Sayomi was visiting the Kuwabara household, per Yukina's and Shizuru's invitation. Yusuke had to run his ramen stand, so he couldn't tag along. They just had dinner and settled in the living room around the TV.
"Special Report!! New Aliens Taking Over the World!!"
The bright colored title screen faded to black, then a spotlight illuminated a young-looking woman in a suit and skirt sitting in a lone chair. Her face was pixelated, and her voice was altered to hide her identity. "On my way home there was this bright light… When I came to, I was lying in a forest 40 KM away. I can't recall what happened in between."
The screen switched to the show's host, a middle-aged man with a large nose and droopy eyes. His hair was combed neatly over his head. "With this woman's permission, we brought a hypnotist who tried to help her regain her memories."
The screen zoomed in on the woman's blurred face as she remembered. "I'm on a bed in a strange room… And there's someone there… A man, I think… Rather short, big eyes, small nose and mouth… And he's talking to me."
The host on the screen said, "We had her make a sketch of this man…"
"Why does that description sound so familiar?" Sayomi wondered as she sipped her mint tea.
"Lots of shows like this lately," Kuwabara said. He grimaced as he watched the interview. "And aliens! It's always aliens!"
"I saw some," Shizuru said dryly. "Yesterday, by the station."
"Yeah, right!" Kuwabara got in her face and glared at her. "So where're they from?! How'd they travel millions of light years?!"
Shizuru smiled at her baby brother's attempt to intimidate her. "They came from the planet Kazuma, in a ship driven by willpower."
"Haha Haha!" Mr. Kuwabara laughed.
Sayomi nearly spat out her drink as she tried not to choke from laughing.
Yukina smiled at him while playing with the cat in her lap. "What an idea, aliens actually being on Earth!"
" You're here, Yukina. That's what counts to me!" Kuwabara exclaimed.
"Achoo!!" Shizuru let out a fake sneeze as she closed her eyes with a sly smile.
"And now, for the first time…" the show host began, "The face of the aliens!"
"Oh…" Yukina's eyes widened.
"Gack!!" Kuwabara's jaw fell slack as his eyes bulged from his head.
"I knew it!" Sayomi grinned at the drawing.
His head was drawn as big as his small body, and his third eye was open and exposed. His large eyes were exaggerated, but his scowl was still prominent. Based on the background, it looked like the inside of Mukuro's fortress.
Kuwabara gaped at the TV screen in disbelief. "She drew Hiei!"
Sayomi couldn't hold back her laughter. "Hahahaha! Can I get a picture of this? I need it for blackmail!"
"Is he an alien?" Mr. Kuwabara asked.
"Well, sorta…" his son answered. "But what's he doing here…?"
"He's probably on patrol," Sayomi answered. Then she thought about her time spent in the Human World. It's been a few months now. I guess it's about time I head back and take my part in patrols for a while. I can always come back and visit everyone if I want, but I do miss Hiei. It would also be good to see Yasuhiro and Mukuro, too.
The next day, Sayomi kept her senses open to any rifts in space. Humans sometimes wander into the Demon Plane through naturally occurring spatial distortions. Kurama said this was once known as 'being spirited away.' It's become a common issue now that the barrier between worlds has been taken down. If I can find a distortion, maybe I can get back.
She figured Genkai's property would be her best chance to find an opening. Demons are always traveling through her temple grounds between the worlds.
After several hours of searching, she found one. She walked through and took in the change in her surroundings. The trees became thicker and more gnarled. The sky took on a bloody hue with ever constant purple storm clouds and lightning strikes. The winds still carried the scent of death and decay, but it seemed less potent than she remembered.
As she walked, she stumbled onto a middle-aged man in a brown suit, passed out on the forest floor. She sighed as she looked around for any nearby demons. "Guess the patrols haven't noticed you yet."
As she contemplated what to do about the situation, she felt the earth rumble beneath her bare feet. She smirked as the familiar sensation drew her gaze to a faint dust cloud in the distance. Speak of the devil.
Before she could clearly make out Mukuro's fortress with her eyes, a dark figure suddenly appeared before her. Sayomi grinned when she recognized her mate in his usual black cloak, white shawl, and worn black boots. "I was hoping it was you, Hiei."
