Chapter 1

Get Out of Jail Free

Hiei paced inside his prison cell shooting glares at the ogres posted outside the bars. His fingers twitched longing for his sword. If only he could run the guards through so their blood would decorate the boring white of the walls. Unfortunately, they were not stupid enough to stand within reach of the bars.

Since he was arrested for stealing the shadow sword, and charged with attempting to create a demon army he had been stuck in this Reikai prison. He was quickly growing tired of the small room he was confined to. He had never been to Spirit World before, but his first impression was a dull one. Although, with the many wards hanging from the bars of his cage he had not exactly been able to do any sight-seeing.

The complex wards blocked his Jagan eye and added to his frustration. It felt like it had been about a month since he had been able to check on his sister Yukina. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed with any precision. Yukina had been safe in the Glacial Village with the ice maidens last he looked, but being unable to see her now set him on edge.

When he was brought in front of Koenma to receive his sentence he had been confused at first. Hiei would never admit it aloud, but the events leading up to, and during the theft of the artifacts of darkness, even his fight with Yusuke, were something of a blur. After his defeat at the Spirit Detectives hands his mind had regained its focus.

Regardless, of his own doubts about his actions he had admitted guilt upfront to Koenma. Whether someone had meddled with his mind or not his pride would never admit to such a thing. He did not believe he could be controlled by anyone. Better to own the crime and be done with it. The problem was that Koenma had not been upfront with how long Hiei's sentence would be.

He was going to become weak if he didn't keep up his fighting and physical prowess. Exercising was difficult in the cramped room he was in, but it was the only thing he could do to keep the consuming boredom at bay. When he felt his temper building to unbearable levels he would run through various fighting stances or meditate to keep his sanity intact. Just as he was settling into a corner to begin one such meditation session he heard footsteps and a knock at the wall by his cell.

Hiei could not hold back the twitch of an eye as the sound reverberated about the room. He turned slowly in the opposite direction from the source of the sound. It was a petty and pointless display of defiance. The only thing he could deny his jailers was his acknowledgement.

The knock came a second time louder and more insistent than before. Hiei frowned at the wall and refused to turn around. An impatient sigh huffed from the person waiting outside the bars, and a hurried tap-tap-tapping that sounded like a shoe hitting the floor in an uneven tempo. Hiei frowned harder at the wall.

"Hiei." Koenma's voice snapped through the air. "We have to talk." Hiei could imagine the annoyed expression that must have been on the hoity toddlers face. It almost tempted him to look just to revel in his tiny revenge. Hiei's enjoyment was cut short, however, as Koenma lost the last bit of his patience and said, "Well I guess you are not interested in a deal to shorten your sentence. Bye then. Maybe I'll see you when you get out in a thousand years".

"What?" Hiei said as his head swung round, and put on the harshest glare he could muster. "If you are playing games with me, Koenma, I swear I will find a way to break these bars and beat you to death with them."

"Charming." Koenma did not look particularly intimidated. "Listen Hiei, I have no obligation to make you this offer. I am doing it out of the goodness of my heart." Hiei let out a snort of disbelief. "Well, there are some benefits in it for me, and you won't be let off the hook completely." Of course there would be a catch.

"Out with it then" Hiei replied, causing Koenma to furrow his brows in consternation.

"You are hardly in a position to be issuing demands. You know, Kurama is a criminal demon too, but he manages to have better manners than you. Must be the human influence." Hiei scowled at being compared unfavorably to Kurama, whose betrayal during the fight with Yusuke helped land him in prison to begin with.

Kurama would not have been a traitor if not for his disgustingly weak human qualities. Hiei paused in his thoughts, why would the conniving toddler bring Kurama up? Had he already offered some sort of deal to him, and if he had, would Kurama have accepted it? He sent Koenma a suspicious look.

"Get to the point…" Hiei almost added that he did not have time to listen to the Princes prattling, but caught himself. He had all the time in the world, in fact, that was the very problem at hand. One Koenma was seemingly presenting a solution for.

"Very well," Koenma pushed along, "It is a two part offer. First, I want you to work with my Spirit Detective on various cases. If you prove yourself you will be allowed limited freedom within a single human city. Specifically, in Yusuke's city of residence. You will be under Reikai surveillance at all times and have your weapons withheld. Consider it a probation period."

Hiei was careful to keep his face unreadable, but he was thrown off by the lunacy of Koenma words. Work with the detective who had just dealt him a humiliating defeat? Live trapped in a foul human city? Subject himself to constant spying? This was not a deal for a better sentence; this was a bid to control him as a tool for Spirit World.

Hiei did not know what he was expecting, but the manipulation that the brat Prince was attempting on him was insulting. As if Hiei would allow himself to be a servant for Reikai's agenda. He wondered if Kurama accepted a similar proposition. Since he was already living as a human being this type of scenario would not be as much of an inconvenience to him.

Hiei decided to ask outright, "Did Kurama accept a similar deal, or did you save such a so-called generous offer for the likes of me?"

"Kurama was offered a similar deal. In fact, if you accept it you will be working with your old partner again. I urge you to think carefully before refusing Hiei. I will not offer such a so-called generous offer a second time."

"Hn."

"Besides you have not heard the second part of it yet."

"If it is anything like the first part I am sure I don't want to hear it."

