Lunarmercury Presents:
Garden
Warning: This fanfiction contains material that some readers may find unlikable.
Disclaimer is in my profile.
The first time it happened, it was just an accident. She was wandering through downtown Tokyo, admiring the beautiful window displays, when a hand reached out and pulled her into an alley. It was a man: rough, tall, stocky and undeniably strong. He wanted her money. She gave it to him. He wanted more. She refused. The man never stood a chance. Undoubtedly, he had terrorized women before. This time, he had tangled with the wrong person. A human, no matter how strong, is no match for a demon. He was frozen solid before he could even scream.
She had no idea what to do. It was terrifying, and not only was it against human law, but Reikai law as well. She had been on the outskirts of town, a place where few people walked by and fewer people cared. It was certainly why the man had chosen this place.
When a young girl with unusual hair and eyes in an old-fashioned kimono dragged a misshapen bundle along the sidewalk, no one looked twice. On the train back to Genkai's, she was ignored as well. It was none of their business what a person decided to buy. For all they knew, the girl was a reclusive artist or designer lugging a mannequin home with her.
Humans deceive themselves so easily.
From then on, it was a habit: wander downtown, see who was misbehaving. All fell victim to her: men, women, though not children under fourteen, rapists, murderers, vandalisers, arsonists, thieves… Even those who did not truly deserve it.
She needed a place to put the bodies, though.
Over the next few months, her garden flourished.
The first time it happened, she had still been panicked when she returned to the temple. Undoubtedly, the panic reverberated through their link and brought her brother rushing to her side. He understood the basics of what had happened. The rest, Yukina told him readily. Hiei never paused to think, only helped her. Genkai was elsewhere in the temple, but just as Hiei and Yukina were putting the finishing touches on the grave, made in the middle of the flower garden Yukina loved so so as to not arouse suspicion with the upturned dirt, the old woman wandered outside. There was no question as to whether she knew. It was definite.
From then on, Hiei always helped her bury the bodies. Genkai always made herself scarce, so as to claim ignorance. She did not truly approve of what Yukina was doing, but the twins believed that Genkai assumed Yukina was only killing those who committed truly atrocious crimes – which, for the most part, she did.
Kurama visited a couple of days after her first kill, the accident that sparked so many deaths, and it was also undoubtable that he knew.
He merely tipped his head, an acknowledgement of what she had done. They couldn't figure out how he knew, until he confessed that the flowers told him.
Hiei did ask, once, why she did this. Yukina thought, long and hard, before responding.
"When I was captured," she began, "it was my only contact with humans until that point. I was convinced that they were all evil. But then… then that man was killed trying to help me escape, and I realized… they weren't all bad. I was to the point where I thought that… maybe… the men who captured me were exceptions – evil, when most humans weren't. Kazuma was so kind, and Yuusuke, and Genkai… I even met Kurama's mother once, and she was so sweet…" She paused, her eyes glistening slightly. "But then… Then, I started spending time downtown. I saw the poverty, and the crime, and that man attacked me… and I realized that they weren't the exception. Our friends are, but not the criminals. It's not fair!" She burst out.
"What?" He queried, rather taken-aback at the violence of a seemingly random outburst. "What's not fair?"
"Reikai…" Yukina sobbed softly. "Reikai was the one to start no killing laws in humans. It was because they said that humans shouldn't kill each other because they weren't evil, because they would follow that law. They let demons run rampant and kill each other because they say it controls them, that they deserve it because they're evil." Yukina lowered her gaze to the floor. "They say our lives don't matter as much because we're not as good as humans. But it's not true! Humans deserve it just as much as we do. There's no punishment for killing demons, and there shouldn't be for killing humans either! So… so I'm taking that mission. If humans are as willing to kill as demons… there shouldn't be laws to protect them."
Hiei just nodded and assured her of one thing: her mission was safe.
He would never tell
None of them would.
Wow… where did this come from? I've been bitten by the writing bug… this and Warp. I didn't have anything planned for Warp except the title and summary, and this just kind of popped into my mind… hmmm…