Chapter Four

The Origin Of Rin

Kaname's eyes struggled to open; fighting against the dried tears caked to her eyelashes. She turned onto her back and raised her hands to rub the sleep out of her eyes. The sun was shining in through the window above her head and she had to squint as the sunlight glared into her sensitive eyes.

She sat up and looked around the room, the previous night crashing to the forefront of her mind. She dropped her head into her hands, staring into her lap in disbelief. It had been the strangest day of her life, she hadn't cried like that in years. She mentally kicked herself for letting everyone see her so weak.

She heard the door slide open and turned her eyes to look at the intruder. It was a small girl about Kaname's height; she had soft blue hair and very familiar garnet eyes. She smiled when she saw Kaname and ran in to give Kaname a big hug.

"I've missed you, Kaname!" Kaname was caught off guard but quickly recovered and wrapped her arms around the girl.

"Yukina? What are you doing here?" Yukina pulled away from her and sat in a kneeling position on the mat next to her.

"I'm staying here now. Genkai is very kind and is helping me to develop my healing abilities." Kaname smiled excitedly.

"That's great Yukina! I told you everything would work out. Man I haven't seen you in ages! How have you been? Did you find your brother yet?" Yukina's look turned downcast and she let out a heavy sigh.

"Not yet, I haven't given up though, he's out there somewhere. I just have to keep looking. I have to be strong for both of us." Kaname smiled sympathetically and placed a comforting hand on the girls shoulder. Yukina shook her head and smiled warmly at Kaname.

"But enough about that, how are you doing. I heard you had a rough night." Kaname's smile faded slightly and she averted her eyes.

"Right as rain, whatever that means. I'll be ok, now that I have my good friend Yukina here to keep me company, nothing could ever go wrong." Yukina's eyes widened in panic.

"Oh don't say that! Whenever someone says that something always seems to go wrong." Kaname giggled at the girls antics, but she did have a point.

"I'm sorry, I'll keep that in mind." Yukina nodded and the girls shared a smile.

"I was just coming to see if you were awake, breakfast is ready. I don't know how good it will be though, Botan made it." Yukina stood and motioned for Kaname to follow her. Kaname stood and the blanket fell from around her, she looked down at herself and blushed, remembering what she had been wearing.

"Um, Yukina? You wouldn't happen to know where they stashed my clothes would ya?" Yukina turned and giggled at the sight of the small girl trying to cover herself.

"Their in the bag over there by the door. On second thought, you should probably bathe before you eat. There's a wonderful hot spring not too far from here; if you would like me to accompany you I would be more than happy to." Kaname looked at the girl like she had just fallen from heaven.

"Thank you so much! You have no idea how much I need a hot bath right now."

Kaname walked into the small changing stall next to the hot spring and began stripping off her clothes. She hissed when she reached her shorts, her fingers brushing against her hips lightly. She looked down at the place where it hurt and found five small bruises on either side of her body. She crossed her arms in front of her and placed her thumbs on the bruises in front, wrapping her fingers around her hips and placing the tips of her fingers around the other four. She removed her arms from around herself and clenched her fists.

"That little imp, he must have a pretty strong grip, I don't bruise easily. Of course he does he's a demon, duh." Kaname sighed heavily, what had she gotten herself into?

"Kaname are you alright in there?" A voice sounded from over the wall, snapping Kaname out of her musings.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" She shouted back, removing the rest of her clothing and wrapping a towel around herself.

"Ok well I'm just going to head down, I'll meet you there." Kaname grabbed her other towel and opened the stall door.

"No need, I'm done, we'll walk together." Yukina smiled and took her hand, running down to the hot spring. Kaname almost stumbled into the girl when she stopped suddenly, staring at something in the spring. Kaname didn't see anything. She looked over at the girl curiously.

"What is it Yukina?" The girl snapped her gaze to Kaname's an almost unreadable expression in her eyes. She blinked and shook her head.

"Oh nothing, I just thought I saw something is all. Come on, the sooner we finish the sooner we can eat." Yukina grabbed her hand and pulled her down into the water. Kaname sighed as the warm water soaked her sore muscles. She was so utterly relaxed that she didn't notice the demon advancing behind her until it was upon them. She turned in time to catch a sword coming at her, she moved to her left quickly, but not fast enough as the sword nicked her left shoulder. She stumbled over to Yukina, standing between the demon and the Koorime. It advanced on the two girls.

"Kaname your hurt! Your in no condition to fight!" Yukina studied the injury, it wasn't very serious, but it would definitely hinder her ability to fight. Kaname shrugged it off.

