A/N: Prolouge of my first Hiei x OC centric story. Rated T for strong language.
"Transportation isn't usually this exciting where I come from," I yelled at the blue cotton candy haired spirit guide. The wind speed picked up dramatically and I found my fingers tightly gripping the edge of her oar for dear life.
Botan chuckled as she soared higher, "You get used to it after a couple hundred years," she slowed down a bit as, much to my relief. Even though I met her literally five minutes ago after she rudely barged into my window (scaring the loving crap out of me, I might add), I figured that I liked her. Most people wouldn't like the thought of being dragged out of the human realm by the all-fearing grim- reaper, but after seeing this bright eyed and peppy spirit, I couldn't help but feel relaxed around her presence.
The once blue sky slowly began turning into a pinkish orange hue; I looked down only to see the city sky scrapers turn into a long river beneath our feet. "Woah, what is this place," I said more to myself than to Botan.
She heard me anyways and grinned, "We're flying over the river styx right now. It's beautiful isn't it?" she sighed wistfully. I knew that after today, I was going to laugh every Halloween when someone would wear a cloak and carry a scythe. Who knew shinigami's could be this happy? "What did you get called in for anyways? You're obviously not dead," she noted that I was very much in fact, breathing.
"It's a long story, but to clip it short, I have information he needs, and he knows the location to something I want," Botan only nodded in understanding, choosing not to pry any further.
The rest of the ride was met with comfortable silence as I admired the view under my feet. By the time we reached a giant building with red tiled roofs, Botan hopped off her oar and motioned for me to do the same. "Well, here we are," Her bubbly demeanor changed a bit when she walked up to the door with a bit more professionalism. She led me hallway after hallway, all of them rushing with ogres of different color, scrambling with stacks of paper in their hands. The hallway of ogres slowly started to get less congested as we pushed our way through until we reached a massive golden door.
"Ah hear she comes now," I heard a voice call out as the door creaked open. Inside was a fairly male dominated room with the exception of a pretty red-headed woman with green eyes.
"Hello Hiroko, my name in Kurama," scratch that, she was a dude.
"Yusuke," a guy who donned a green uniform with slicked black hair raised two fingers in acknowledgment.
"Hey, I'm Kuwabara," Kuwabara probably had the weirdest hairstyle in the room, even weirder than that short dude with the hair that seemed to defy gravity. He had bright orange hair that was coiffed into a 1950's punk pompadour style, and although he had the face of a thug, he seemed pleasantly happy to see me.
"The one in the corner is Hiei, he doesn't talk much so don't expect him to answer you," Yusuke explained, pointing his thumb over the short one with the spiky hair.
Hiei probably stood out the most, which was weird considering how he was the one that tried so hard to hide in the shadows. It was probably because his face seemed to be etched with a permanent scowl and he stared at me like I was some cockroach who chose to invade his designated space.
"Uh, hey what's up?" I pulled up the loose cream sweater that slipped off my shoulder from the ride here. "I guess Koenma already filled you in on why you're all in this room."
"Actually no, not really. He didn't explain much other than the fact that we have a new mission which involved us protecting someone," Kurama informed.
"What?!" I gave him the most menacing look as possible only for it to be replied with a shrug. "First of all, I hope Koenma didn't make it seem like a witness protection program because it's not, and secondly, he asked me for help."
"Help for what?" Kuwabara quipped in.
I bit my lip in agitation, it was a bad habit I picked up from when I was still a kid, but explaining my life story was something I hated doing with a passion. No one likes revisiting unpleasant parts of their past.
"My dad was a—," I began before Kuwabara rudely cut me off.
"Oh! Oh I know this one, he was a demon," he grinned proudly.
"Magician." I continued curtly. Normally, he would have probably received the stink eye from me throughout my whole flashback speech, but the look of disappointment on his face stopped me from doing so. "Well not exactly a magician, but he was a magical creature. A fey to be exact."
"What's a fey?" Yusuke asked.
"A fairy, no not that kind so can you kindly stop snickering Kuwabara," I rolled my eyes, watching the tall man hold back a laugh. "And no, they're not all wings and pretty hair, a lot look just like humans, except they contain magical properties."
"Like what?" Yusuke again. I mentally groaned, if he kept asking me anymore questions, this explanation was going to be a lot longer than necessary.
"Brewing potions, having them actually work, healing, screwing around with people by turning invisible, shape shifting. You name it. Some even have pretty cool powers where they can control water and fire," I explained.
"So they're kind of like demons," Kurama asked. So far, he was my favorite out of the four, since he irritated me the least.
