Dream Weaver
Disclaimer: The day that the creator of a series writes fanfics about said series is the day that pigs fly to hell for some ice skating lessons.
Author's Note: Okay, I am basing some of this on Hiei's first appearance in the anime where it's said that having the third eye gives Hiei some interesting psychic powers. I figure if he can control people with the thing, he can probably use it to break himself and others out of an illusion, even on an unconscious level, if nothing stops him from doing so.
"Why won't you die!?!" Yusuke snarled, swinging his fist toward the demon. She laughed and faded to smoke.
"You can't harm me. You've tried everything, and I haven't even used my greatest attack yet," she said, solidifying. She laughed again as a pale blue mist began to swirl around her.
"Don't breath in the mist, it's her dream attack!" Hiei yelled, using his speed to dash from the area. He stopped and turned, cursing as he saw the other three beginning to fall prey to the mist.
"Don't think to get away from me, tiny one," the demon said, suddenly behind him. Hiei's eyes widened, and before he could run, her hand was covering his mouth and nose, mist pouring from her palm. He struggled futilely for a few minutes before finally succumbing to the mist himself.
...
"Whoa, where am I?," Kuwabara mumbled to himself, rubbing his head. He seemed to be in a very nice, cozy little home that he didn't recognize.
"Kazuma!" a lovely voice called. Kuwabara turned at the sound of that voice calling his name, a smile lighting up his entire face.
"Yukina!" he shouted happily, catching her up in a hug as she flung herself at him. He shook his head slightly, wondering how he ever could have forgotten the home he shared with his beautiful wife.
...
Yusuke shook his head and blinked, feeling off balance and confused. He was in someone's house and he didn't remember how he had gotten there. His confusion fled and a smile softened his features as a young voice reached his ears.
"Will Daddy be home tonight, Mama?" a little boy asked.
"I think he will be, Koji," Keiko's voice answered. "Your daddy is a very busy, important man in the spirit world. It took me a while to accept that, but I know he has responsibilities. I'm just grateful that he is able to find so much time to spend with us."
Yusuke's smile widened as he slowly crept toward his wife and son, unnoticed. Then he stood up straight with a roar, arms outstretched, and grabbed the now squealing boy from Keiko.
"Daddy!" Koji yelled with a laugh, wrapping his arms around him. Keiko jumped from her chair and hugged them both, smiling.
Keiko had found out all about his job as a spirit detective several years ago and fully supported him, knowing how much he helped people.
Yusuke hugged his family, smiling happily.
...
Kurama leaned against the wall of his home to catch his balance, disoriented.
"Kurama!" his mother called. "Is that you?"
"Yes, Mother," he replied, smiling slightly. It still filled his heart with joy to hear his mother call him by his real name. He had finally told her about his past and what he was. She had taken it fairly well and their relationship had grown stronger.
Shiori slipped into the room from the kitchen to hug her son. "I'm glad you're home, Kurama."
He smiled and hugged her. "It's good to be home with you, Mother."
...
Hiei blinked at the slight crunching sound under his boots. "Snow?" he questioned softly, bending down to examine the blanket of white covering the forest floor. He cried out as pain suddenly flared through his forehead. He went to his knees, his hand pressed tightly to his head, not even noticing as the world seemed to grow bigger and the bandana and the Jagan it covered both vanished.
He blinked a few times as the headache faded. Then an impish grin flashed across his face as an idea suddenly occurred to him. He doubled over and moaned, as if the headache still pained him.
"Hiei, are you alright?" a worried voice asked. He grinned and faked a few more moans as he heard footsteps coming close. "Hiei?"
The boy suddenly jumped up and tackled the little girl just as she put a hand on his shoulder. They fell together in the fluffy snow, both of them giggling. Hiei rolled off of his sister, his eyes shining, and flung a quickly created snowball at her.
"You big faker, you cheated!" Yukina yelled, the laughter in her voice and eyes taking any sting out of the words. Hiei stuck his tongue out at her and ran, laughing as he barely dodged a thrown snowball.
"Hiei, Yukina, it's getting dark!"
Hiei stumbled as he turned toward the voice, gasping as pain stabbed through his head. The world suddenly seemed filled with disturbing flashes of red and green and he felt off balance and strangely lonely.
The headache faded as quickly as it had come and the boy got to his feet and ran toward the welcoming voice calling for him to come in.
"There you are, my boy," Hina said, smiling as she scooped up her son.
...
"Oh no, this isn't good. She got all four of them with her dream attack!" Koenma wailed, staring at the screen in front of him as Hiei slowly fell to the ground, the dream weaver slapping a spirit ward over the exact center of his bandana as he landed. "What are we supposed to do now?"
He stared at the screen for a few minutes more. The two humans and Kurama sprawled across the floor like limp dolls while Hiei twitched and jerked every few seconds, his Jagan fitfully alternating between a red and green glow. The implanted third eye gave the diminutive demon psychic abilities that very likely would have allowed him to break free from the dream weaver's illusion. Unfortunately, her clever use of the spirit ward was keeping that from happening.
"Sir, I might be able to wake them up," Botan volunteered hesitantly. The dream weaver was way out of her league, but Yusuke and the others were her friends. She had to help them somehow.
"Is there someone you can take with you to help?"
Botan bit her lip and nodded slowly. "Yes, there is." Hiei and Kuwabara are both going to kill me for this...
...
Hiei was making a snow castle with Yukina when the next attack came. It was even worse than before, leaving his head throbbing with agonizing pain.