"I'll be fine, I'm not going to let it hurt you!" She took up a defensive position. The demon smirked evilly and advanced toward the wounded slayer. A blur of black and blue flew out of the tree behind them and attacked the low class demon, slicing it into about twelve different pieces in the blink of an eye. Their demon attacker fell to pieces in front of them, reveling a small girl.

She was about Kaname's height with waist length deep cobalt blue hair that was pulled back in a half ponytail, held by a large black bow. Two long strands hung down just in front of her long pointed ears and she had her bangs hanging in her bright scarlet eyes like Kaname. She wore an all black knee length dress, the sleeves were long, covering her arms and the top rose high around her collar, a white scarf encasing her neck. The dress was rather fluffy and puffed out at the waist, creating a sort of umbrella look at the bottom. She had on tight black leggings and black ankle boots. In her hand she held a gleaming silver katana that looked rather familiar to Kaname. It was the same sword that was held against her throat not more than twelve hours ago.

"Who are you?" The girl looked over at the two girls huddled in the corner, her deep scarlet eyes unreadable.

"We'll just say, I'm a friend." Kaname glared at the girl, not really fully trusting her.

"What if I don't want a friend?" The girl smirked, amusement lacing through her piercing gaze.

"I didn't say I was yours." In the blink of an eye the girl had vanished. Kaname collapsed in the water, the loss of blood making her head dizzy. Yukina caught her and hoisted her up, helping her back to the temple. Genkai met them at the steps.

"What happened?" Kaname pushed off of Yukina to stand on her own feet.

"It's nothing," Yukina interrupted her.

"A demon attacked us. Kaname tried to fight him but she was injured. A strange girl saved us." Genkai's gaze turned thoughtful at the mention of a strange girl.

"This girl wouldn't happen to be dressed in all black, have long blue hair, bright red eye's, carries a silver katana?" Yukina and Kaname both looked at the psychic flabbergasted.

"How did you know?" Genkai glanced over the girls' shoulders.

"She's standing right behind you." They turned to see the girl from the hot spring smirking amusingly at Genkai.

"Hello Grandmother." They turned to see Genkai nod in the girls' direction.

"Rin."

"Grandmother! This girl is related to you Genkai?" Kaname asked surprised. She didn't know Genkai had any relatives.

"Not really no. I took her in when she was a babe and I raised her. She calls me grandmother. As you can clearly see she is in no way human." It was true; the girl was anything but human with her ethereal complexion and deep crimson eyes, not to mention the extremely long pointed ears.

"Let's continue this inside, Kaname is looking a little worse for wear." The girl named Rin suggested, taking Kaname's other side and helping her up the steps. The reached the temple and Yukina was able to heal the cut, wrapping it in a bandage just in case. They all sat down for tea, breakfast long forgotten which Botan was not too happy about, but she too was interested in the girls story and she listened intently as Genkai picked up from where she left off.

"Rin's parents were great warriors. Her father was a fire apparition and her mother was a vampire; a real vampire, not one of these human half-breeds that you slay on a regular basis. Real vampires don't need to feed off of humans to live; they can survive off of one victim a year. True vampires also don't suck blood; they suck life energy, draining a person of their very soul. Rin's mother was one of Kieran's most prized possessions and when she decided to leave his circle to be with Rin's father, Kieran was enraged. He spent the better part of two years hunting down Rin's mother and father and eventually he found them. Rin's father died protecting Rin and her mother. She was still pregnant at the time, and she fled here to my temple for shelter, she was very weak, and very distraught at having watched her mate be killed. She eventually gave up, lost the will to live and I delivered the baby. She died, shortly there after. I ended up being the one to raise the girl, she reminds me greatly of her father, but she has her mothers heart, for the better probably." They all looked over at Rin who was silently sipping her tea. She didn't look affected at all. She had grown up without a mother and a father. How terrible.

"That's so sad." Rin sat her tea down rather roughly on her plate.

"That's not the end of the story. None of what she has told you has happened yet, and I don't intend for it to. I am not of this time. A dear friend of my father has the ability to cut wormholes in space and she sent me back here twice. Once four years ago to inform Genkai of my visit now, and this time, so that I may change it. My world is one of utter darkness, the spirit detectives are dead and the world has fallen under the rule of that madman Kieran. He somehow managed to absorb the powers of each of the spirit detectives and use them to take over living and spirit worlds. I have come back here to make sure that does not happen." Kaname looked over at the girl curiously, absorbing the story.

