Stupid !#$$#! No one, you heard me, NO ONE reviewed chapter five! Did it suck that much!? Oh, well. The writing is the point, not the reviews. ANYway, enough of my ranting. I'm sure you're all so eager to read my story!
Disclaimer: I don't own YYH.
Yin-Yang
Chapter Six: Flashbacks and Shocking Enemies
"Ow!" Hiei complained, being healed in Genkai's rather large infirmary for the fifth time that month. Yukina, currently wrapping his wounds, sighed, smiling oddly.
"You really don't think twice before you challenge her, do you?" She commented, laughing slightly as she finished up. Hiei had been repeatedly sparring with Kai over the past month, training obsessively after each loss. The recent weeks had been almost nothing but training for him (he lost every time). Yukina, on the other hand, seemed to have a lot of free time, most of which she spent with Kurama, much to Hiei's displeasure.
As it turned out, the timid ice demon needed hardly any work; she knew the moves, but was dangerously out of practice. She, with the help of Kurama, had developed a sharp-edged sword, composed entirely of ice. Whenever Hiei thought about how far she had progressed, his heart burned with fierce pride, reserved only for her, although she was still blissfully unaware of their kinship, growing to view Hiei as a friend. In fact, everyone seemed to have grown a little closer, although Hiei would never admit it. The only exception seemed to be Kai. The shy girl, rather than socialize, preferred to keep to herself, although she was notably more relaxed and seemed infinitely less gloomy. Maybe it was because here, in her grandmother's temple, she received a nice smile every once in a while, rather than a lecture.
Hiei, too, kept to himself, and was extremely relived at Kai's solitude; after that first day, he had become highly suspicious of Kai, even more so than before, if possible. Also, he noted, there was an odd...feeling, one which he was afraid to describe, in his throat whenever he spoke in her presence; it was as if he were nervous, ridiculous as it seems. He attributed it to a minor cold, although he knew full well that demons couldn't get sick.
The anti-social fire demon also began to notice small actions which Kai performed, much to his surprise. He gathered, more from intuition than observation, that she would do anything to help others, and he still could not shake a vaguely familiar feeling. This feeling intensified whenever he sparred with her. Kai's usual weaponry, a golden bow and arrow, far overpowered Hiei's katana, and she had a dangerous ruthlessness to the way she fought, completely opposite to her usual manner.
She, in effect, was able to disarm her enemy, corner them, and could basically kill the unlucky person, should she so desire it. As luck would have it, she always aimed for non-lethal, easily blocked areas. Hiei, after carefully recounting their many fights, wondered angrily if Kai was toying with him. He thought, rightfully so, that she was hiding her true power, power which he craved to fight. One day, his curiosity got the better of him.
"Kai?" He had asked, glaring at her in a frustrated manner, kneeling as he gingerly touched a bad wound on his leg. She acknowledged his question, gazing at his injury with something which closely resembled interest, although Hiei pushed his dark qualms out of his mind. "Do you enjoy humiliating me?" She laughed quietly and Hiei felt something odd stir in the region of his chest.
"Of course not." She replied seriously, shrugging to emphasize her modesty. "I'm just doing what comes naturally." She smiled, walking toward Hiei's crouched figure, cleaning up any and all mess along the way. "Here, let me help you with that." She reached out to help Hiei up, 'accidentally' grazing the rather large wound on his calf. The fire demon let slip a small gasp of pain and Kai pulled back, her stare still lingering on his blood, as if fascinated. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you that bad." She glanced at the blood on her pale hand and said, in a tone which suggested awe, "You bleed really well." She then clapped her hand over her mouth and hurriedly walked away, Hiei staring bewilderedly behind her. As she reached the large back door, a sudden wind struck her, blowing her dirty coat off of her legs for a mere second. However, that second was long enough for Hiei to see, with a look of horror, numerous scars covering the skin shown by her black skirt, the staining red contrasting against a deathly pale complexion.
"Wait!" He yelled after her, frustrated emotion in his voice. She, however, was long gone, black hair sweeping after her. She wouldn't have answered anyway... Hiei thought bitterly, forcing himself up, flinching slightly as he put pressure on his injured leg. He grabbed his katana from a nearby bush, having been blasted away from him by Kai's unanticipated attack from behind. Just as he began to mirror Kai's path into the temple, he was stopped by a sudden searing pain in his Jagan, and far off he heard a quiet groan of anguish, which he attributed to Kai. His sight blurred, and he plunged, headfirst, into a 'vision'.
Kai ran, turning down a street and running in the opposite direction every once in a while, as if trying to escape some unseen enemy. She eventually came to a halt in front of a rather plain-looking house, plain except for the fact that it was covered in Christmas lights and various pro-religion banners. The young girl sat down on the porch and, wiping the soaked black and white hair out of her face, stared at the rising dawn. She looked sadly at the pinkish-purplish sky, and Hiei knew from experience that she was wondering why she couldn't feel as warm as the sky looked; she wanted to know why she was shunned, unloved; why even her mother hated her. She fell asleep to the dawning sky, leaning against a rather slippery post. There were tears streaming down her face.
"What?!" The girl was awoken by a shocked statement as the door opened hours later (To Hiei, viewing this as a sort of spirit, it was but seconds.) A man with shoulder-length, raven-colored hair and sparkling blue eyes reached for his morning paper; he found his seven-year-old demonic niece on his porch in a rather thin nightgown with red stains. "Kai?! What are you doing here?!" Kai's eyes widened and she immediately embraced the man in a hug, trying desperately to feel love which was too often non-existent.
Suddenly, Hiei felt himself jerked out of his trance-like state by a hand on his shoulder, shaking him madly. His eyes opened swiftly, the third showing through his bandana, scaring his intruder. "Wow, geez, Hiei. When you meditate, you really meditate..." Yukina, standing a few feet in front of him, laughed. The fire demon's unknowing sister helped him up, and after healing his wound, led him to the front of the ancient temple. There, in the silhouette of the setting sun, stood Kai, Kurama, and Koenma, apparently discussing the current, and first, mission. Kai was to the back, squirming uncomfortably and pulling down her coat, although it already reached the tops of her rather dirty converse. She seemed to be more unstable and quieter than usual, but tried to cover it up with a warm welcome to the approaching pair.
"H-Hi. K-Koenma just arrived, and I think he wants to talk to you." The corners of her rather pale lips pulled into a small smile; Yukina returned with a smile that was considerably warmer by comparison, but Hiei did not even attempt at friendliness. He was still wondering about the events earlier that day, barely ten minutes ago.
"I'll bet he does," he responded sarcastically as he gave Kai the smallest of dirty looks; no one, not even a fellow demon, kept secrets from him. Yukina was bewildered at his rudeness, as was Kurama. Koenma looked nervous, but replaced his cautious face with one of business and continued explaining something to a distracted Kurama. Kai resumed her usual custom of leaning against the wall, staring at an unfixed point on the ground. Hiei, following Yukina, stood close to Koenma, but found that he could not concentrate on the instructions of the Spirit Prince. Instead, his crimson eyes found their way to Kai. Her eyes were clouded, resembling a red beacon shining through a foggy night. What is she thinking? Hiei thought to himself. He toyed with the notion of reading her mind, but decided against it, remembering their first encounter. Suddenly, his Jagan stung a little, and, as if seeing a fragment of a dream, his mind clouded.
"I hate you, Uncle Eito!" A girl's voice, sounding about ten, yelled angrily through a pink door. The girl's ebony locks, tied in neat braids, rested on her shoulders as she beat her head against the said door, tears streaming down her face, sliding across two dark blue stripes, one on each of her cheeks. "You never loved me! Never! You're just like the rest of them!" As an answer, a man's voice drifted through to her now-pierced ear (A yin of the yin-yang, but nothing on her other ear.)
"Kai, calm down!" He slammed on her door, but she paid him no notice, instead putting on a pair of headphones and listening to music which closely resembled the banging of trash can lids ("Grunge rock, dude." Kai once described it to her Uncle, when he had called it "Noise.") "All I did was comment on your hair coloring! (Even though it does look like an old movie.) Geez, why're you acting like some sort of teenager?!" At this, Kai burned with anger, a fiery gold aura enveloping her.
"I've lived with you for six frickin' years and you don't even know my age?! Even Ayame knew my age! I'm thirteen, mister smart!" As she spoke her temper flared, and her tears dispersed, instead becoming a fierce glare. I-I thought at least he cared! But he doesn't! She blasted open the door, sending the raven –haired, baggy-clothed man flying across the hall. "Stand up!" She walked over to him with an air of deadly calm and stood over his cramped figure, pupil-less eyes glowing evilly in a menacing glare. Eito gulped and began to say something, but he never finished. "Just leave me ALONE!" Kai yelled, and a blinding golden flash filled Hiei's vision. However, from Eito's anguished scream and Kai's yell of "I'll never find a home!" Hiei could guess what had happened. Eito was...gone. And it was Kai's fault.
Hiei stared, open-mouthed, at the sullen figure in front of him and pondered his vision as the demonic defenders marched through their original home. What was that all about? Why won't she tell me? As the vertically-challenged fire demon thought, a small voice answered him, one which he vaguely recognized. It's because she's scared. She doesn't want you to know. Nor should you!
Hiei jumped a little; where did that come from? Who are you?
The voice responded, still rather angry. Someone close, whom you've seen before, but don't remember. Someone who is both best friend and enemy. Someone destined to change you, without your knowledge or consent.
Hiei began to grow angry at this voice, but he did not respond, as a horde of demons began to attack them from all sides. They were nearing an area known widely as "The Dark Forest," renowned for its prostitutes. The most intimidating part of this dark area was that the highest order of demons inhibited it: The Dark Demons. Rumor had it, they were servants of Satan himself. Kurama, Yukina, Kai, and Hiei fought through hordes of lower-class demons, almost effortlessly. Suddenly, however, they stopped.
The ugly beasts retreated, parting in the center for their self-proclaimed "leader." Yukina gasped, as Hiei glared daggers at the person -- yes, person -- the demons revealed.
It was Tarukane.
A/N: Oh. My. Gosh. Ohmigosh! What the #$# just happened?! Well, I guess you'll find out.
