Chapter 1 - Koenma's Mission

Hiei's POV
Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Boton had finally tracked me down to tell me about some new mission. It was yet another rescue mission. We had only a few days ago rescued my sister Yukina and now we had another rescue mission. The two missions were really similar. The only differences were we were going to go and free the demons that were being tortured and save one girl who wasn't a demon, human, or even someone from spirit world. This girl was something called a 'persocom'; a hand made being. She was the first and only successful persocom ever created so it was imperative that we save her before she is killed. Boton showed Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and I a picture of the girl. The girl looked like she was maybe 12 or 13 years old if even that. The look on her face is what I couldn't get my eyes off. She looked so afraid, scared, terrified.
I continued to think about the picture Boton had shown us as we arrived at a mansion where the demons and the girl were being held captive. We walked in the front door to be met by a tall male demon. He had long gold hair and gray eyes with three horns on the top of his head and pointed ears that reached almost 5 ½ to 6 inches off of his head.
"I'm fighting this one, Urameshi." Kuwabara said. Yusuke nodded.
"Ok, catch up with us when he's dead." Yusuke said. Kuwabara just nodded then the rest off us ran quickly past the demon and continued to run down the hall going towards the scent of blood. We reached a dead end and could either go back or go through the door. Yusuke decided that we were going to go through the door. We walked into the cold dark room. Once we were all in the door slammed shut behind us and the lights quickly came on above us. On the opposite side of the room stood a male demon about 6'.
"Welcome trespassers." The demon began. "I am Senno. If you wish to get past then you must defeat me and go up the stairs behind you. Unlike Kozzuya I will not let any of you pass alive." The demon Senno said with a smirk.
"Fine. Then let's go!" Yusuke said getting ready to fire his spirit gun. Kurama put a hand on Yusuke shoulder. Yusuke looked at him questioningly.
"I'll go. Your spirit gun may be needed later." Kurama said.
"So, the red head fights first. That's fine. I can kill you one by one if that's what you want." Senno said getting into a fighting position.
"Rising Earth!" Senno yelled hitting the ground with his fist. The ground began to shake and suddenly out of the ground came large rocks with spikes on them.
"Rose Whip!" Kurama yelled cutting all of the rocks. Senno started to do the same attack over and over again quickly closing the gap between each attack. Kurama was starting to have a hard time dodging all of the rocks. Kurama was able to pick up a pebble from one of the rocks he had just destroyed and grabbed a seed out of his pocket. He flicked the rock at Senno as he continued to doge. Kurama quickly fallowed the rock with the seed going into Senno's upper right arm. Senno hadn't noticed as he continued his assault on Kurama. Senno finally decided on a different approach. Kurama was still destroying the rest of the rocks that were still coming at him when Senno came up and would have punched Kurama in the gut if something hadn't stopped him.
"What the?! Why can't I move?" Senno asked worriedly and shocked.
"I implanted a seed of the death plant in your arm. With all the moving you've been doing with that arm the seed at has plenty of time to travel through your bloodstream and paralyze you. All I have to do now is transfer my spirit energy into it and kill you." Kurama explained. Senno looked worriedly though he was trying to hide it but was failing miserably. "Say goodbye!" Kurama said louder and Senno screamed in pain as the death plant killed him. The door behind us opened and we all turned around to see Kuwabara standing there with his clothes a bit torn and a few scratches here and there.
"Man, what'd I miss?" Kuwabara asked.
"Kurama killing this guy." Yusuke said.
"Come on. We need to hurry." Kurama said heading towards the stairs. The rest of us fallowed behind.
At the top of the stairs we were greeted by thousands of low class demons.
"We can not let you pass." One of the demons said.
"We'll see about that." Yusuke said and began killing off the demons with ease. Kuwabara started cutting them down with his spirit sword and Kurama started cutting them down with his rose whip, me joining in too.
As we continued to kill off the demons we were getting further into the castle but it was taking to long. It seemed like no matter how many we killed more kept coming.
"Hiei!" Yusuke called. I looked over towards him. "You're the fastest one here. We'll start cutting you a path and you go find the girl!" Yusuke called over to you while continuing to fight off the demons. Kurama and Kuwabara had heard the plan too and started making a path with Yusuke. I ran down the newly created path killing any demon that got in my way as I headed to where the scent of blood became stronger until I came to a room where the torturing obviously happened. There was fresh blood on the floor and walls. As I continued to look around I noticed a door in the left corner of the room. I had a feeling that was where the girl was when I heard an ear shattering scream. I quickly ran over to the door the pushed it open. There in the corner was a naked girl with her hands tied up to the wall and a demon whipping her. I quickly killed the demon by beheading it. The girl had her legs up to her chest trying to cover herself. Her head was down and she was shaking. I calmly walked over to her and cut the ropes with my sword and her hands instantly went to protect her face. She was afraid of me. She thought that I was going to hurt her.
I took my cloak off and wrapped it around her. She looked up for a minute with a confused but still terrified look in her eyes. She quickly guarded herself with her hands again. I slowly grabbed her left wrist and moved it away from her face. She looked even more afraid now.