"When? When is this supposed to happen?" Rin shook her head.

"It is impossible to say. The only one I know of for sure is my father, Hiei. He dies a little over two years from now. He was the last, so the other three must have died sometime before then. I believe the human died first, then the half-breed. The fox died shortly there after, also defending my mother. That all had to be within a month of each other. My mother and father were on the run for almost exactly two years so I would have to put the date for the first death sometime this month." Something wasn't sitting well with Kaname. She said her mother was Hiei's mate but how could that be when Hiei had bonded with her?

"Your mother? Do we know her? You said she's a vampire from Kieran's inner circle?"

"She wasn't at first. My father rejected her in the beginning and she fled to Kieran for comfort. When she realized her mistake it was to late, he had already turned her. She returned to the temple where Kieran found her and killed the fox. Her and my father realized their need for each other while they were on the run. I don't really know any details, the ones that would are dead." Kaname sat in stunned silence after hearing this. It was too similar, it had to be but at the same time it couldn't. she refused to believe that she could do those things.

"What was her name?" Kaname asked, not trusting herself to look in the girl's all too familiar eyes.

"You don't know her, not yet." Rin said as she rose, turning and walking towards the doors of the temple. Kaname's head popped up, the question falling from her lips before she could stop it.

"Will we meet her?" Rin stopped, turning her head slightly before striding out the open door.

"Not if I anything to say about it."

Hiei stood staring blankly out at the forest surrounding Genkai's temple, recollecting the events of the past two days. How he had managed to involve himself in this mess was completely beyond him. That stupid girl had let her emotions get the better of her and ran out in the rain, catching a rather violent cold. If it had been him in charge he would have let the idiot girl die, but no. He had to be the one to save her. And now he was bonded to her. Fate had a cruel way of exacting it's revenge. He felt rather than saw the person walk up beside him. He turned his gaze to the figure and his mouth quite nearly fell open. It was like looking into a mirror. If he was female he was sure it would be. Their eyes were the exact same, their hair color the same, their style their height everything.

"Who are you?" Hiei asked cautiously, looking the girl before him over once again. Trying for all the world to figure out why she looked like him. The girl smirked softly.

"I look like you Hiei because I am a part of you." Hiei's eyes wandered back up to the girls and narrowed in suspicion.

"What do you mean a part of me?" The girl squared her shoulders.

"My name is Rin, I come from 42 years in the future… and I am your daughter." Hiei's eyes widened.

"…How…" he breathed. Rin got a rather annoyed look on her face.

"Well it starts with a man and a woman." Hiei glared at her and crossed his arms.

"I meant how are you here." Rin sighed and took a seat on the rock to her left.

"Mukuro sent me here to change the future. And before you think it no, Mukuro is not my mother." Rin let out a exasperated sigh. Hiei scoffed.

"I know who your mother is brat. It's rather obvious from the look of you. Your attitude doesn't help to conceal your identity much either. She didn't raise you did she… and neither did I." Rin sighed.

"She managed not to see it." Hiei regarded the girl for a moment. He could tell by her demeanor and the way she said that last statement that it was probably the first time she had ever seen her mother, and the girl hadn't even recognized her. Which meant she had died before the girl could make any memories of her… in childbirth. He had a sinking suspicion that this was the first time she had met him as well.

"She not exactly in her right mind at the moment." Rin huffed.

"Like you are?" Hiei turned a glare to the girl, who shot back an identical glare. She was so obviously his child even though he hadn't raised her. She had picked up the best attributes of both parents. Excellent breeding.

"Why are you here?" Rin looked to the ground, finding her shoes suddenly very interesting. Hiei glared at her impatiently. Rin shifted under his scrutinizing gaze and sighed softly.

"I suppose I should start at the beginning." Hiei slumped down on the rock next o her.

"That is usually where story's start." Rin looked up at him annoyed.

"You were right, neither you nor Kaname raised me. In my time, the three worlds are united under one tyrannical leader, a madman by the name of Kieran. He killed Enki, the king of the demons, and took over as the leader of demon world. As you can imagine this didn't bode well with Koenma. He resurrected the Kakai barrier, reinforcing it to keep out any sort of vampire. Kieran wasn't stupid enough to make a push for living world with you four still around so he sent in a spy, his right hand man… My mother." She turned her gaze to his and was met with startled red eyes.

"What?" Rin held his gaze sternly.