"Hiei!" his sister screamed, pulling him close. He shuddered in her arms, his eyes unfocusing as he was pulled into an image within his own mind.
He could see an older version of himself, dressed in black with small amounts of white. Young Hiei backed away with a gasp. A third eye peered out of the other version's forehead, glowing green.
"This isn't real," the older Hiei said, his voice low and calm. "You didn't grow up with Yukina."
"What are you talking about?" the little boy demanded, backing away from the disturbing vision.
"This isn't real," the older Hiei insisted.
"You're lying!" the boy screamed, unable to control a sudden rising panic. Why should I be scared? He's just some lying monster, trying to trick me.
"They threw you away!" the older one yelled, finally showing emotion as his eyes glinted with anger.
"NOOOOOOO!" the boy screamed. Then he blinked, realizing he was back in the snow, his sister's arms wrapped around him.
"Hiei?" she said, her voice worried.
"I... I'm okay, Yukina," he said weakly, looking down at himself. He was still a child and still clad in pale blue garments, like his sister. He reached a trembling hand to his forehead, feeling only smooth skin.
"What happened?"
"I... saw a monster... he wanted me to think... that he was me...," Hiei said slowly, gazing at her with fear in his crimson eyes.
...
"Stupid girl, you are no match for me," the dream weaver hissed as Botan ran at her, swinging her oar like a weapon. Botan grimly circled, trying, successfully, to get the demon to turn her back on the four men.
Yukina crept in and knelt beside the jerking and twitching form of Hiei. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. She gazed at him with sad eyes as she began to work on the stubborn knot tied in the bandana. She couldn't remove the spirit ward directly, but taking off the bandana would remove the ward as well.
...
Hiei cried out and clutched at his sister's arm as the world started spinning. He was suddenly in a strange white void, facing the creature that looked like an older version of himself.
"Go away!" Hiei yelled at the thing.
"This isn't real, damn it," the thing hissed. "Remember who you are."
"I know who I am, and I know what you are. You're a monster, and all monsters should die!" Hiei's eyes began to glow, chill air flowing around him suddenly.
"This isn't real," the thing repeated.
"Shut up!" Hiei screamed, rage powering a fierce polar wind strong enough to force the thing back a little. He was so focussed on the creature in front of him that he didn't notice when their location changed.
...
Kuwabara was taking a rather nice and intimate bubble bath with Yukina when two figures suddenly appeared in his bathroom.
"... UP!" what looked like a very young Hiei screamed at the version that Kuwabara was more familiar with.
"Oh, no, don't tell me that the shrimp spawned...," Kuwabara said, staring at the two of them.
Both Hieis turned to him at the same time and yelled, "shut up, idiot!" in unison. The younger one froze, his eyes going wide.
The older one smirked. "Good, you're starting to remember."
"Shut the fuck up, you bas-"
...
"...tard!"
Kurama blinked as two versions of his best friend suddenly appeared in the middle of his living room, having a screaming match.
"Damn it, you stubborn little prick, remember who you are and what happened last out in the real world!"
"The last thing to happen in the real world was me playing with Yukina! I don't know what kind of creature you are, but I do know the difference between reality and illusion."
"No, you don't. And I'm not a creature. I'm the one part of you that can never be tricked by the happy illusions of a dream weaver. I'm the deep-rooted core of cynicism that keeps you skeptical of the idea of anything good ever happening in your life. And I'm the part that remembers EVERYTHING. Even when the rest has been made to forget by..."
...
"What happened then, Daddy?" Koji asked eagerly, his eyes shining brightly. Keiko leaned forward her seat, also wanting to hear the rest of the story.
"Well, then I-" Yusuke was cut off as two people appeared between him and his family, one of them a very short Hiei and the other a Hiei of normal shortness.
"... the pleasing fantasy created by a dream weaver demon."
"My life is not just some fantasy!" the boy shouted, very close to crying.
"Yes, it is. And deep down, you know it. Hina didn't convince the Ice Maidens to let her keep you, and you know it."
"No," the boy whispered, not even noticing as his clothing began to change to match that of his other self. He barely noticed that he was slowly getting taller, as the other Hiei began to fade out of sight.
"No.." he said again, his voice getting louder as his appearance changed to match who he really was. "No. No. No. No.... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed the last, his head thrown back, as all of his memories came rushing back. The memories wavered and began to fade as the world dissolved into pale blue mist.
Then a scream from somewhere else echoed through his mind, shredding what was left of the dream weaver's spell.
"YUKINA!" Hiei yelled, almost fully himself once more.
...
Yukina gasped and backed away slightly, the now untied bandana in her hand, as Hiei jerked to his knees, his head thrown back as a raw, agonized denial was torn from his throat. As if that was some sort of signal, the other three groggily blinked awake.
Yukina gave a sudden cry of pain as the dream weaver fling Botan at her. The sound of his beloved sister's shout snapped Hiei out of it and he suddenly stopped screaming. He appeared right in front of a very startled dream weaver demon, his katana buried deep within her body, before anyone had even noticed that he had moved.
"You managed to kill her..." Yusuke said, his voice trailing off as he saw the odd, wild expression on the short demon's face.
"She was a monster, monsters should all die," he said in an oddly singsong monotone. Then he blinked a few times and shook his head, suddenly seeming like his normal self.
"Um... how exactly did we escape from dream weaver's fantasies?" Kurama asked. "That's supposed to be impossible."
"Hn," Hiei grunted, smirking slightly. "You can thank my deep-rooted core of cynicism for that."
Then he cleaned and sheathed his katana before walking away without any further explanation.