"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." I said only loud enough so that she could here. She still looked terrified but not as scared as she was when I grabbed her wrist. I let go of her wrist and stood up. "Come on. Let's get you out of here." I said putting a hand out to her. She looked up at me then at my hand. She reached up to take my hand but pulled her hand back to her deciding against it. "Come on; unless you want to stay here. I won't hurt you. I have no reason to. You've done nothing wrong." I said reassuring her. She looked at me with doubt it her eyes. She still looked afraid; scared but not terrified. She reached up again this time taking my hand. I helped her up and let go of her hand only to have her attach herself to my left arm. I decided to let it go this time.
We left the room and headed to where I sensed Yusuke and the others. They were coming towards us, though not in view yet. The girl continued to walk behind me still holding onto my arm for dear life peaking out from behind me every little bit.
After a few more minutes of walking Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama came into view.
"Did you find her?" Yusuke asked as the three of them ran up to us.
"Hn, yes." I said as the girl peaked out from behind me. Her eyes went wide then she hid behind me again clutching my arm tighter.
"The guys from the Black Black Club are gone and as soon as we let the captured demons go they left." Yusuke explained trying to see the girl behind me.
"Come on, we need to get her to Koenma." Kurama said seriously and began walking towards the exit while Yusuke called up Koenma.
"Hn." I said as I fallowed after with the girl still holding onto my arm. She looked afraid.
It's ok. They won't hurt you.' I mentally told the girl. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at me to see my eyes closed but my Jagan eye could be seen open through the bandage. I continued to walk with her fallowing me and reattaching herself to my arm after a minute. I looked down at her through the corner of my eye. She had a small smile on her face and she nodded. She had heard me. For some reason that made me a bit happier.
We arrived at Koenma's office a few minutes later. The girl looked terrified again when she saw Koenma, a blue ogre, and some young woman standing next to Koenma.
"Hiei are you sure that this girl is the same as this girl?" Koenma asked showing me a picture. I looked at it and then at the girl who was holding onto my arm for dear life. I nodded. "Ok, well, she is going to have to stay with us. We need to be able to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't get kidnapped by one of the many people who want to get there hands on her." Koenma explained. "Ogre, bring her over here." Koenma told the blue ogre next to him.
"Yes, sir." The ogre said walking towards me and the girl holding onto my arm. The ogre grabbed her arm and she screamed. She was terrified.
They aren't going to hurt you. They want to help you; to protect you.' I mentally told her. I know that she heard me because she stopped screaming and started shaking her head franticly. She was clearly terrified to go with the ogre or Koenma. It made me wonder exactly what they had done to her.
"Ogre! Stop." Koenma finally said after a minute or two. The ogre sighed and walked back over to Koenma. The girl instantly calmed down but she still held onto my arm as if it were her very life line. "Hiei, since it seems the girl won't go with anyone other then you she's going to have to stay with you for a while. At least until she feels conferrable with us. You are going to have to watch her and make sure nothing happens to her. There are many people out there just like the Black Black club that want to hurt her, kidnap and experiment on her, and much more. You're going to have to protect her with your very being." Koenma explained. I didn't say anything and with each word the girl held my arm tighter.
"Hn." I finally said.
"Ok, you may leave. Boton has left some clothes that the girls maker had left for her in your room." Koenma said as I turned and left with the girl still holding onto my arm.
The girl and I went into my room. The girl instantly let go of my arm and began looking around as I closed the bed room door. I walked over to the closet to see if her new clothes were in there. I opened the door of the large walk in closet to see on the right half of the closet was lined with dresses of all different colors and sizes. On the left half of the closet was all my clothes exactly how I left them. I suddenly felt something leaning against my back. I turned my head to see the girl looking over my shoulder into the closet. I stepped out of the way and let the girl walk into the closet. A few minutes later she walked out and ran into the bathroom to change.
When she came out she was wearing a pink dress that went to her knees.
Before she came out of the bathroom she neatly laid the cloak that I had kept her wear in the hamper in the corner of the bathroom. Then she came out and began looking around my room again. By this time I was just coming out of the closet where I had grabbed a clean cloak to wear.
"Onna." I said to her. She ignored me and continued to look around the room curiously. "Onna." I called again. This time a little louder. She continued to ignore me. By now I was irritated. "Onna!" I almost yelled. This time she turned around and looked at me confused. She pointed to herself while looking around for someone else. "Yes, you." I said looking at her with a mental sweat drop. She put her hand down and tilted her head to the right with a questioning look on her face. I mentally sighed. "What's your name?" I asked her. She shrugged her shoulders. I mentally sighed again. "Ok, from now on your name will be..." I paused thinking of a good name. "Kerin; your name now is Kerin." I said. She smiled happily and nodded.
"K – Ker – Ker – Kerin. Kerin!" she was finally able to say happily while spinning around in her dress. She suddenly stopped and looked at me. She pointed to herself. "Kerin." She said then pointed to me.
"Hiei." I answered.
"H – H – He – H – He – Hie – Hie –" she tried.
"Hiei. He a." I said so that she would have an easier time.
"Hie – A. Hiei – A. Hiei!" she finally said. She started jumping up and down saying my name over and over again happily.
