Hiei of the Thousand Eyes
Chapter Three: Puzzle Pieces
Hiei returned to the Makai after delivering his information to Koenma. The toddler prince had told him he would send Botan to look into it, but that didn't garner Hiei much relief. He had found Mukuro's palace, this time near the northern border of Alaric, and spent only a brief time in his chambers resting before his com device started beeping. Hiei groaned. He wasn't supposed to be even working a shift right now, and with all the hassle of the last few days he didn't want to be doing anything related to his work. The fact that he even had what could be considered a job was infuriating.
"What?" he snapped into the receiver.
He shouldn't have been surprised by the response. Minutes later he was on the other side of the territory. The girl was surrounded by a small group of some lower level demons. Many of the underlings on these grunt jobs were those foolish enough to enter the tournament but then quit the moment they saw their opponent to be someone much stronger. They were pathetic weaklings.
He was only mildly impressed to note that the girl had chopped off one of their arms. The feat should be impossible for someone with so little spirit energy, despite how weak the demon.
"Hiei!" one of them shouted when they noticed him. "Thank god you're here. You can stop her."
The girl spun around, eyes wild with fear and confusion, but a determined anger behind them that had been absent before. Chihiro held double blades at her side, not poised to attack but ready to move. Perhaps she even knew what she was doing under a human perspective.
"You," she gasped, eyes roaming over the lofty fire demon.
Hiei quirked a lazy eyebrow. She clearly recognized him, though he was sure he again wiped her memory at the temple.
He didn't like that she was invading his territory so often. He didn't like that she was able to breathe here when all evidence pointed to her being a simple human. He didn't like that she was remembering things he made her forget.
"Hiei, sir," one of the demons said as he stumbled forward. "The human-"
"Don't touch that!" Chihiro shouted, twisting herself so that one of her short blades was at the demon's throat while still keeping herself facing Hiei.
Hiei looked down to note a blue leather jacket on the ground, slightly torn. Poking out underneath was a small satchel. The girl's bag, no doubt. There must be something inside she found precious. She was foolish to let it so far out of her reach. Perhaps it got pulled from her during the fight. Regardless, it was foolish.
He held her jacket and bag in a blink of an eye. It took her a moment, but when she screeched, he smirked. He had already opened her bag and found what was obviously so special. Two slightly glowing stones lay nestled among her things.
Hiei could sense her lunging. He moved out of the way without taking his eyes off the bag's contents.
It was more than just a fancy rock though. He frowned. The energy coming off the stone was off. He hadn't sensed it at all before looking at it. And surely that child who brought the girl to Genkai's land was aware enough that anything slightly demonic or spiritual would have caught his radar.
No, this was different. She lunged again. He dodged again. Hiei wouldn't be able to sense its power if it weren't for his third eye. Its extra sight showed him what his other senses did not.
There was a line of yellow energy connecting the two stone pieces, as if they knew they belonged to each other. He could almost make out another line, trailing off into the distance. They were parts of a whole, and seeking out the rest.
What was more interesting, though, was the line of energy that tangled around the girl like a web. He looked up to examine the energy around her with his Jagan. He was surprised he hadn't seen it before, but the stone's power was well hidden. It was only because he was holding a piece now that the energy let him see.
As Chihiro looked between the vast space where Hiei was and where he stood only moments ago, he sized up the energy. It wasn't a web, he realized. It was more alive than that. It was protecting her from the dark energies of the Makai and helping her mind resist his influence. It had wrapped around her body and soul like and extra skin, though incomplete. And it pulsed with its own heartbeat.
"What is this?" he asked.
She looked around, sizing up the demons that still surrounded her. She may have wounded them and kept them at bay, but she knew she wouldn't last. Especially now that he was with them.
"Why should I tell you?" she spat.
Hiei frowned. He wasn't used to being disobeyed. "Either tell me, or I forcibly rip the memory from you. It will not be pleasant."
The human startled. Her eyes widened with fear. He could almost taste the way her human mind was trying to deny everything it saw and heard. This was all a bad dream. Yet, perhaps after his visit to the shrine, she was starting to piece things together and believe.
Chihiro swallowed a lump in her throat. "I don't know. But it's my task to put it back together."
Hiei frowned. He toyed with the pieces of stone. "Who wants them?"
"My boss. He bought it. Once I find all the pieces, I'll give it to him."
