From the Dead, Arisen Again
Chapter Two
A small, petite girl with long white hair in a braided plait opened the large steel door with ease. She wore an outfit similar to Genkai's except the cloth was white and the trim was black, she had a black belt around her middle and soft black slippers that made no sound against the gray marble floors of the dark palace.
The girl crept into the room, a vulnerable, almost hesitant way in her matter. Her eyes were kept downcast, looking at the floor. She walked over to the grand table beside the large bed and set down the items she was carrying. Salve, ointment and fresh bandages. She turned to the bed and meekly turned back the covers, exposing more than just the head of the occupant.
His spikey black hair with the starburst of white was going lank, coming out of its shape and falling onto his face in long, thick strands. His skin was pale, nearly as white as the girls uniform. A long, horrible looking wound was stitched up and awaiting cleaning and fresh bandages. It was too gruesome to heal magically, so it had to be done slowly, if it was to heal right and never trouble the person. The girl undid the bandages, not looking at them, but just past them, as if she didn't need to see her fingers. She carefully lifted the injured person's body and undid the crusty, stained bandages. It was tricky. This young man was slit from neck to navel. He was dead, but Master Kikiro had somehow brought him back to life. She didn't know anything about this stranger, all she knew was his name, Hiei.
She finished taking off the bandages and took water from the faucet and took a rag from the bedside table. She soaked the rag in the cold, clean water and rung it out. Then she washed the crusted blood and yellowish ooze from in and around the wound. She had to wash the rag out five times, and even get new water. Then she took the salve and ointment from the table and gently doctored Hiei's wound. She then carefully re-wrapped the wound with the clean bandages and covered her patient up once more before gathering the crimson length of cloth in her arms and walking quickly away.
The girl went through this process about a week until Master Kikiro came into Hiei's room while she was dressing him.
"There's no need to bandage him. Today is the day," he told her. Master Kikiro was a tall, strong man with long black hair and green eyes and spell tattoo's all over his body.
The girl in white and black bowed and put the fresh bandages in the table and stood back, eyes averted to the ground. Master Kirkiro walked to the bedside and examined the half-alive body before him, smirking some. He admired the girl's handiwork and praised her. She flushed red and clasped her hands together.
"You've done a fine job, Saya," Kikiro said, a slight mock to his tone that the young girl didn't catch, "Come stand beside me."
Obediently Saya stood beside her master and looked at the softly breathing Hiei before them.
"He is half-alive." Kikiro told her, "His ghost, his soul, is there, he just needs a jump start of energy through direct contact," He glanced down at Saya, "Through the lips."
Saya stood frozen for a second then her shocked gaze flew to Kikiro, whose laughing eyes stared at her coldy.
"Yes," he said, "You will do it. Now kiss him."
Saya trembled for a moment, but slowly she leaned over and hesitantly pressed her lips to the surprisingly warm ones of the unconscious Hiei. She started channeling some of her energy through her mouth into his down through his body.
"Deeper, Saya!" Kikiro demanded angrily.
Saya hesitated before pressing harder with her lips, bringing a slender, pale hand to cradle Hiei's cheek. She put more of her energy flowing through the raw connection between her and this stranger. Hiei's finger twitched.
"More! More or you'll be thrown to the demons!!" Kikiro roared.
Saya whimpered slightly, her eyes squeezing shut in fright before daring to explore Hiei's mouth with her tongue, kissing him passionately. Her energy was pouring out into him, she paid no mind to this though, she had plenty of energy. The wound on Hiei's body started to close on its own, glowing slightly. The thread of the stitches disintegrated and soon all that was left was a soft pink line were the wound had been.
Kikiro started to laugh, an evil, bone-chilling laugh that made Saya's spine tingle. A slender hand suddenly came to rest gently on the back of her head, another on her cheek. It couldn't be Master Kikiro, it had to be…… Hiei!
Saya's eyes flew open and all of a sudden Hiei's hand on the back of her head gripped her hair in a vicegrip, the one on her cheek squeezed her face so tightly she broke the kiss to cry out in pain. Then she was thrown over the side of the bed and slammed into the wall, she bit back the whimper that wanted to force its way past her lips.
Hiei's eyes were open and calm, the vibrant crimson hues the same they always had been. He sat up and looked at Saya, who lay huddled against the wall, looking at the ground. Then he looked at Kikiro, who gave a little bow.
"Hiei, welcome back to the living," he said.
The small fire demon's expression turned from a bit irritated to confused. "Back?"
The taller man pulled up and chair and sat back, "Yes, back. You had a little accident on a mission I sent you on. It was all I could do to keep your soul from Koenma. It wasn't time for you to go yet."
Hiei glared at Kikiro. "What do you mean a mission you sent me on? I never worked for you."