"There was a reason I chose to come here at this time. I know what you've been contemplating Hiei. If you pursue those thoughts you condemn the world. Kaname was crushed when you rejected the bond. Close to death she stumbled into Kieran's waiting arms. He'd had his eye set on her for years, he wanted her to be his bride. And because of your actions, he finally got her. He rid her of any remnants of your bond and turned her, shaping her to do his bidding." She said in a disgusted tone.

"Kuwabara was the first to go. After he cut through the newly constructed Kakai barrier Kieran drained his life force while Kaname watched. It was her first step back toward the light. Yusuke was next. He and Yomi died together, fighting to free Demon world. Kaname fled, stricken, from Kieran's inner circle into the living world to the temple of Genkai where two day's later, Kurama was killed defending her from Kieran. You took her and fled to the caves your old demon gang used to haunt. The only ones who knew about it where you and Mukuro and nobody knew that she knew." Rin turned to look out at the forest.

"You dwelt there for a good two years before one of Kieran's spy's caught wind of Mukuro's secrets and he paid her a visit. She wasn't able to alert you, you were completely unprepared when they came. Kaname was already seven months pregnant with me and definitely showing. Kieran was outraged, he made her watch as he slowly ripped you limb from limb. He thrived off her screams every time he cut in to you. She was devastated, nearly miscarried but managed to escape. She made her way, despairingly to Genkai where I was delivered, and she died on the table of a broken heart." There was an edge of guilt laced in her voice underlying the pain of loss.

"I have been living with Mukuro in the deepest recesses of demon world for the last 35 years, before that I lived with Genkai. She taught me about my mother and Mukuro taught me about you. She raised me to be like you, apparently from all of the feedback I've been getting she did a pretty good job." Rin finished, not noticing the dark presence behind them.

"Yes it's uncanny." Rin turned to behold the specter of her living nightmare.

"…Kieran…" a small smirk formed on the mad mans face.

"Hello Rin." Her eyes widened.

"How do you know-" the smirk widened.

"Oh come now dear. Your not the only one with contacts." Kieran pulled a bloody and broken form up next to him.

"Mukuro!" Rin shouted as Kieran's hand shot through her heart and her lifeless form sank slowly to the ground before turning to ash.

"Oops! Did I do that? Silly me my hand must have slipped!" Rin glared murder at the vampire god, tears stinging her eyes.

"You Monster!" she shouted.

"I managed to hear quite a bit of your lovely story, too bad your coming here was in vain. You see Hiei doesn't have to reject the bond. I can do that for him. You have just provided me with all the information I will need to overthrow these worlds. As I have already done away with Enki, all that is left to do now is rid myself of the other pesky distractions. Starting with you." Rin violently unsheathed her sword.

"Bring it on! You stole my life Kieran! Paybacks a bitch!" she shouted, launching herself at him, a tear gem falling from her eyes as she did so, knowing her death was close at hand. Hiei's hand rose deftly and caught the flying midnight gem, staring blankly as Kieran's clawed hand reached out from Rin's chest holding her heart. Her body turned to ash and twirled past him out over the forest.

"What a waste. What? You're not going to try and fight me?" Hiei stared down at the two gems in his hand.

"You just killed my daughter and you are trying to steal my mate." He looked up at Kieran. "No, I'm not going to try and fight you… I'm going to kill you." Kieran let out a maniacal laugh and placed his hands on his hips.

"Honorable sentiments but do you actually think you are any match for-" he was cut of sharply as Hiei shoved his sword right through Kieran's heart.

"Gotcha. You overblown windbag." Kieran backhanded the smaller Demon into a tree and reached up to pull the sword out of his chest. He examined it briefly as it turned to dust, blowing away in the stale wind.

"That was rude." Kieran stated calmly, turning to Hiei. "I could just kill you, that would surely sever the bond, however… I despise you. Feeling that you, the Forbidden Child of the Koorime, could ever possibly come close to touching the radiant light that is my Kaname. It's madness! You are a curse on this world. And you will live to see my views reflected in her eyes."

Kieran's words had frozen the apparition in his place. It was exactly what he had thought of himself, deep down… those were his views. He was so stunned by hearing them out loud that he never noticed Kieran's hands reaching out and grasp either side of his head, one thumb on each temple. Not until the searing pain began to shoot through his head, tearing a scream from his throat. His hand dropped the lone tear gem he was holding as his fingers locked around Kieran's wrists. Burning white hot light burst behind his eyes and he felt as if his head was being split in two. Every memory from the past two days flashed before his eyes and disappeared. Hiei's screams escalated with every flash, wrenching from his very soul. And then everything went black.

Lucie