It was the truth. He could heart it. A lie had to be very well crafted to escape his third eye's detection. He supposed he should tell Koenma that the human was trying to put this spirit artifact together. Or that her boss, whoever he was, wanted it. It could be dangerous. Many other humans had tried to use things like this to make life difficult for Hiei. Although, he supposed he was once also the creature using artifacts to make life difficult. The memory made him almost chuckle. He truly was weak back then, to rely on such devices.
Hiei figured if Botan ever did get back to him, he would inform her. Otherwise, let the dumb humans have their fun. What consequence was it to him? If the world went to ruin, that might even be fun.
He tossed the bag back over to the girl. She caught it, clinging it to her chest. For a moment, he felt bereft without it. Hiei noticed the yellow energy had twined around his fingers. So that was why it clung to heavily to the girl. She had found many pieces of it. It did not want to let her go for that. Hiei glared at the yellow tendrils and they slipped away, speeding back to her, and his yearning for the shards disappeared with them.
Interesting.
"How close are you to finding all the pieces?" he asked.
The girl shrugged. "I don't know how many there are. But it looks like with this big one, I'm close."
He nodded. Koenma would be useless. That was for sure. Once the Spirit Prince didn't take an interest, whatever matter that had been brought up became nothing more than a paper in his stacks. Hiei had already done this much work. This would at least break up the monotony of his life, for a little while.
"If I help you find the rest of these shards, will you stop coming into the Makai?" Hiei asked her.
"The Makai?" she huffed in near hysterical disbelief. He could taste her wanting to rationalize again, to deny. Chihiro took a look around. At the demons, at the sky that was darkening from a ghastly green to a hazy red, at him. She swallowed again. "Right. The Makai."
The girl chewed on her bottom lip. "I think, and I'm not sure because I also think someone has been tampering with my memory," Chihiro shot Hiei a dark look at that. He smirked. "I think I fell down here when I was looking for this shard." She held out the larger chunk of stone. "I was searching, and then I found a hole that shouldn't exist, and I fell. And it felt familiar. So, if the only reason I'm here is because I'm looking for this, then yeah. If you help me find the pieces that are here." She hesitated. "In the Makai. Then I won't come back anymore."
Hiei nodded. "Good." He flashed his Jagan, stronger than he had the last few times he dealt with this human to try and push past the barrier the yellow energy was creating.
With the help of his Jagan, Hiei could wipe memory, put to sleep, or even control the body. When the victim was weak. It only worked against lowest level demons and weak humans. If they were stronger, their defenses had to already be down, like Yusuke with his alcohol.
His other skills from the Jagan had no such restrictions, only limited by his own strength.
Either way, Chihiro fainted with only minimal effort, falling heavily to the hard packed dirt. She shouldn't remember a thing this time.
Kaisei kicked around a sizeable rock, biding his time. She would be out soon. Hiei's appearance the day before and the claim that Chihiro had been to the Makai had Kaisei worried. It was odd, regardless. Worse when you considered the timing of Chihiro's father returning from prison.
The door clicked open. Kaisei looked up and gave a sour grin. "Hey, sis."
Fubuki was unsurprised to see him. She would have sensed him the moment he got to her neighborhood. "What do you want, Kaisei?" She had her detective kit with her and was tying her unruly hair in to a high ponytail. "I have a job to do, in case you forgot."
Kaisei leaving the post of Spirit Detective had been a strain on their relationship. They had each taken up the post as co-detectives when they were fourteen. More than ten years later, and Fubuki was still at it. Kaisei missed it, at times. They grew up killing demons together, after all. But he hated the lies. He wanted to live a more normal life.
"This might be related," Kaisei confessed. "Hiei came to see me yesterday."
That got his twin's attention. Hiei wasn't someone either of them interacted with often. He had been in the Ningenkai around the time they took up the detective mantel, but only for the purpose of training for the second Makai Tournament. Since then, he'd only been around a small handful of times, never really connected to the Spirit Detective work.
"What did he want?" Fubuki questioned.
"Do you remember my friend Chihiro?"
Fubuki crossed her arms. "By name." Kaisei had never introduced his friends to his family. He thought it was safer that way.
Kaisei shifted his weight nervously. He had debated all day whether or not to bring this to his sister. He didn't want Chihiro's already complicated life to get tied up with the supernatural. But if Hiei was telling the truth, and there was no reason for him to be lying, his friend already was mixed up in everything. He took a deep breath and told the Spirit Detective what he knew.
