she scuffle for anything she could reach. She felt the cold steel framing her bed and grasp it to pull herself up. As she steadied herself, she realized she was not alone in the room. A man, clad in black and gray was standing at the foot of her bed with his head tilting to one side. She can feel those red orbs piercing and burning holes in to her blue ones. Her eyes grew wide in surprise.

"You…" She said it as if she recognized him—as if she knew him. "You keep invading my dreams."

Hiei did not utter a word and slowly approached her with his hands in his pocket. She did not flinch despite the killing aura the man is emitting. He reached to grip the hair right at the top of her nape and forced her to look deep into those seething crimson eyes. She instinctively grabbed the hand that's assaulting her hair as if to comfort the pain.

"Do not make a fool out of me onna." He said as she saw his forehead glow. He telepathically sent her visions of his dream; letting her know that it was her that is bothering him and not the other way around.

"Hiei, what are you doing?!" Koenma rushed towards the two now appearing as his mature self. Hiei let the koorime go and paced towards the chair on the far corner of the room; dropping his body to the soft cushion. Koenma sighed and approached the ice maiden. She was easing herself back after Hiei's assault.

"I'm sorry, Miss." She looked up to meet a gentle pair of brown eyes but she was immediately distracted with his weird "JR" tattoo etched on his forehead. "He will be your guard and most certainly, he can protect you. He's just a little moody. I am Koenma, prince of the Spirit World. May I know your name?"

"My name's Sayuri. What do you mean guard? Why do I need a guard? I need to go back home." She slowly swings her legs to the side and attempted to get off the bed when her knees gave in. She shut her eyes, expecting for her body to slam on the cold floor when she realized her palms were resting on a broad chest. She looked up and locked gazes with the crimson eyed demon again. Hiei, as much as he hated it—he seemed to automatically launch to her rescue. He towered over her small frame, intimidating her and giving her a nudge to go back to bed before he snaps. She barely reached 5 ft. and she can clearly feel the difference between them. She immediately crawled back to her sorry excuse of a bed. Hiei slumped back to the chair where he was from and allowed Koenma to explain things to the ice maiden.

"I am sorry but it has been five centuries since you were forced into slumber. You lost control of your latent power." Koenma eased himself on the edge of her bed and waiting for her reaction.

"I think, I'm starting to remember when Emi and I were walking—that's when everything turned black." Tears suddenly fell from her eyes as she now realized that she almost caused destruction to everything she had loved.

"Do you know of the prophecy that the elders spoke of when they sealed you?" Koenma was careful not to stir anything from the ice maiden.

"I'm sorry, I am not aware of any prophecy. So, the village decided to seal me off from the world…have I hurt anyone?" Her voice was weak and trembling.

"No…you were sealed before you could destroy the village with your rampage." He put a hand on her shoulders as if to comfort her from the scars she was just made aware of. "Sayuri, you will have to go into hiding for now as I fear that demons may be after your life—more so, I need you to be away from Makai. We're sending you to Genkai's temple."

"I only agreed protecting her and did not hear about this short notice trip!" Koenma can feel Hiei's anger from where he sat. He sweat dropped as he raised his hands and try to bargain with him.

"Well, she's safer on the other side since only lower class demons can pass through and you can easily contain any situation." Koenma tried to reason with the fire demon. "Besides, easy kill easy mission and you can go back to Makai after two weeks without dropping a sweat!"

"Hn." It appears that Koenma got Hiei's best interest.

"I've placed restraining bracelets around your wrist to manage your powers. It's seems that you are holding one of the ancient dragon powers within you. I'll research more about it to see what else we could do for you. For now please be under Hiei's care." Koenma turned to the ice maiden who seemed to be bewildered as to what happened to her the past centuries.

-o-

Their trip to Ningenkai was silent and quick. They arrived at Genkai's temple in the wee hours of the evening. Sayuri was in awed at the scenery behold on the other side of the portal. She held her breath as she took her first step into the human world. The moon was high up in the sky and the stars were glittering. If there is one thing you can appreciate in Genkai's temple that's perched up the mountains—it's far from city lights. The moonlight played with the natural color of the forest. It seemed magical, almost ethereal to her sights. The once lush green that you can appreciate in the morning is now in hues of blue. The fireflies that reflect their light on the nearby pond made the temple look so romantic. Basked in this breathtaking setting; it would have been perfect if you were with the one you love. The thought made her look at the fire demon she was following—he seemed different in her dreams. She watched how his upper back muscles ripped through the fabric of his cloak. She watched every swing of his strong arms and how it felt when he held her as she stubbornly tried to leave the bed. His other arm was holding both of their bags propping them on to his shoulders. Her gaze went to his strong graceful strides and how the tall grass seemed to part as he made his way through. He has a well-toned physique worthy to be nearly called a god…a War god to be exact. She remembered how beautiful those crimson eyes despite the dark emotions it held. The firm line of his mouth which never seemed to smile was sexy. She agreed that he is quite handsome but managed to shake the thought. She sighed and was made aware that despite how physically perfect he looks—he is no-where near a gentleman. Her brows furrowed when she recalled how he held her hair and forced her to face him—it hurt. He never even bothered to utter a single word to her while they were travelling. "Asshole…" She cursed inside her mind.

"Onna…make up your mind if you want to drool over me or curse me." Hiei, the ever so proud demon had to burst her bubbles and embarrass her. Her eyes grew wide of shock and humiliation—he was literally aware that she was gawking at his features.