The swordsman wasted no time or breath on greetings. Instead, he pulled her into his arms and nuzzled his nose into the nape of her neck, taking in a deep inhale of her scent.
Sayomi melted into his embrace and circled her arms around his neck. She buried her face into his shoulder, relishing in the warmth of his body against hers. As they pulled apart, their eyes locked in a heated gaze.
With a look that promised a proper reunion later, Hiei pulled away just as the fortress groaned to a stop nearby. Two more demons jumped down and inspected the unconscious man without a glance in Sayomi's direction.
"Take him away," Hiei ordered flatly.
One of the demons turned to him and asked, "Shall we clear his lungs?"
"Whatever, it's all the same to me," Hiei answered apathetically.
Sayomi frowned at Hiei's indifference to the man's survival. Most humans who get lost in the Demon Plane succumb to the poisonous atmosphere here. Whether they made it back to the Human World alive or ended up as dinner used to depend on the demons that found them.
But now Enki has instituted rules that require lost humans to be given safe harbor and returned home. A special patrol squad was formed to see that this was done. It's composed, of course, of tournament losers.
The two demons lifted the human and carried him into the fortress for proper treatment. Once they left, Hiei returned his attention to Sayomi. "I wasn't expecting you for another three months, at least."
Sayomi crossed her arms and arched her brow with a mischievous smirk. "Seems like you're getting a little sloppy with your memory erasing. A human was able to regain enough of her memory through hypnotism to draw a funny likeness of you."
Hiei scowled, but otherwise showed no reaction. "My job is to safely transport humans back to their world and shroud the experience from their minds. It's not my problem if they dig it back up again."
Sayomi shrugged her shoulders. "If you say so, but I didn't think mere human hypnosis was enough to brush off your effort of covert operations."
"If I seriously made the effort to wipe their memories clean, it could cause more harm than good. The mind is fragile, especially those of humans, so obscuring them is the best treatment they can receive without causing serious trauma or brain damage," Hiei explained.
"So you do care," Sayomi teased.
Hiei scoffed and jumped up to the top of Mukuro's giant centipede, ignoring her bait. Sayomi grinned as she followed him up. There was another demon waiting on the roof of the fortress that Sayomi wasn't expecting.
He was small in stature, but his head was very large compared to his body, and his nose was the most prominent feature of his face. He turned in various directions as he tried to sniff out any traces of human scent in the vicinity.
Sayomi hung back, not wanting to distract the demon from his job, and watched as Hiei used his Evil Eye to visually search for stranded humans. He's taking this patrol seriously, at least. Based on what Yusuke told me about their first meeting, that's a major change for him.
"If you're just gonna stand there, you might as well make yourself useful," Hiei said without turning back. "You can either go look for humans or help the one we just collected."
Sayomi mulled over her options and said, "I'll go help the human below. Just be ready to come take care of his memory. He's already pretty out of it, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Hiei narrowed his eyes at her over his shoulder. "It won't be necessary if he dies before I get there."
Sayomi frowned but turned on her heel to go down. "Okay, no need to be so cynical about it. Does this job bother you that much?"
Hiei returned his attention to his task as he answered, "It's a bother, to say the least."
"That's already a major improvement to your opinions regarding humans. I appreciate your effort." Then she made her way down to help heal the human below.
The man was in one of the chambers that used to be for training. He was laid out on a table while the demons prepared a healing tank down the hall. She remembered the advanced medical technology was leagues ahead of what she could do, but she wanted to try. I've trained with Genkai and Yukina has also been teaching me some things since she moved in with Kuwabara and his family. I'll never know what I can really do unless I try.
His breathing was shallow and strained. His skin looked pale and sickly. The air has already started taking its toll on him.
Sayomi raised her hands, palms down, over his chest and channeled her dark healing aura. She guided the cold shadows through his chest to his lungs, where the toxins were concentrated. She could feel the corruption as her aura mended the damaged organ tissue.
As she worked, the man's breathing became less labored, and the color started returning to his skin. She kept working until he was completely healed and stable. When done, she retracted her aura and wiped the sweat from her face.
"You've improved your healing techniques."
Sayomi turned to her mate and smiled. "I've had good teachers. He should be ready for you now."
"Good to know your time in the Human World didn't interfere with your training." Hiei approached the side of the table and stared down at the human.