Kurama was pleasantly surprised to find his friend in his back yard. He hadn't actually expected Hiei to take him up on the offer to visit during the day.
"You could have warned me," Hiei huffed.
"About Yukina?" Kurama guessed.
Hiei growled. That was an affirmative. It was curious to Kurama how many animal-like traits Hiei possessed. True, he was a fire demon, but there was more to it than that, Kurama believed. Regardless, Hiei didn't like being taken by surprise.
"I suppose I could have, but you could have also been around at all during the last oh, eight years," Kurama fired back. Hiei had shown up less and less as time went on. Kurama didn't really resent him for his choices, but he would not let Hiei forget it was his choices that left them so far apart.
At that moment, the sliding door opened. Shizuru had a shy Ittoku at her hip. "Give him a break, Kurama," she smirked. "It grosses me out too that Kazuma had a kid." Shizuru leaned her head close to her son's and pointed over to Hiei. "That's your uncle. Say hi."
Ittoku gave Hiei one glance before burring his head into Shizuru's shoulder, nothing but his coppery brown hair visible.
Shizuru rolled her eyes fondly. "Okay, down." She lowered Ittoku to the ground who immediately ran back inside. They could all sense him peeking around the corner.
Hiei looked disturbed, to say the least. "Uncle?"
"Yes, well you're finally tall enough to pass as an adult," Kurama chuckled.
Hiei had grown another few inches since Kurama last saw him. When they first met, and Kurama was still in middle school, Hiei had barely made it to Kurama's chest. By the time they fought in the Dark Tournament a year later, Hiei had grown a full head. Many years later, Kurama's body had reached its full human height, but Hiei was still growing. They were nearly the same height now.
The fire demon growled again at the remark and flicked his eyes to Shizuru. She was as serene as ever. The woman often reminded Hiei of his sister. Both calm, both caring. Kurama's choice in mate however was much sterner than Yukina could ever hope to be. It was almost a shame it was Kuwabara who became the fighter. His sister was clearly the more formidable in their natures.
"Ittoku will come around if you stay long enough," Shizuru offered. "But you're too restless for that."
It was uncanny how well Shizuru read people. Truly formidable, Hiei thought again. Kurama merely smiled at his wife before returning his gaze to Hiei.
"This life," Hiei started, trying to understand his own question. "You've glued yourself here past the point of your humanity now."
Shizuru barked a laugh. "Come inside," she said. "Have a drink, complain about what you really want to." She turned and entered the house, scooping up the spying child on her way to the kitchen.
"I take it Koenma couldn't help with your nuisance," Kurama said as he too entered the house. Hiei reluctantly followed.
"I found my own solution," Hiei offered.
"Is that what brought you back my way?" the fox asked, seating himself in the living room. Shizuru had already popped open a beer for herself. She held one Hiei's way in offer, but the demon shook his head. She shrugged and tossed Kurama a bottle of Calpis.
"I had to deliver her again. She lives not far from here."
"Deliver her?" Shizuru snorted. "What? Like a package in the mail?"
"You brought her all the way home?" Kurama asked surprised.
Hiei clenched his jaw. Protocol was to lead the humans back into the Ningenkai and let them forget. The girl had become such a time consumption he found it less of a hassle to just put her to sleep. It took barely a second's skim of her mind to find where she lived. He normally gave the job of returning her to someone else. That way none of them had to deal with her stubborn fighting. Her six or seventh trip into the Makai had been Hiei's last straw when it had taken four of his men to contain her because she kept slipping away. It took them almost an hour to get her back to the portal to lead her home. He knew now they were lucky she had never had weapons on her before. He might have actually lost men back when they still thought her a quirky anomaly. That would have resulted in more work for him.
"She's a pain in my side," Hiei retorted, "it's easier to knock her out than drag her out of the Makai like a petulant child."
"There's something else, I'm sure," Kurama said.
Hiei hated that Kurama was right. He brought her home personally this time because he wanted to know something. From his cloak, Hiei pulled out one of the translucent gold shards. He tossed it to the fox demon.
"Do you know what that is?"
Kurama had caught it flawlessly and was now turning it over in his hands. "No," he muttered eventually. "Should I?" He looked even closer at the stone. "It almost looks like plastic; this type of coloring isn't natural. And yet it is solid stone."