"Well.. I mean sure. Interestingly enough, fey called demons at one point. There are different names for everything and different worlds we haven't discovered yet, heck I didn't even know the grim reaper was a chick until a couple of hours ago," I added. "Might I throw in that this meeting would go a hell of a lot faster if you save all the questions for later," I said as politely as possible.
The boys nodded their heads as I finally began. "My dad was specifically good at potion making, he had a talent when it came to it. He was kind of like a chemist in the magical world. Creatures left and right would try to find his little cabin in the middle of absolutely fucking nowhere and risk their lives trudging through the forest just to beg him to make something for them. He could could raise stamina, brew up cures, mix potions to make your eyeballs bleed out of your mouth, all that good stuff. But one day, he fucked up big time," I crouched a bit lower for dramatic effect, like I was telling a group of kids something right out grimm fairytale.
"He made a potion that could grant eternal life for whoever drank it."
There was a pause before I heard Yusuke's snort "That's it? That's the big fuck up. Sheesh," Yusuke waved his hand, unimpressed. I responded by throwing a stapler at him, earning a small smirk from Hiei.
"You obviously don't understand how serious it is to live forever. Specially if that power went into the wrong hands. You just finished the dark tournament right? Well think of what would happen if Toguro had the ability to live forever," I almost laughed when I saw him audibly gulp. "That's right, you wouldn't be able to think because you would probably be dead, along with everyone else in this room."
Yusuke glared at me and bit the inside of his cheek. "Okay I get it, it's bad news. What the hell are we supposed to do about it."
"I was getting there Yusuke," I massaged my temples, trying to keep my face straight. "Like I said, that potion is very bad business. Anyways, my dad had this apprentice that worked with him, Hayato, if I remembered correctly. Hayato was obsessed with my dad, acting more like a body guard then his helper. He would kill any creature that dared raise his voice at him," my fingers felt strained as I realized I had been clenching them throughout the whole story.
"One day, a pretty little thing made it to my dad's cabin, desperately asking him to make a cure for her dying father. She was a feisty soul and wouldn't take no for an answer. My dad fell in love with her almost instantly," I breathed in deep, talking about both of them still hurt pretty bad.
"Potion brewing was a dangerous business. A lot of people would try to kill dad if they didn't get what they wanted, even before he met my mom he was already thinking of giving it up. Hayato always disagreed with him, almost threatening him until he swore to never quit. He figured that his apprentice was kind of crazy, so right after he whipped up that magical, life curing potion, he fled with my mama outside of his magical cabin and onto the bustling world of what we now call Japan," I said a bit too enthusiastically. I was never really good at reciting things in a serious matter, if a subject hurt too much, I would find a way to make it easier for me to explain it.
"I popped out soon after and we lived our simple lives in silence and peace until I turned sixteen. Dad was kind of dumb and it turned out that he left all his potion recipes inside the cabin. Hayato found it and..," my voice was quivering at this point and I found it hard to keep up my act nonchalance.
"I remember mom and dad seemed kind of weird that day. Mom stressed specifically that I wear her red cloak and asked me to go into the nearest store to get some maraschino cherries for the new dessert dad was trying to make. By the time I got home.. the only thing that was left was two dead corpses that looked a lot like my parents and a bloody trail of footsteps that led to them," I stopped for a moment, trying to regain my composure. I wasn't going to cry, I was already past that, but remembering the scene was hard for me to do.
I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?" Botan asked worriedly. "You look kind of sick."
I nodded slowly, shrugging her hand off. I didn't know what face I was making, but it must have been something because everyone in the room looked at me as if I grew another head. "I was too shell shocked for the scene that I didn't even hear Hayato come in from behind me, he tried to lunge towards me but for some reason it was hard for him to even get close to me. He kept saying something about the book. Give him the damn book. He kept trying to make me spit it out, threatening to snap my neck like he did with my parents."
They all stared at me, waiting for me to continue. Even Hiei turned his head to listen to my story. "He left as soon as he realized he couldn't touch me and that I honestly didn't know anything. I realized soon after that the cloak had some type of magical property. It was probably only meant to be worn by my mother, that that cloak was most likely the reason why she even survived long enough to find my dad. Luckily, it still worked for me because I was technically an extension of her, but every time I wear it, it feels like her protection is slowly fading" I sighed heavily. Reciting all of this was putting a serious damper on my mood, the last thing I wanted to talk about was feeling the only connection I had with my mom slipping away.
"About a month ago, I finally got to cleaning my dads study after nearly two years of not touching it. I didn't want to clean up the place, because the more untouched it was, the more it seemed like they were just on a really long vacation," the room was completely silent by now, and Kuwabara looked like he was about to cry.