"It's safer to work on healing in the Human World than fighting at this point. At least here I can work on both," Sayomi explained.
"Unh…"
The two demons looked down to see the human stir. As he tried to focus on them, Hiei drew his attention to his glowing Evil Eye. "We'll return you to your world. You'll wake up and remember nothing of this."
"Unh…" The man's eyes drifted closed as he fell into a dreamless slumber.
Sayomi smirked at Hiei. "That's what you tell them? No wonder they assume we're all aliens."
"What are you talking about?" Hiei asked as he covered his third eye with his white headband.
"In the Human World," the demoness elaborated. "A ton of programs are talking about sightings of ghosts and aliens. They don't fully understand that we're demons, even when being told directly by demons themselves."
Hiei left the room while the rest of the demons prepared the human for transport. Sayomi followed behind him since there were no other humans to work on. As they walked through the halls, Sayomi gave Hiei an update on their friends in the Human World, as well as his sister.
The hallways started to look familiar as Sayomi realized they were headed towards their shared room. She let out a quiet sigh as she felt a sense of returning home. When they entered their bedroom, Hiei wasted no time pinning Sayomi against the door as soon as he shut it.
Sayomi didn't resist or protest when his hands caressed her smooth skin, appreciating her toned curves. His tongue tasted her lips before invading her mouth and conquering her tongue in a possessive kiss.
Sayomi submitted to his dominant nature and reveled in his scorching touch. She clutched to him as he discarded her clothes and shed his own. The night resonated with their heated passion as it reached a symphony of devotion that neither could hope to express otherwise.
The next morning, Sayomi and Hiei walked through the halls with Shigure, Kirin, Yasuhiro and a couple other demons Sayomi had just met. They were on their way to the mess hall for breakfast before starting their morning shifts.
"Man, three whole years of this!" One of the demons complained.
"Yeah," another agreed. "Shouldn't humans look out for themselves?"
"Stop whining!" Kirin commanded. "Losers could have worse jobs."
Hiei and Sayomi remained silent as they listened to the others.
"I still don't get it," Shigure mused. "Enki's powerful, sure, but no match for Master Mukuro. It should've been no contest."
"True…" Kirin agreed. "Except for that particular time."
"What do you mean?" Shigure asked.
"Master Mukuro's power is only as intense as her state of mind," Kirin explained. "At such a congenial tournament her matches struck her as little more than exhibition bouts. I doubt we'll ever see her true power again. There's such tranquility in her eyes these days."
"Nothing wrong with wanting peace after a lifetime of war," Yasuhiro said with his hands clasped behind his head. "If she's ever in the mood, she can kick any of our asses for old time's sake."
"Once a year, though, she does get a bit blue," Kirin reminded him. "One time, when she was down, a lieutenant talked back to her. She dismembered him on the spot."
"Oh yeah," Yasuhiro recalled. "I remember that because I was the one who had to dispose of the poor bastard."
"It's about that time again, so watch out," Kirin cautioned.
Hiei and Sayomi silently locked eyes.
After breakfast, they detoured from their assigned scheduled posts. However, they were intervened by Yasuhiro.
"Now where do you and bro-in-law think you're running off to?" he interrogated. "We all know your stations aren't in this direction."
Sayomi sighed and said, "is it not okay to detour for a little extra time to ourselves?"
Yasuhiro smirked and wagged his finger. "We all know that's not what this is, sis. You heard Kirin this morning. You two should give Mukuro her space for a while."
"I've been bored lately with these monotonous patrols," Hiei said. "This sounds like the perfect time to get a real fight out of her."
Yasuhiro raised a skeptical brow. "You must be some kind of masochist if that's what you're after. You have strange taste in men, sis."
"Hiro, you can either come with us or stay out of it," Sayomi warned. "We need to make sure she's okay."
Yasuhiro frowned and heaved a heavy sigh. "I'll tag along. I need to make sure you at least come out of it okay. Bro-in-law can put his neck at risk, but I'm not letting you do the same."
"She'll be fine," Hiei declared. "And stop calling me that ridiculous name."
Yasuhiro grinned and said, "Make me."
"Okay, that's enough, guys. Let's just go." Sayomi ignored their routine verbal bouts of wit as she walked towards the lord of the fortress.