Hiei could see the way the stone's energy wrapped around Kurama's fingers.
"Give it here," Hiei said.
Kurama instinctively pulled it closer to himself. Hiei was right. The stone was tying itself to people who touched it. Perhaps as a way to ensure its reconstruction. If people were so enthralled with one shard, they would go crazy to gather all of them. Hiei pushed out some of his Jagan's energy and the tendrils of yellow pulled back from Kurama. The fox set the stone down on the nearby coffee table, looking troubled.
"I could feel that," he said, "when you made it let go. But I couldn't feel it take hold."
"It masks its energy. The Jagan can see it, but otherwise it's invisible."
"Curious," Kurama said.
Hiei pocketed the item again. "If you don't know what it is, then I see no harm in letting her have it." Surely, if it were something of value or power the most infamous thief of the Makai would recognize it."
"The human girl?" Kurama clarified.
"It's been the reason she keeps coming into the Makai. Let it enthrall her," he shrugged. "I don't care." Hiei turned his face past where Shizuru stood. The child was standing in the hall, watching them with wide, curious eyes. He ran away when Hiei caught him. "You have a child. Yukina has children. I suppose Yusuke and that woman of his have a brat or two as well."
Despite Yusuke's frequent trips into the Makai, they rarely saw each other. They mostly kept to their own territories.
Kurama shook his head sadly. "Actually, Keiko has left Yusuke. For good."
This shocked Hiei. He never had a care about Yusuke's female, but he always thought they would be together for the rest of her measly life. Keiko had been his hostage when first fighting Yusuke, and the reason he found the strength to beat him. And again with the Saint Beasts. Time and time again Yusuke found strength in Keiko.
Hiei remembered his appearance at the temple the other night. His drunkenness hadn't been explained, but it made sense now. Yusuke had lost his mate, although they were not actually mated. A crushing moment for a demon. Perhaps more so for a human. Hiei didn't know.
"Surprising," was all Hiei could say.
"More surprising than me having a son?" Kurama asked, curious.
Hiei shrugged. "Possibly." Hiei eyed where the child was once again peaking at them. Hiei toyed with the shard in his pocket. Returning it to the human girl meant his time in the Ningenkai was up, and he would soon return to Mukuro.
He thought of Yusuke again. If he was unable to keep his relationship with a woman he was so desperately attached to, what hope did Hiei have to make something with Mukuro when they were already not caring towards the other. If Mukuro left him today, he would not be the mess Yusuke is. She would probably only have wounded pride if he left her, but no heartbreak.
Could a heart break if it didn't beat?
Hiei shook his head. "I should go."
"Actual departing words," Kurama hummed. "Perhaps you have grown."
Hiei ignored him. He had to return the shard piece. It should be the last one.
Chihiro woke up with a headache. She had been getting those pretty frequently. She groaned, not quite sure how she got home. That also had been happening pretty frequently. Enough to worry her.
Chihiro sat up with a start. She remembered Kaisei. He had brought her to a temple and… and she was angry at him for some reason. But it was a bit of a blur. She had been dreaming of that man with three eyes again. It somehow felt connected, but Chihiro wouldn't have told Kaisei her weird dreams. She pinched the bridge of her nose.
She had gone out searching for shards last night. She was sure of it. And her father had been by. She was still wearing her weapons harness and it was almost the afternoon. This was not a good time to be missing memory.
Chihiro pushed herself out of bed intending to search for her bag. Unlike usual, where it would end up on her bed or the floor beside it, her pack was neatly placed on her dresser. She spotted it right away. Twenty or so gleaming shard fragments lay on top of it, including one large chunk.
With trembling hands, Chihiro pushed all the pieces around. There was no note, no indication of how they got there. She reached for her tin lunch box. The pieces she had previously found and put together were still there.
"Is this it?" she asked herself. "Did I find them all?" Somehow that didn't seem quite right, but the thought had already left her mind. She had a puzzle to put together.
The sun was setting by the time she slipped the last shard into place. The golden resin fractured light into a million pieces. It glowed faintly in her hands, smooth as glass and warm as asphalt on a summer's day. She almost dropped it, but instead her grip tightened.
She looked down at the object she had reassembled. A single, glowing eye. It enraptured her thoroughly. Chihiro couldn't look away. She couldn't look away. But for a brief, shining moment, she saw everything.