'Now that I think about it. I think this is the first time I've actually heard her say anything. Sure, I've heard her scream, but that's it. I guess from the way she's trying to say things that she no longer knows how to talk. I guess they didn't let her.' I thought after hearing her try to pronounce my name and finally succeeding with my help.
Later that night Kerin and I met up with Kurama after I saw Taguro alive with my Jagan eye. Kurama, Kerin, and I watched as Taguro demonstrated his power to Yusuke by collapsing a building with his bare hands. Yusuke stood there in front of Taguro shaking. I had never seen the detective so afraid.
"Understand, this is the last time I will save your life." Taguro said before he disappeared. He reappeared behind Yusuke. "2 months from now a martial arts competition will be taking place." Taguro began.
"Oh, sounds like fun." Yusuke said shaky. I felt Kerin hold onto my arm tighter. She was afraid of Taguro too obviously.
"It's a dark tournament organized by greedy human crime lords and drawing on the most vial demon of spirit world. Each criminal gathers a team of 5 fighters and the teams' battle to the death. Humans enter for gambling and entertainment. Demons fight for blood and the chance to win the prize. You and Kuwabara are guests in this completion. If you refuse I will immediately kill you and everyone you know. If you want to survive these fights I suggest you get stronger." Taguro said then left Yusuke. Once Yusuke knew that Taguro could no longer see him he fell to his knees shaking.
"You idiot. He's going to kick your stupid @$$!" Yusuke practically yelled. Taguro continued walking until he walked past the building that Kurama, Kerin, and I were standing on. He stopped below us and looked up.
"I assume by your dismal faces that you've been invited to the competition as well on Urameshi's team no doubt. Demons who side with humans will get no sympathy." Taguro said. Kerin was watching him carefully.
"Sympathy has never been apart of those fights."
"As you know, the teams are made of 5 so, you'll have to recruit another fighter since I doubt that girl next to you will be fighting." Taguro said with a smirk. Kerin held my arm tighter but her eyes never left him as he looked at her. Then he began to leave. "For your sake I hope you find someone useful." He said leaving our sight.
"What is our chance?" Kurama asked. I turned around leaving with Kerin holding onto my arm as I left.
"Don't ask." I said.
Over the next few days Kurama and I began training Kuwabara. Kerin stood on the side watching. I was using a piece of bamboo as a sword for training instead of a real sword. While I was training Kuwabara I would glance as Kerin to make sure she was ok and every time I saw her eyes they were different then usual. Unlike their normal blue or sometimes green they were a dark almost black blue and a white light would go by the bottom part of her eye every little bit. I had begun watching her eyes more often until I noticed that they did it when she was watching fighting or dancing on TV. I began to wonder what it meant but had little to not time to really think about it except when Kurama was training Kuwabara but normally then I would be training myself.
We had a little over a week before the Dark Tournament would be starting and I was training harder then ever. One day Kerin came up to me while I was training.
"Your team still needs another fighter, right?" Kerin wrote down on a piece of paper and showed me. She had begun doing this whenever she needed something and I was trying to do something. It seemed to take less time then for her to struggle over words that she didn't know. I simply nodded wanting to know where she was getting at. "I can be the 5th fighter." She wrote. I looked at her shocked.
"No." I said about to go back to my training. She grabbed my arm and I turned around.
"Pa – Plea – Please." I looked at her. The look on her face was filled with sadness; want. She was begging me. I sighed.
"If you can stand up against me in a fight then I talk to Kurama about it." I said giving in. She smiled and nodded happily. Kerin and I walked back into the open area in the forest of bamboo. She just stood there her eyes never leaving mine. I picked up a piece of bamboo off of the ground to use as a sword and took a fighting stance. I ran at her using the bamboo I had picked up as a sword and swung it at her. She easily dodged. I continued trying to learn her way of dodging. That's when I began to notice. Her way of dodging wasn't a fighting style at all! She was dancing! Her fighting style was a dance. I continued to try and hit her but she continued to dodge as if it were nothing. It looked as if she was flowing. Like the wind was dancing with her. But how? She couldn't control the air...Could she? Finally we stopped and she smiled at me. "Ok, I'll talk to Kurama about it, but first we need to find you a weapon." I explained to her. She began jumping up and down happily.
When I first spoke with Kurama about Kerin being the 5th fighter he was against it until I told him to go up against her especially now that she had her weapon. Kurama took a fighting stance. Kerin didn't do anything. She just stood there smiling. Kurama went at her with his rose whip and Kerin dodged. As usual I saw a smile on her face as she danced. She secretly put her hand under her dress and pulled out her weapon. We had decided that she should hide her weapon so no one could see it and the best place for that since she all she ever wore were dresses we decided the best place would be to attach it to a belt on her upper right leg.
She pulled out a small hand held fan and swung it in a circle in front of her. A tornado formed and threw Kurama into a nearby tree. Kerin then put her fan away again and walked over to where Kurama was on the ground. She put her hand out and Kurama gratefully took it and Kerin helped him up. After that Kurama agreed that Kerin could be, but we'd have to watch over her carefully. She smiled and started jumping up and down happily.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment