Chapter Two: Lenai
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Why the hell is she here?
Hiei glared ineffectively at the young woman. She simply looked up at met his crimson hues with her own yellow ones.
Locks of ebony framed her face and cascaded down her thin back. She stood short, not any taller than Hiei. She wore a short sleeved black shirt made of an elastic material so that it clung to her like a second skin. Her knee-length pants, as well, were made of this material in this color. Her twin sai were now tucked into small rungs that looped out of the belt she wore. Along this belt, also, were various projectile weapons.
Koenma looked from Hiei to the other, and back again. "Do you… Know each other?"
"Hn." Hiei sneered.
"Yes. Vaguely…" She women shrugged, pulled out a sai, and began to fiddle with the deadly-looking tips again.
"Oh… Well… You know the mission already, so you two might as well go. You can tell him on the way."
"Sure…" She twirled the weapon, and holstered it, heading out the door.
Hiei didn't follow.
"Are you coming, hanyou?" Her voice now sounded as if it were aimed to hurt.
Hiei's eyes narrowed slightly more at the remark. He glared at Koenma. "You know, don't you? That knowledge means you will die."
Koenma gulped, despite the fact that he could have easily thrown Hiei in jail right there.
Hiei turned and followed the other out the door.
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Koenma sighed deeply, and slumped forward on his desk. "Oh Kami, what have I gotten myself into?"
Hiei doesn't even know the half of it… He's going to kill me… I can only hope Kurama gets back from his mission in time to stop him.
Another heaving sigh.
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She didn't feel like drawing attention to herself, so she chose the back halls as a way of leaving. Not smart.
Hiei slammed her against a wall, pinning her with her arms against her chest. "What the hell are you doing here, Lenai!"
"I didn't think you cared." She spoke through gritted teeth.
"You're supposed to be dead." Hiei's eyes were barely slits, boring into hers from a distance of barely an inch.
"Still didn't think you cared." Her entire eye went black for a moment.
"Tell me or I'll kill you right now."
"There's a revolt. In Makai."
"What?"
"That's why Koenma called me. And he called in Saruin. The three kingdoms have separated again, Jaganshi."
"And I should care why?"
"Because you don't want me to take control, now, do you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"My father is dead."
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FLASHBACK
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The setting is a small encampment, with a fire blazing in it's center. Various demons roam around, a few drunk, all amiable towards each other.
In one tent, two figures lay facing each other. One was a seven year old male, with black hair that seemed to be like flames, with navy tips and a tuft of white tipped edges in the front. Across from him lay a girl of his age, with shoulder-length black hair and yellow eyes.
The boy spoke. "Whadde ya mean your dad's the ruler of the underworld!"
"I mean just that! Haijime told me that I live with them because mah daddy didn't want bad men to hurt me."
"But… Aren't Haijime and all of us 'bad people'?" The boy looked confused.
"Hiiiiieeeeeiiiiiiiii…" The girl whined. "Don't you listen? Haijime said we're only bad people to the bad people. We only steal what we need to survive! We're not like those stupid kitsune."
"But, Lenai…" Hiei leaned over to whisper conspiratorially to the girl in her ear. "I saw Haijime steal some pretty jewels from the last house."
"Baka!" Lenai whacked the other over the head. "He needs pretty stuff so he can sell it on the black market so we can gets clothes and stuff!"
"Owwww…" Hiei rubbed a large bump that grew off his head where her fist had collided with it. "You hit hard."
"I'm sooo-" She yawned and stretched. "-rry…"
"You two better be going to sleep in there!" A gruff yet gentle voice called into the tent.
"Yes Haijime!" Lenai called out to the old bandit. She then rolled over, facing away from Hiei. "G'night, Hiei."
"G'night, Len." Hiei rolled to face away from the girl's turned back.
About five minutes later, the fire-ice hanyou sat up, and leaned over the girl, nudging her awake.
"Len…"
The girl muttered something in her sleep, but slept on.
"Leeeen…"
Another muttering.
"Lenai!" Hiei's loud whisper in her ear woke the girl up.
"Whhaaa?" She groggily replied.
"Doesn't that make you the princess of something? IF your dad's ruler like Mukuro, he's the king, right?"
"The king of darkness…" She tried to roll over again and return to sleep, but Hiei held her.
"Doesn't that make you the princess of darkness, then?"
"I dunno… But go to sleeeeep." She muttered crossly, and pulled from Hiei's grip, rolling over. Moments later, she had returned to sleep.
"Hn…" Hiei rolled over, and went to sleep himself.
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END FLASHBACK
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"What does that have to do with anything?" Hiei was now getting even more pissed, and pressed even harder against the woman.
"My brother is trying to take the throne. From what I hear, he's going to try and rule the demon world. But he won't give peace to the ningen, he wants them dead. He has the power to open another portal, Hiei. I inherited the Dragon… He inherited the Scepter."
"The Scepter of Darkness Flame? The key to worlds? Your father entrusted Kyuji with that!" Hiei eased up on her slightly.
"Yes. And he plans on using it the moment he finds and kills me."
"So he will have both the dragon and the key…"
"Hai. The item to open the gateway to the other worlds, and the creature to destroy them… Or simply secure his status as ruler of them all."