Without knocking, Hiei opened the door to Mukuro's personal chambers. She lounged back on her large round, curtained bed in her dark room with a dangerous glare on her face. "What do you three want?"
"We're bored," Hiei answered. "Fight us with your full strength."
"He doesn't speak for everyone, Master Mukuro," Yasuhiro spoke up apologetically.
"We're worried about you," Sayomi explained.
"Patrolling's that tedious?" she asked.
"I'm sick of it," Hiei professed.
"Well, I find it loads of fun," Mukuro disagreed dryly. "Please go now, Hiei… Sayomi…" Her gaze traveled to the fourth party. "Why are you here?"
"Out of concern, my lord," Yasuhiro answered with a bow of his head. "Both for you and for my own sister's safety."
"Then you can leave with them," Mukuro dismissed.
The growing silence was deafening until Hiei said, "Chiko, the slave trader…"
Mukuro's glare darkened as her sharp gaze pierced through the swordsman.
Hiei smirked arrogantly. "So that's it."
Sayomi's mind was suddenly flooded with memories that weren't her own. She saw a large, naked, fat, balding man surrounded by a harem of shackled and collared demon women. Then she saw a young girl with long red hair. She was wearing a beautiful red dress with her arms bound behind her back. She looked like a prettily wrapped present for the sexually perverted male. Sayomi was spared the traumatic details as the trader encroached on Mukuro's purity.
The young tyrant-to-be stared with empty eyes, subjected to her condemned reality, as her shackled ankles prevented her from running. Sayomi listened as Mukuro's consciousness invaded her mind. "My body was surgically altered so he could more easily control me. I gained new scars every birthday since I was an infant.
"The more I resisted, the more he enjoyed tormenting me. He'd say things like, 'shall I cut off your head?' I'd reply, 'go ahead,' and he'd giggle like a demented child. 'That's my girl,' he'd say. On my seventh birthday I poured acid on myself, hoping that would kill his interest in me. It worked. He abandoned me, which left me free to start living a real life."
"Yes, you showed me those memories," Hiei said, brushing them off. "You strove to grow strong…"
"Enough." Mukuro cut him off as she clenched her arm where her iron shackles used to be.
"Why does he still live?" Hiei pressed. "You know where he is."
" Hiei…" Sayomi whispered a warning under her breath. He's intentionally trying to piss her off.
Mukuro's grip tightened around her mechanical arm. "Do you want to die?"
Then Mukuro froze as she was assaulted with vibrant memories that contrasted greatly with the torment that governed her life's experience. The slave trader who raped and abused her showed her a single moment of true kindness and affection.
Sayomi witnessed an impression of the man laughing with a young and carefree Mukuro, a woven crown of flowers in her hair. Her innocent laughter echoed like the mourning toll of a bell at nightfall. The memory faded as quickly as it appeared.
"So you cling to his one gentle act?" Hiei goaded. "His cruelty didn't drive you; it was your own doubt." His hard gaze stoked her barely restrained wrath. "How pitiful."
Mukuro was instantly in front of him as she thrust a powerfully charged palm of aura straight through his gut. The impact made him grunt as he choked up his own blood. A large explosion destroyed a wall in her fortress, sending the swordsman flying through the opening out into the wild forests of the Demon Plane.
The rumble alerted Shigure, Kirin and the rest of the demons in the stronghold. They watched as the former King of Alaric walked purposefully down the hall.
" Master Mukuro?!"
"Move along," the tyrant ordered.
"B-but…" the demon stuttered.
Mukuro turned her merciless gaze on the subordinate. "You want to die, too?"
The demons held their tongues in reluctant silence as she walked past them.
Outside, Hiei laid flat on his back, staring up at the sky. His cloak was practically nonexistent as it clung to his bloody torso in tatters.
Sayomi had followed him when he was forcefully removed from Mukuro's presence. She peered down at the scowling fire demon and said, "You just had to provoke her."
"Was that enough to satisfy your masochism?" Yasuhiro teased.
"Feh!" Hiei scoffed as he stared up at the sky.
Sayomi sighed and shook her head. Then she got to work on healing the gaping hole in his stomach. "Still, I've never seen Mukuro this bothered before. She's usually so confident and composed."
"We've all learned to give her space when she's like this," Yasuhiro explained. "Things never turn out well if you irritate her. Honestly, it's a shock your mate isn't dead now." He smirked down at the swordsman. "Guess that shows your durability, at least."
