Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Yu Yu Hakusho characters. Only Kiharu.

Violet Haze
Chapter One: Enter Yusuke and Hiei

Key:

Location

Thoughts

Noise

10:22 AM

Demon World Stadium

"Are you ready, Kiharu?" Yomi asked, looking down at his daughter. She was wearing a simple fighting outfit, a black tank top and dark green cargo pants, fastened by a brown leather belt. On her left arm was a silver armlet that had the word "strength" engraved on it. Her long dark green hair was tied into a high ponytail and her violet eyes were filled with determination and focus.

"Yes," she said confidently, stepping closer and closer toward the stadium. Once they entered the stadium, Yomi went to go register for him and his daughter. Kiharu looked around the stadium. Her father hadn't been lying; some of the apparitions here were jokes.

Some demons gave off the as much demonic aura as a chewed piece of gum stuck to the bottom of someone's shoe. "This time I won't lose!" said one blue-skinned demon, with gill slits on the side of his neck. "I will become the ruler of Demon World."

"Dream on!" sneered another with a bird-like beak. "This world is as good as mine!"

Kiharu rolled her eyes. All these demons were basically a waste of time and not even worth killing. She doubted any of those demons who bragged about how they're going to win the tournament and become King were even going to last the preliminaries. She waded her way through the weak crowd, gossip among the demons following her.

"You see that girl?"

"The one with the green hair and purple eyes?"

"Yeah, she came here with Lord Yomi!"

"Lord Yomi? She his kid or something?"

Not looking where she was walking, Kiharu bumped into a demon with a very plump stomach. "Watch were you're walking!" he snarled, saliva dripping from his sharp fangs. He was a tall demon with beady black eyes and pasty green skin.

Kiharu said nothing. She only looked up at him.

"What's the matter? You lost little girl?"

Again, Kiharu said nothing. She only looked up at him, brazenly with soulless violet eyes. The demon was getting annoyed.

"Why don't you answer me, wench!"

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Three clean slices and the demon fell to his knees, both his arms and head severed. When his mutilated body fell apart, blood erupted from the base of his neck and flowed down his body like fresh lava tumbling down the cone of a volcano that had just erupted. And there stood Kiharu, fingernails elongated.

Plip.

A single drop of blood fell from her fingertips, staining the ground below. All the surrounding demons were staring in shock. Kiharu's nails had been colored a crimson shade from the demon's blood. Eyes went from Kiharu to the carcass of the demon then back to Kiharu.

"Did . . .you see that?" asked one, looking absolutely shocked.

"She killed him?"

"I dunno. I was watching him egg her on and before I even blink the guy's got his arms and head cut off!"

Kiharu walked up to a demon with pale blue skin. The demon trembled in fear as she drew near. She grabbed the demon by the collar of his shirt and the demon screamed in cowering fear. She was not interested in his weak life, though. She wiped her nails clean on the demon's shirt and released her grip on the collar. She retracted her long nails and walked away, all bystanders still in disbelief of what they had just witnessed.

"Kiharu!" She looked up to see her blind father walking toward her. It still amazed Kiharu how a man who was entirely blind could make his way throughout Demon World, much less to have previously been one of the three Kings. Then again, he probably had many years to build up his strength and power and, along with raising his fighting skills to unimaginable levels, he overcame his blindness.

"We're all signed up," he said, gesturing to a button on the red vest that went over his fighting robes. The button was a spring green color and read the number thirty-six.

"Here's yours." Yomi opened his hand and revealed a button for Kiharu. She adjusted it onto her tank top and read that she would be number thirty-nine. She fiddled with the button between her fingers. The tournament was going to begin soon and she was itching for a good fight. Though, judging from this crowd of demons, she might not get one for a while.

"Are you excited?" Yomi asked, placing a hand on his daughter's head.

". . . I suppose so." Excited wasn't the right word. In fact, no word seemed to describe how she felt. Maybe that was because she didn't really have feelings. Sure, she got annoyed with troublesome demons that bothered her but not anything real. She did not know sadness, happiness, nervousness, and had never even genuinely smiled. The only thing she understood was the thrill of victory. That, and feeling empty within.

"Kiharu?" She shook her head as though she had snapped out of a trance. Kiharu looked up to see Yomi looking down upon her. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you had a blank look in your eyes," answered Yomi. "You were staring out into space. Are you feeling well enough to fight?"

"Of course!" She punched her fist into the palm of her hand. "I'm always ready to knock in a few heads . . . or sever them, whatever I fancy."