"You…read my mind?! That's rude!" Sayuri's face distorted in to an angry scowl while she pointed a finger at him.

"Says the one who called me an asshole." Hiei scoffed at her stressing the last word which made her face hot and it's probably beet red if it weren't for the dark that conceals it.

"Well…I-I don't care if you're the War God wannabe but your personality is a total turn off! Your appeal does not affect me one bit!" She stammered then crossed her arms and sticks her tongue out towards him.

"Hn." His grunt was more like letting her know he doesn't care of her opinion. Before she could say another word, a small old woman came from the temple to greet them.

"Hello Hiei. You may put your belongings inside." She watched and gaped as the old woman greeted the fire demon casually and he returned with a nod. Her hair has a strange shade of pink and gray. "You must be Sayuri…the little lily." The old woman chuckled as she turns her gaze from the ice maiden to the lilies on her pond.

"Hello, Genkai-sama—thank you for letting me stay in your temple. Please take care of me." Sayuri gave a low bow to the master of the temple.

"Just call me Genkai. There's another ice maiden in the temple—I'm pretty sure you'd be happy to see her. Her name is Yukina, Hiei's sister." Genkai lead her inside the temple.

"Hiei has a sister and she's an ice maiden too? How is that possible?" She asked looking intently at the psychic. She could imagine that she might be as moody as her brother—probably a splitting image.

"It is not my story to tell my dear. Now come in, it's getting pretty late and I know you're in the process of regaining your health." She brushed Sayuri off and let her choose one of the rooms in the temple. Before she could even pick one, Hiei came around the corner and told her where he left her bag.

She counted from one to three trying to contain her irritation towards the fire demon who never seemed to fail from getting under her skin. She slid open the shoji door of her room and was a bit surprised that the door was modernized and it was heavy unlike the typical shoji doors of the old. It seems Genkai likes to preserve tradition but put a touch of new technology. She made her way to another door in her room and found that there's a bathroom within. She looked at the weird furnishings with knobs and a seat that has a hole and water in it. She seemed to realize that one of them is a typical tub but there's a weird long snake like metal with a wide round end filled with holes. She tilted her head on to the sides and made her way back to the bedroom. She opened another shoji door and was lead to the veranda. Genkai's temple was formed around a beautiful cherry blossom tree. Sayuri guess that the tree is quite old judging from its size and the wide range of the branches that blooms. Her hand reached out to a stray petal floating gently towards her. She opened her palm and caught the perfect heart shaped petal. She smiled and was thankful at this beautiful place. She never knew that the world of humans held such wonder. She held the tiny petal between her thumb and her index finger then she slowly leaned to get a whiff of the cherry blossoms smell. She then blew the petal away and let the breeze carry it slowly until it reached the pavement below.

Unknowingly, Hiei watched her the whole time and how her serene face seemed to glow under the moonlight. He was balancing himself on one of the cherry blossom's branch and was concealed with the thick flowers. He slowly crouched to get a better view of her slender figure. He watched how her fingers gently waving braids of her silver hair to the side with half lidded yes. She was a paradox, one moment she's annoyed and another she's calm. He smirked at the recollection of how she thought of him and felt his ego boost. Not that he cared about her having romantic fantasies of him—he was just a proud being. But then he has not forgotten what she said; "Your appeal does not affect me one bit."

"We'll see about that…onna." Hiei whispered under his breath and Sayuri did not know that she signed her own death wish. He watched her retreating frame and he eased himself on the branch; lying on his back with one knee bent. He just shook his head when she deliberately refused to close the shoji doors of the veranda. "She is never too careful."

Sayuri turned back from the veranda leaving her shoji doors open. She always liked the night breeze teasing her skin until she falls asleep. She grabbed one of her hadajuban and changed behind the folding partition screen on the far corner of the room facing the veranda shoji. She slid into the futon and tried to find a comfortable position for her. She gently turned to her left side with her back facing the veranda's door. She already had a long slumber and she felt like she was trapped in a world of endless dream. Apparently, she does not understand why both she and Hiei were dreaming of each other despite not being able to meet. She was clearly aware that she seemed to be centuries older than the fire demon who barely even reached maturity—both mentally and in spiritual energy. She was sealed before he was born. She was a bit disappointed; in her dreams he was gallant. She always finds herself running after him but it's as if it was not her body. She would feel this deep longing. And every time she falls down he would reach for her but she was never able to grasp the outstretched hand. He would then disappear from her sights. She would also dream of an unknown woman being held back as she reached for a bloodied man that lay on the cold snowy slope. This woman had a teal blue shade of wavy hair and her eyes were silver and almost serpent like. She had two pairs of horns poking out above her pointed ears. Her skin was perfect like a porcelain doll. The injured man may have been her lover, he had this long silky midnight blue hair but she never get the chance to see his face. Her last dream before being sealed was the same woman, wiping everything and freezing what seemed to be a world with five kingdoms. She thought that her dreams were ambiguous but it was trying to warn her about something. She only hoped that whatever it was, it was long gone during the five thousand years that she had been sealed. She just wanted peace and what Koenma offered her here felt like salvation—she can start a new life again. She can move on from her dreams and embrace her awakening.

End Notes: Just a little information for some words that may not be familiar to some:

Koorime – ice maiden

Imiko – cursed child

Hadajuban – first undergarment worn in the kimono attire.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I'll work hard to release the second chapter soon! Thank you for reading!