"There's gotta be something we can do to help," Sayomi contemplated.
Hiei waved her hands away as soon as the hole in his stomach was mended. He wasn't completely healed, but he could move without bleeding out. "We'll pay the fox a visit. He should be able to give us what we need." He glared at Yasuhiro. "You can just stay here."
Yasuhiro narrowed his eyes at his brother-in-law. "Why should I? What the hell are you scheming now, you little—"
"Yasuhiro," Sayomi sternly cut off, "We'll be back soon. Just stay and keep a watchful eye on her so she doesn't do anything drastic."
"You have no idea how much you resemble Mom right now." Yasuhiro raised his hands in surrender and gave into her strict gaze. "Fine, but don't take too long to come back. You've been in the Human World long enough. It's our turn to spend time with you."
That night, Hiei and Sayomi paid Kurama a surprise visit. The swordsman rapped on the fox's bedroom window, alerting the red-head to his unannounced guests. Without waiting for permission, Hiei let himself in and settled on the windowsill, mindful of his bandaged torso. Sayomi crawled in after him and sat beneath him with her arms and legs crossed.
Unsurprised, Kurama turned in his seat to greet the demonic couple. "Look what the cat dragged in."
"We need you to find something for us," Hiei declared without preamble. He winced and pressed his hand against his wound. "Ow… Mukuro hits like a nuke when she's riled."
"It wouldn't hurt if you just let me finish healing it," Sayomi scolded.
"She did this…?" Kurama's eyes shifted between Hiei and his mate. "I had assumed it was a lovers' spat."
"Grrr…" Hiei growled, annoyed with the fox's teasing.
Sayomi ignored the light banter between the former thieves. "We need a certain flower, one that will allow the host to feel pain, but not die."
"I can get that flower, sure," Kurama assured. "But what's it for?"
"Just get it," Hiei insisted.
Back in the Demon Plane, the storms rumbled relentlessly as lightning streaked across the vast skies. Within a mighty castle, the slave trader Chiko lounged naked in his chambers and called out, "Hey! Bring me my slaves!"
His doors slammed open with a thunderous echo as Sayomi and Hiei casually stalked into the room. In Hiei's hand was a bouquet of flowers. Sayomi carried her sickle with the chain already spilled free.
"Who in blazes are you?!" Chiko demanded.
Sayomi swung the chain in a slow circle as Hiei raised the bouquet to his face and smirked. A small gaunt face peered out from the flowers with a haunted expression. "The answer to your summons."
"Screaming will only satisfy our thirst for your suffering," Sayomi warned. "Now, give us a good howling shriek."
Later that evening, Hiei let himself into Mukuro's room and said, "It was a fake."
"Hiei…" Mukuro stared at the swordsman, mildly surprised to see him back so soon.
"You got what you needed?" Yasuhiro asked, stepping out from the dark shadows in the corner of her chambers.
"He hypnotically implanted that cloying memory," Hiei illuminated. "It was programmed to surge up whenever you felt the urge to take revenge on him. A sort of failsafe, if you will… and a callous joke.
"He's been laughing at your emotional turmoil all along. Right?" Hiei looked over as Sayomi settled the slave trader down on the floor beside the fire demon. The large man was rooted to the parasitic potted plant that fertilized itself within his body.
"Spare me, please!" the former slave trader pathetically begged.
"Like how you spared Mukuro as a child?" Sayomi interrogated. She pulled her weapon from behind her back and sunk the point of the sickle into his fat stomach.
"I'll give you anything!" Chiko painfully screamed.
"Don't be a baby." Hiei smirked and poked the demon's thigh with the tip of his blade.
" Gyaaah!" Chiko's aching cries echoed around the empty room like a dreadful ballad. He whimpered as his bleeding wounds were instantly mended by the parasite's rapidly growing foliage.
"What the hell is that?" Yasuhiro asked with a disgusted sense of fascination.
"This is a Man-Mimic," Hiei explained. "A parasitic plant that fuses to a host's flesh, healing all injuries. If you don't destroy the host's brain, it'll live forever. Makes a fine gift, don't you think?"
Mukuro smiled warmly, grateful for their concerned actions.
Hiei and Sayomi smirked and said in unison, "Happy Birthday."