Yomi smirked.

"Well, well," said a voice from a short distance. "Looks like Yomi's back for his second shot at becoming the King!"

Kiharu turned her head. A tall male with slicked black hair and brown eyes was approaching Kiharu and her father. From his appearance, Kiharu would've guessed he was a human. However, he was emitting strong demon energy despite the fact he didn't have any extra limbs, eyes, ears, or any horns or tails. Yomi smiled upon seeing this man.

"If it isn't Yusuke Urameshi!" he greeted joyously. "Going to try again this year as well?"

"You know me," he said jokingly, "I never miss out on an all-the-asses-you-can-kick fest."

Yomi laughed. "Ah, how the spirit of fighting burns so deeply within you."

"Lots of old faces," said Yusuke, glancing around at the hordes of demons that were all inside the area. "And quite a few new ones, too."

"Speaking of new faces . . ." Yomi placed a hand on Kiharu's head. "This is my daughter, Kiharu."

Yusuke peered down at her and pinched her cheeks. "Aww, look at the pretty face!" teased Yusuke, talking to her as though she were a child. "She's just like a little doll." Kiharu, aggravated by Yusuke's pinching of her supple cheeks, grabbed both his wrists tightly and smirked as he drew them back in pain. "Yeowch!"

Sizzle.

Yusuke glanced down at his wrists to see that they had been burned. His smoldering flesh hissed as steam rose up from his arms. Kiharu placed her hands at her sides and gave Yusuke a look that clearly said "I dare you to touch me again!"

"She's a feisty one, all right," said Yomi, petting the top of her head as though she were a domestic cat. Kiharu wanted to burn Yomi's arms as she did to Yusuke but refrained from doing it. She had to have some respect for him. He did create her in his laboratory. He was the one who established her state of being in the incubation tank. She was created from samples of his own flesh and blood..

Creation. Yes, that was an appropriate word. Sure, Yomi called Kiharu his daughter and she called him her father but really she was just his creation. She was a soulless husk. And if she had no soul, was it possible she had no heart? Physically, she had a heart beating within her but she meant heart with an emotional reference.

"Yeah, so is Kiharu competing?" asked Yusuke, rubbing his skin tenderly. He winced as his hand touched his burns, which still stung as much as they did when he first received them.

"Can't you see the button, genius?" she snapped, almost thrusting it in his face. Temper boiling, Kiharu spun around and pointed a finger at Yomi. "And for the record, you don't have to answer for me! I can think for myself!"

Yomi merely laughed and turned Kiharu around again. "Ah, she's quite a handful but you can't help but love her." She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Yeah, quite the charmer, this one," Yusuke said sardonically, staring at his arms which appeared to have been scalded with hot oil. Yusuke then peered over Yomi's shoulder, as though expecting someone. "Hey, what happened to your son? Shura, right?"

"Shura is gone," said Yomi ominously.

"Where to?" asked Yusuke, looking a bit wary due to the dark manner Yomi bathed his words in.

"He is . . . on his own personal mission." His face was like stone. No emotion whatsoever. And why should there be any emotion? He is the one who wanted a new, more powerful heir to clash with Yusuke and Hiei; most particularly Hiei since Yomi was more of an enemy with Mukuro than Raizen. And upon creating the new heir, he had his original one, his son so to speak, decapitated.

"Personal mission?" repeated Yusuke tentatively.

There was still no change in Yomi's visage. "Yes. He's off on his own fighting a personal battle. He won't be here this time."

Yusuke chuckled nervously, rubbing the nape of his neck. "That's too bad," he said, sounding a bit unsure in his voice. "I was hoping to maybe show the kid a trick or two."

"Well, I still have my dear Kiharu here," said Yomi assuredly, who had resumed petting Kiharu like a cat, as though he were expecting her to purr. "Well, good luck to you, Mr. Urameshi." He extended his hand and Yusuke shook it.

"Yeah, catch you two later," he said, taking his leave.

"That, Kiharu, was Yusuke Urameshi. He's the late Raizen's heir."

I already knew that! thought Kiharu bitterly. She recalled the conversation that she and Yomi shared months ago when she first spawned from the incubation tank.

"I knew that," she said through gritted teeth. Kiharu wanted to snap at the blind bastard but watched her tongue. This was the demon that had created her and trained her. She couldn't just lunge at him and kill him. Maybe once she won this tournament and became the King, or rather, Queen of Demon World then she could send him into oblivion. But for now, she put up a charade that she actually respected him.

