Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies…

Warning: This story is a parallel! It can be read by itself, but if you enjoy it, you will probably like my story "Fox Child" about Kurama's childhood.

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"I am not an assassin," Hiei spat at the group of demons on the platform.

"Yes," the leader drawled. "We are aware of that. Your talents lie in your speed, not your silent deaths. However, all of our assassins are currently on other missions and this is a rather simple job. Besides, you have been idle for quite some time. Keeping busy is good for you while your talents are not needed."

Hiei rolled his eyes. When the leader of the Fang Thieves said "keeping busy" he meant keeping out of trouble. Anyway, the Fangs knocked over palaces and dungeons only about once every twenty years. Hiei's skills were not needed most of the time.

However, having nothing else to do, Hiei reluctantly nodded. "Very well," he agreed. "What's the job?"

"You are need to find and kill a low class ogre demon by the name of Mantis. He is wondering in the human world and robbing some of our better jewel stashes. He needs to die and he needs to die now. Failure is not an option."

"Fine," Hiei agreed. "I'll do it. But only if you agree to one thing."

"You are in no position to bargain with us, half breed," snapped one of the higher demons.

But the leader raised his hand to silence him. "Let us hear what he has to say. Proceed, Hiei."

"I want an interesting job after this," Hiei told them. "No more assassinations, no more simple pit pocketing. I want a break in."

The leader considered this for a moment. Finally he nodded. "Alright, we agree to your terms. If you successfully kill Mantis, you will get your new assignment when you return. Now go to Kilna and get the details on Mantis. Do not return until he is dead." With that, Hiei stood up and left the room with a final bow at the door.

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"What!" Hiei cried, looking at the paper he was holding. "They made it sound like this Mantis was an low class demon! He's almost as high on the charts as I am!"

"And an ugly one too," Kilna said, looking over his shoulder at the paper. On it was a picture of a rather primitive looking blue ogre demon, with a small horn coming out of its head and long teeth and talons.

"Think you can handle him?" Kilna asked Hiei.

Hiei scoffed. "Of course. I may be just a class ahead of him, but I am the assassinator and he is the victim. I naturally have the upper hand."

"I know, Hiei," Kilna said, shaking his head. "But greater demons have been killed by him. He's no push over by a long shot." Hiei just shrugged it off. Kilna was making him nervous.

"He lives in Japan," Hiei noticed in surprise, looking down at the paper. "That's good. It's one of the closest human countries to the boarder of demon world and human world."

"Yeah," Kilna agreed. "A lot of the demons like to stay near the boarder in case they have to get away fast. Be careful though and mask your ki. Because it's the preferred area, there will probably be other demons around."

Hiei scoffed once more, but didn't argue. Kilna was probably right, anyway. No point in taking chances.

"Who's my partner?" Hiei asked the black, feline demoness.

"You don't have one. This is a solo mission," she told him. "I warned you. This mission is not as simple as it appears."

"I suppose so," Hiei said, looking at the description on the paper. "But I'll still win."

"I'm sure you will," Kilna said, kissing him lightly on the cheek as a goodbye and walked back into the storeroom. Hiei blushed furiously as he watched her go.

'Idiot cat demons,' he thought to himself. 'They always have to be so sensual.' Then he turned and walked back out the door to the portal.

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It took Hiei no less then five weeks to find the ogre demon. Mantis didn't make any moves for the first couple weeks, probably sensing that something was up.

In the third week, he knocked over one of the Fang's smaller stashes, buried in a small mountain. Unfortunately, he left absolutely no trace of his ware-abouts and Hiei was forced to wait once again for any suspicious movement in the underground demon realm.

At the end of the fourth week, he made a mistake. One of the jewels he had stolen had a particular rare attribute. The demon, not being particularly strong in ki attacks and manipulation, was not aware of its rarity. The jewel gave its wearer a large ki boost, making Mantis's ki nearly double. Before he had the jewel, his power was low enough for him to go almost totally undetected without shields of any sort. Now, he stood out like a beacon.

Hiei finally tracked the demon to a small city in the outskirts of Japan. The city was called Rorna and had the reputation of being moderately quiet as far as demons went. The ground itself had almost no extra power stored, making it not the most appealing of places for demons who fed off of ki. But, for a demon who mostly relied on his strength and power to get the job done, it was the idle place for any fight.

'Damn,' Hiei thought, sitting in the top of a tree, watching a couple kids play in a small park by a forest glade. 'I couldn't find a worse place to have a fight if I tried. The ground is practically eating my OWN energy. There's nothing to be done though.'

He cast his aura out, widening it until it covered most of the city. He then scanned it for powerful ki; the most powerful one was probably going to be Mantis's. When at last he found it, he watched it for a moment. It didn't flicker with any extra energy or life, which meant he wasn't around his new stash of treasure, recently stolen from the Fangs. 'Perfect,' Hiei grinned to himself. 'It's exactly the right time to attack.'

Fallowing the ki, he found himself in one of the dumpier parts of town, just outside a bar with the peeling letters that named it "Kusco's Joint." Hiei watched him for a moment. The demon had done an excellent job disguising himself, the fire demon had to admit that. He looked no better then the rest of the humans in the bar, worn down and looking like he had had a few drinks too many. It was probably the work of a stone he had stolen. 'Hn,' Hiei considered. 'Might come in handy some time. I'll have to bring it back to the rest of the 'Thieves.'

Then, without a second thought, he set his plot in motion. Letting his own ki flicker a little, Hiei waited until the demon noticed. Fortunately, Mantis wasn't drunk enough to not sense a ki as strong as Hiei's. The fire demon didn't relish the idea of sitting around outside a bar all day.

Mantis stood up, paid his bill, and walked out of the bar. As he got outside, he looked around, back and forth down the street, trying to find which way the strong ki was coming from. Hiei, continuing to let his ki flicker a little, hopped down the street, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. The demon fallowed, completely unaware of the trap he was being set up in. 'Hn,' Hiei scoffed. 'Ignorant. What's that human term again? Like a moth to the flame?'

The fire demon continued to lead the demon down the street, and onto the next, twisting and turning in a maze of patterns. But Hiei knew exactly where he was going: to the exact same forest glade he had sat in this morning. That way they would avoid involving humans. Not that he had any particular fondness toward the selfish species, and in fact, would probably think the world a better place with one more gone. But, when humans got involved, things got hectic. They tended to over dramatize all murders, making it seem like a huge deal. Besides, that would draw attention to the Fangs, and they wouldn't be thankful for that.

When they passed by the park next to the forest, Hiei quickly sent the children away with a quick flick of power. For some reason, he held a slight sympathy for the younger ones of the species, although whether it was a fondness for children in general or a pity for the fact that they would grow up to be just like the other of their low class kind, even he himself wasn't sure. But, either way, the glade would be empty, the perfect place to make a kill.

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Hello everybody!

Dream Fox here, the author of this story! Most of you have probably read my other story, Fox Child, first, but if you haven't, you'd probably like it. Go check it out.

Because this story is a parallel, however, some of the dialogue will be the exact same as that of Fox Child. It has to be, or else it wouldn't be a parallel. However, this story will be focusing on Hiei and his point of view, rather then Kurama's. Let me know what you think!

Because my next chapter is already written, it will be up very soon, probably no later then Saturday evening. Check it out then!

I think that's it for now! Reviews are drooled over, while flames are revived with bared fangs and claws!

Dream Fox