"I found a note inside his study table that was addressed to me. It had my name on and everything written in his sloppy chicken scratch. Most of it sounded like his last confession to a priest rather than his daughter, but on the bottom, all it read was 'go to the basement of my old cabin. Find the hollow floorboard and look for the green book with the silver binding, there you will find the answers to everything. The meaning to happiness is wedged in the spine of the book, keep it safe, my Hiroko' .."
my voice trailed off and I couldn't bring myself to lift up my head.
"Sorry to end on such a sour note guys!" I gave a watery laugh and scratched the back of my neck. "I didn't want to have to drag you guys though all that crap, but it was a kind of important back story to why you guys need to help me. Koenma personally contacted me once he realized that I was Takumi Ogawa's daughter. I'm pretty sure the immortality recipe is somewhere in there and he wants me to go burn it or something like that."
"So our job is basically to guide you to the forest in search for this potion and destroy it," Kurama said after a while.
"Precisely," I nodded.
"Then you guys can handle this mission on you're own," Hiei emerged from the shadows, his face still cast that signature scowl as he headed towards the door.
"Hey! Why are you being an asshole, she's asking for her help and it's for a pretty freaking good reason!" Kuwabara yelled, he closed his fists and took a fighting stance.
"I'm not on parole anymore and this case doesn't benefit or concern me in the slightest way. I refuse to be dragged around as a body guard for a lost cause," he sneered, making me feel lower than dirt.
"W-wait!" I ran as fast as I could to the door, and held my arms open. Hiei was short, but he still had a good inch or two from me, and the way he intimidated me just made him seem so much taller. "I asked Koenma to give me his best team, and I know they can't do it without you The woods that my father lived in were dangerous enough to kill most of the beasts that dwelt within it and Hayako is even worse, so I'm asking you to please help me!," I slumped onto the floor, down to my knees, and begged.
He looked at me like some pathetic creature. "You should be happy I'm still here listening to you prattle on about your useless nonsense, but your father never explicitly stated what was in that book. For all we know, we could be risking out time and our lives over something that you're taking a complete guess on."
"What else would it be?!" I cried out. "And even if the potion to immortality isn't there, things are going to get worse if we don't at least try."
"I don't care," he stated dryly, as he stepped beside me and swiftly opened the door.
"There are spells in there. Spells and potions for everything, probably kept in jars lined under the floorboard. For all I know, one of those potions could make you the strongest being alive," I said in my most enticing voice. From the moment he paused, I knew he took the bait. "It could give you ultimate power."
He turned his head slowly and gave me a look so menacing, I could practically feel my skin melt off the bone.
"You better not be wrong about this, Hiroko," he said my name with such malice, I almost wanted to cower behind Botan. But I stood up and held my ground, staring at him with the bravest face I could muster.
"I promise I won't be."
They had me stay at Genki's place until the preparations to leave were complete. Luckily, Kurama seemed to know the forest well and as soon as it was mentioned, he began drawing drafts on the safest possible route. All I knew about my dad's old cabin was that it was situated smack dab in the middle of the damn area and from the look on Kurama's face, it wasn't exactly the easiest place to get to.
Genki's house was huge, and although she kindly allowed me to stay in one of her rooms, I never saw the woman myself. Yusuke would often visit along with Kuwabara, and the team would use her area as a sort of hang out spot. Yukina was probably the best thing about my stay as she genuinely enjoyed my company although all we did was eat and have tea together. Hiei was nowhere to be seen, but I didn't really mind. Being in the same room with someone who hates your guts for literally no reason was not exactly the bees knees.
The preparations were taking longer to plan out, but I honestly didn't mind. Koenma assured me that Kurama was probably one of the most intelligent and reliable when it came to mapping areas, considering he was dubbed one of the most infamous thieves in the past, so I felt a small sense of relief knowing that this mission was being taken seriously. To kill time, I just baked. It was my favorite past time, and my dad's best hobby, I always found it funny how he went from being a potions master to a pastry chef, but he just laughed and reminded me that cooking was a lot like brewing potions. It required training, discipline, and experimentation, but the difference was that if he messed up on a pastry, the most it could do was burn. With potions you never could predict the outcome.
"Where the hell are my cake tarts," I asked, lifting the tray up to make sure that I didn't somehow hide it under the tray I just cooked it in.
Yusuke yelped, holding the raspberry treat in his hands. He swallowed the rest of the dessert before answering. "I thought Kurama brought these in," he had the audacity to take another bite in front of me.