"Anyway," Koenma continued as if he hadn't heard him, "The second part is a bit trickier, you see, as it will be a personal mission I am giving to you and not the rest of the team. In fact, I think it best that this mission be on a need-to-know basis for now. To make a long story short, I need you to investigate a suspicious human, or rather the suspicious activity surrounding this human."

"So you wish to use me as a spy for the Reikai as well. I can't imagine any pathetic human being interesting enough to spy on."

"I am not asking you to do it for free Hiei. If you are able to acquire the information we need on this human I will lessen some of the restrictions of your probation." Koenma's eyes held a piercing sharpness as he stared Hiei down from across the bars. This deal was not truly a choice and they both knew it. Koenma was dangling Hiei's defeated status in front of him by forcing him to act as an errand boy.

Against his own doubts Hiei was somewhat curious, "What sort of human would I be spying on?"

"Her name is Ami Hamada. We do not know much more and that is why we need an informant to observe her. You will be under surveillance, but you will still need to report what you observe about the girl to a Spirit World agent who will check your progress every week."

Hiei rolled his eyes, "Do I look like a human babysitter to you?"

"I think it is a fitting penance for a demon who tried to run the Human World to the ground with a demon army, and like I said, I can leave right now and see you in a thousand years if you'd prefer." Koenma replied, sounding like he was losing what little patience he had left.

"Hn."

"I can give you time to think about it. 24 hours and I will expect an answer."

"I do not need the time. I will do it."

"You will?" Koenma sounded incredulous if pleased.

"Obviously. There is no real choice. What are the conditions for spying on the girl?" Hiei wore an expression that was reminiscent of a child being made to eat his greens against his will.

"Excellent! The rules are simple, do not harm Ms. Hamada in any way, try not to reveal your presence to her unless you have to, and keep her safe from danger. You will be limited to a 5 mile radius around Ms. Hamada at all times. If you travel further than that we will know and put you back in your cell. If you are successful in collecting information you will be rewarded with the return of your weapons. Any questions?"

"Some freedom. You offer nothing but a larger cage." Hiei growled.

"You are wrong. If you comply there will be more rewards in the future, but you have to earn our trust the hard way first. You are lucky I am being as lenient as I am." Koenma said in a kind yet clipped tone.

"You still have told me nothing of the human except her name. You must know more than that?" asked Hiei.

"That is the most worrying part. We have no records of her at all. According to Spirit World she should not exist. In fact she did not exist until a mere day ago when a new energy signature popped up out of nowhere, and she suddenly appeared in our records. There is no trace of her life before then. It's a mystery."

"I have agreed to do it, but I do not see why you have asked me to do this job? Surely, one of your many Ferry Girls could do this. They are invisible to the human eye are they not?"

"Indeed, but they do not come equipped with a Jagan eye." Koenma's eyes shifted as he spoke. As if he were uncomfortable with his own suggestion.

"You want me to read the human's thoughts." Hiei deadpanned.

"It would be a fast and efficient way to gather the information needed." was Koenma's curt response.

"A fast and efficient way to spy, you mean."

Koenma grimaced, "Well...it is not the most ethical choice, but if you must use that word, I suppose so, yes."

"Fine." Hiei replied.

"Fine?" Koenma questioned.

"I do not care about this measly human or your measly ethics. When do I begin?"

"I am not sure if I should be happy or terrified at your total disregard for moral concerns in this case, but oh well. You start tomorrow."

Hiei turned back towards the pure white walls of his prison without another word, or any acknowledgement that the Prince of the Reikai still stood behind him. Koenma held in another sigh and began the walk back to his office. The journey to the prison involved too many stairs for the comfort of his short stubby legs, but he didn't want to ask George to carry him the rest of the way. Being a toddler was embarrassing at times.

The truth was, he did not actually need Hiei on this mission. The fire demon was right to question why he had even been asked to do the job when a Ferry Girl could have done it with ease. Koenma knew Hiei would hate it if he knew his actual motive. Koenma had recently come to suspect that his father, King Enma was manipulating lower ranked demons into violent crimes towards humans.

It was possible that Hiei was one of the D rank demons that was brainwashed into actions that were not his own. This was part of the fear mongering by the upper echelon of the Reikai to maintain control over the human world by keeping the humans and demons divided. Koenma did not have proof of this, but he had reasons enough to doubt his father.

Koenma was afraid of Enma and knew he could not stand up to the King's power as things currently stood. He could not let on about his suspicions or he would get a punishment much worse than spankings. Honestly, the Prince felt bad for the demons who were brainwashed and punished for actions that were beyond their control.

That is not to say that Hiei was a complete innocent or that he was not capable of cruelty all on his own. That is why Koenma was not going to simply let Hiei run amok. No, making Hiei watch over and protect a human life was just the test he needed to see if the irascible demon was worth giving a chance to. If Hiei knew that his second chance came from pity the demon would have rejected it out of sheer pride. It was best to make the demon earn his freedom.

Besides, the mystery of this human girl who should not exist did need to be solved. Koenma was truly at a loss on how she could have slipped under Spirits Worlds radar for so long. If there was a way for humans to hide their life signature from the Reikai's records then that was something he did not want to get into enemy hands.

He mulled these thoughts over in his mind as he walked, and was relieved to finally reach the door to his office. Only for that relief to plummet to the ground when he opened the door and saw the paperwork mounting on top of his desk. He let out a final sigh as he crossed the room, climbed into his cushioned swivel chair, and searched through the impossible pile for a single paper. The one file he had on the human, Ami Hamada.