"Let us see who else has decided to show up," said Yomi, taking Kiharu's hand. She wrenched it back and put her hands on her hips.

"I'm not a child," she hissed. "I won't get lost." Yomi shook his head and merely pressed onward, Kiharu walking by his side. Soon Yomi came to a halt, as did Kiharu. Before them was a figure with immense demon energy swirling about them.

The demon had red hair that appeared to be a shade of orange and just looking at them made Kiharu feel their strength. Not that she was intimidated of course, but it was still a bit startling to come across this amount of energy about one person. What she found most odd was that the demon had only one sapphire eye, the other one appeared to be some bionic replacement for an eyeball. The demon turned.

"Well, if it isn't Yomi," they said with a slight smirk. Yomi smirked right back.

"Mukuro, you're looking well," he said.

So this is Mukuro. Hmm . . . I'm surprised that she didn't become the ruler of Demon World. If she's this strong, her heir must be very powerful as well. This could be a problem.

Kiharu was cocky, but she wasn't foolish. If it came down to a fight between her and Mukuro, she had a slightly higher chance of losing. She was stronger, but she was fairly certain Mukuro was stronger. Mukuro was so strong that she was one of the three Kings of Demon World. Now she was fairly certain she wanted to meet her rival, Hiei.

Mukuro's natural eye glanced down at Kiharu. "And who might this be?" asked Mukuro, still staring at Kiharu. Her eye was most particularly fixated one the two horns that made Kiharu look like a female devil.

"This is my daughter," said Yomi, placing his hand on Kiharu's head once again. "Kiharu," he added, stroking the top of her head.

I'm not a fucking animal!

She managed to stifle her anger, her face bearing no emotion whatsoever. However, she was becoming very aggravated with Yomi's constant petting. She was not an animal and shouldn't be treated as such. And when she wasn't being treated like an animal, she was treated like a child. Kiharu couldn't peg which one annoyed her more.

"Hmm . . . I see where she gets her horns from," said Mukuro blandly. Her eye trailed back up to Yomi. She smiled gently. "She's got a nice face. I hope it doesn't get too thrashed during the tournament."

Was that a compliment or an insult or both?

"Mukuro," said a deep voice. A man materialized out of seemingly nowhere. Kiharu stared at him with her violet eyes with mild interest. His energy was not as strong as Mukuro's, but he had icy crimson eyes that made a cold chill run up Kiharu's spine. He would be more intimidating if he were more than three inches taller than her.

"Yes, Hiei?"

So this is the heir of Mukuro. Not nearly as powerful as her but there's something about him that makes me think he'll put up a good fight, nonetheless.

"The placing of fighters into groups shall begin shortly," he said simply. "We'd best be off soon."

"Yomi, you remember Hiei?" said Mukuro. Kiharu rolled her eyes. The way they were talking, as if they were old friends at a high school reunion. This was a tournament to become the unquestioned ruler of Demon World! Not some stupid reunion!

"Why, yes I do," said Yomi matter-of-factly. "Going to give it your all, Hiei?"

"Hn," grunted Hiei.

Mukuro was the next to speak. "Hiei, this is Yomi's daughter, Kiharu. She's competing in the tournament as well."

Hiei barely skimmed his eyes over her. "She's weak," he said bluntly. Kiharu's hands curled into fists. "And short-tempered as well," he added, seeing her balled fists.

"Shut up!" she snarled, already angry from Yomi's treating her like a pet or some sort of child. Hiei's insult just made things worse. Maybe she wasn't a top-notch demon like Mukuro but her prowess was of a fairly high level and mockery of that was not tolerated.

"Ah, she speaks. What else can she do?" said Hiei scathingly.

"Bastard!"

Mukuro and Yomi chuckled at the sight of Kiharu's outrage. "Attention everyone!" announced a voice from seemingly nowhere. Kiharu realized it was a woman speaking on the p.a. system. "The preliminaries are about to begin! All registered fighters must come to the arena to draw lots for the group they'll fight in!"

"We best get going," said Mukuro to Hiei. He nodded in response. Mukuro looked at Yomi and smiled darkly. "Be warned: I will not hold back on you should we be paired to fight."

Yomi smiled back. "Nor would I hold back on you."

"That's how it should be."

Mukuro, along with her heir, Hiei, left. Kiharu looked up at Yomi, who peered down at her. "We better get going too," said the blind demon.

"Yes . . ."

And so Yomi and Kiharu walked into the Demon World arena, awaiting the bloodbath that lie ahead.