"I thought that as well," Yukina answered quietly, embarrassed by the fact that she took one too.
"I thought Yukina made it," Kurama looked at Yukina who shook her head.
"These things are pretty good though, what are they?" Kuwabara already had three on his plate.
I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, suddenly forgetting I was angry. "They're Hiroko's. It's my mom's secret recipe, unfortunately only her and dad know the correct way how to make it. I've been trying to make it correctly for years, but I still can't do it like they could," I frowned.
"Your parents named you after a dessert" Yusuke asked.
"My dad named me after Hiroko Ogawa, a famous pastry chef, who incidentally named this cake tart after himself. Anyways, this raspberry Grand Mariner cream cake tart was made by Hiroko and my dad loved it so much, he literally named me after it," everyone stared at me in disbelief. "Dad was a weird guy, he was close to naming me caramel because of my hair color," my dad was was a complete nut, but I loved him.
"Caramel? Your hair is more rust colored," Kuwabara pointed out.
"Thanks," I stated dryly. Who the hell wants to be told that their hair looked "rust" colored.
"Great, we already have two red heads on this team, now we have a third," Yusuke spat as Kurama and Kuwabara shot him insulted looks. "Not that it's a bad thing!" said with an uneasy laugh.
Kurama cleared his throat until he gained all of our attention, he held a small notebook out and read the contents, "We're going to head out in about three days, I'll need you guys to be prepared, anything could happen in the Makai forest," Kurama stated, suddenly bringing the room into a more serious situation. "Our number one priority will be keeping Hiroko safe, the second is to try and stay as a group. There are a lot of obstacles we have to avoid if we don't want ourselves to become separated. The trek will take two days at the very least," he murmured absentmindedly, looking over the plans with worry etched onto his face.
"Kurama, you're kinda scaring me with that look you have on," Kuwabara noticed.
"Ah, sorry. It's just been a while since I've been in an area like this, I'm just trying to recall all the things I've encountered there before so I know what to avoid. Anyways, now that we're done here, I better go find Hiei to make sure he's on the same page with us," he nodded before leaving the room.
"So what's up with Kurama and Hiei?" I asked after I made sure he wasn't an earshot away.
"They used to work together, from what I've seen he gets along with Kurama the most. Hiei trusts him with his life," Yusuke replied as the rest of the people in the room nodded.
"Do you think he's really going to help us?" I had no confidence in my voice, Hiei looked like the type of person that could change his mind any second.
"If anyone is going to convince Hiei to go, it's Kurama. So please, have faith in him," Yukina gently touched my arm and I responded by squeezing her hand.
"He's going to help. You offered him something and he seemed interested by it. Plus, I've worked with Hiei for a good amount of time, and once he warms up to you, he actually isn't that bad of a person," Yusuke explained. "He may seem a little intimidating, and he would probably never admit it, but he's a good person, and a loyal teammate."
"Although he could be kind of a dick sometimes," Kuwabara said begrudgingly.
Hiei's POV
"We're heading out in three days, so be ready," Kurama yelled from the bottom of the tree. He tossed a small take out box up in the air as I caught it with ease.
"What the hell is this?" I sneered, sniffing the box.
"Try it, it's pretty good. Hiroko made it," he took out his rose whip and used it to swing onto the branch I currently perched myself on.
"I don't want it," I tossed it back to him in disgust. "From what I can tell, she's not worth helping. She's weak and clumsy and will most likely be killed in the first three minutes in Makai," the spot up in the branch was perfect for spying on people, and Hiroko always seemed to be everywhere at once.
"Looks like someone is a little stalker," Kurama teased in a sing song voice. I tried to punch him, but he easily dodged, letting out a lighthearted laugh.
"Now Hiei, let's not get too hasty. She seems seems like she has a lot of potential," he mused as he looked glanced down at her.
I snorted loudly. "Kurama, I saw her trip on a rock. Twice. It was the same rock," the most pathetic part was I wasn't even lying about this.
"Say all you want, but the girl has a determination like no other. She might have the coordination of a mentally challenged giraffe, but she has the soul of a warrior. I've seen the look in her eyes, she'll stop at nothing until she gets what she wants," his tone was a lot more somber as his gaze intensified.
"Well see about that," Kurama just gave me that all-knowing smile that I grew to despise. He left the take out box by my side which I tried chucking back at him.
A/N: Thank you all for reading to the end of this! Hopefully I'll be able to smooth things out as the story progresses, but for now, it's a bit scratchy.
Don't be scared to drop a review! I get lonely :(