Kikiro put on a sad face. "Memory loss is understandable." He leaned forward, gazing intently into Hiei's eyes. "You have worked for me ever since you were little. I am your master, Master Kikiro."
Hiei's eyes went blank for a second. Then they returned to normal. "Yes, Master Kikiro, I remember."
Kikiro leaned back, "Tell me, do you know a boy by the name of Yusuke Urameshi."
Hiei leaned back on the pillow. He shook his head. "No,"
"Youko Kurama?"
"The dead Nine Tailed Fox Thief."
"Kuzuma Kuwabara?"
"No."
"Shuichi Minamino?"
"No. Who are these people? Most of them sound like nigen names."
Kikiro smirked. His plan had worked. "Most of them are. Yusuke Urameshi is Koenma's new lackey. The Spirit Detective. He's pretty good. Kuwabara and Minamino are also on the team, as they have extraordinary Spirit Awareness. They are the bane of my kinds of people." He leaned forward again. "How do you feel?"
Hiei flexed his right arm, the Dragon arm, and opened his Jagan. "I feel fine, great even."
"Good. Saya!" Kikiro barked.
The girl had been trying to sneak out of the room to do her other duties. She froze and meekly walked over to Kikiro, eyes still averted.
"Hiei, this is Saya. I'm sorry we had to use her for the revival, but I wasn't going to kiss you." He laughed a bit. "Saya, you will do everything in your power to make sure Hiei is well satisfied in every way. Do you understand?"
Saya nodded mutely.
"You may go."
She practically ran out of the room.
Kikiro turned back to Hiei, a satisfied grin on his face. He saw Hiei's eyes still staring at the spot where Saya left the room. He held back a chuckle.
"Don't mind her, she's just the servant girl. She's weak and easily walked on." He got up. "I'll leave you to rest. If you need anything, ring the bell beside you and Saya will take care of it. Are you hungry, thirsty, anything?"
Hiei nodded, "Both,"
"I'll have Saya bring you our special. Goodbye Hiei, rest well, for tomorrow I want to test your abilities." He walked out of the room.
Hiei was left to his own thoughts as he waited for his food. He didn't know really who this "Master Kikiro" character was, or where this place was, for the matter, but he was sure he hadn't died, or he ever worked for this guy. But, Hiei didn't remember anything, only blackness. All his memories were gone, except for his knowing of how he got his Jagan eye, and what the Black Dragon can do, plus what it requires. He knew of his fighting abilities, how hard he could push himself and other training techniques, but all his memories of what happened to him were gone. He was puzzled, this was strange. Those names Kikiro had asked him if he knew were vaguely familiar, as if he knew them from a long time ago.
Hiei rubbed his face with his hands, this was getting confusing.
A soft knock at the door echoed through the room, and it opened before Hiei could give permission to enter. The energy wavelengths changed slightly as Saya entered the room. She closed the door behind her and walked a bit more confidently to Hiei's bedside, as if she wasn't scared anymore. Her eyes were still averted though. She walked right up to Hiei and held out the tray. It had food on it and water to drink. He looked at it, missing Saya's bow of goodbye. She turned to walk away. Hiei took a bite of his food.
"Saya, wait."
The girl obediently stopped, not turning around.
Hiei took another bite, this stuff was good! "I want to talk to you."
He watched her slowly turnaround and walk back to his bedside. "Yes?" she asked softly.
"Do you know where this place is?" he asked. He took a drink of water.
She shook her head.
Hiei stared at her for a minute. She wasn't much of a talker. Well, neither was he, so he didn't really mind. "Do you know who Kikiro is, besides the owner of this place?"
Saya gulped. "He is a high S-class demon. I would like to say his plans are evil, but I can't. I would also like to say that Master Kikiro is mean and will use you and me until we can't satisfy him anymore then kill us, but I can't. I would really like to say those things, but I can't."
Hiei hid a smirk. She was crafty, telling him all about Kikiro in that inconspicuous way. He look at her for a moment, wondering why she always kept her eyes downcast. He wanted a good look at her face. Silently he reached down and put two fingertips to the bottom of her chin. She flinched visibly, remembering the last time Hiei had touched her face. But she let him gently tip her face up for him to see.
Hiei saw bruises the size of his fingertips along her cheekbone, where he had roughly thrown her aside when he awakened. Her skin was pale, nearly ice colored. A lock of her white hair fell across one eye, obscuring it from view. Then he looked into her eyes. They were a light blue with a starburst of something thick, pearly and white over where her pupil should be. Then Hiei noticed that she always looked just past him, not really focusing on him. He passed a hand in front of her eyes. She didn't move, she didn't even blink. Hiei brushed back the lock of hair from her other eye, it was the same way.
"You're blind….."