Yu Yu Hakusho Short Stories

[Hiei the Epic]

Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Hello, Goodbye
-
-
-
-

[Hiei the Epic]

Notes
-
-
-
-

[Hiei the Epic]

Hello, Goodbye

In absolute darkness, the smallest trickle of light can be blinding. Hope spreads like a disease and even as I struggled to crush it and fade back into the comfort of the shadows, it clung to me in wisps, infesting my mind and heart. I'd never asked to know this feeling; a burning realization that there was so much more than plains of battle and enemies to crush. Hours bled into days and months, and when years had gone by I found myself worse off than before I'd met any of them. That damnable team. A freak show of youkai and humans forging companionship through trials. They'd moved on with their lives after that. I moved on.

There was never much of a choice.

--

Shink!

I could feel the tear of wind as a dagger whizzed by, inches from my temple. Had I not moved fast enough it would be my skull rather than the tree it hit, bark scattered outward from impact. My cloak laid discarded beside it and my hands tightened their grips on the stained hilt of a sword. It was just reflex these days; a dash forward as strong arms swept into an arc, sharp edge of the blade sinking into leathery flesh. A cry resounded and the creature fell back into a pool of its own blood, red as the eyes that bore down. I stared, unmoved as he begged for his life. Unmoved as I drove my weapon into his heart and tore it in half, guaranteed to never beat again.

The bandages around my right arm were stained and made little use as I wiped at the splatter on my cheek. Ragged breathing-- was that me? Had I gone so far to exhaust myself? But the pile of dead had grown to be a hill and my feet sloshed through sticky warmth. Staggering through, I was careful to not slip and fall, else I might drown in a sea of broken limbs. It was only when I'd reached the untainted portion of the field that I allowed myself to collapse. Noon sun beat down on the bare skin of my back and cool blades of grass felt soothing against my cheek. A blurry figure approached from the treeline. Reds and pinks, green eyes too young to hold such an aware expression. I hate you. Even as my body was lifted, unwilling to rise of its own accord. I hate all of you. Darkness sank in, but I couldn't rest. Not with that blinding trickle of light.

"Hiei." Fuzzy tones overshadowing the remnants of my dreams. Consciousness crept in and my eyes peeled open, adjusting to the electric light of a room. Cushions were soft beneath me and my wounds had been neatly cleaned and wrapped. I could feel the pulse of steadily healing gashes aided by some kind of salve. Lips twitched back in a grimace. So I'd been saved and repaired. How annoying.

"Feeling better?" His voiced carried a cordial tone and I turned my head to look at him. Even after a year that human body hardly looked any older. He smiled and I sneered, sitting up to take in my surroundings. Some kind of lounge. Fancy at that, with a library wall and expensive furniture. The sofa I was sitting on was just as ornate. Eyes fixed on Kurama questioningly. He shrugged from his armchair, sipping at a cup of what I presumed to be tea. "This place belongs to Koenma. It's a refuge of sorts, like a vacation home."

Unsurprising. I ran fingers over a sore spot at the back of my head and stood, moving toward a large window. Nothing but forestry stretched on, but this was not Makai. The human world? Head turned as a door clicked open from the opposite side of the room and the prince himself stepped in, garbed in that ridiculous teenager form. "Ah, so you're awake," he said far too cheerfully, casually leaning against a near wall. "It seems Makai isn't being too kind to you ever since they've branded you a traitor."

"What the hell do you expect?" My throat felt raw, but the anger was clear enough.

"If you remain there any longer, you'll be killed. Even with your strength," Kurama added, "there are simply too many seeking to have you dead."

"Which is why we're sending you somewhere else," chimed the prince. I rose a brow. If they actually expected me to live in the human world they were insane. I had fought to leave that ugly place. I'd fought to return home and I wasn't about to lose the only thing I'd actually earned.

"I plan to come as well." Kurama set his cup aside on an end table and laced his fingers together at his lap. "My predicament is similar to your own and I cannot risk the lives of my human family. So I will accompany you."

"To where? Where the hell else can I possibly go?" I seethed. Fists balled at my sides.

Koenma exchanged glances with Kurama. He seemed nervous and it caused my suspicion to grow. "It's a bit difficult to explain the place, but it's something like another dimension. A nexus where many worlds join together." He paused, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "The residents call it Gaia."

[Hiei the Epic]

Reserved

[Hiei the Epic]

Reserved

[Hiei the Epic]

Reserved

[Hiei the Epic]

Reserved

[Hiei the Epic]

Reserved

[Hiei the Epic]

I think that's enough reserving.