Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Losing Battle ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

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A Losing Battle

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AU What if Hiei hadn't been thrown off of the Isle of the Koorime? What if Yuusuke had been taken in by Raizen before he died the first time? What if Kurama had never been shot by those hunters?

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Chapter One

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The City of the Koorime was all in a bustle. Rumors flitted across the city of women faster than normal cities could ever wish to, and in less than ten minutes, the whole city knew. Hina of the Mannenyuki House was in labor. Only four months before the city had been ablaze of the rumor that Hina was discovered to be pregnant with a fire demon's children.

“A fire demon, of all things!” Some of the women had cried when they found out, “Other demons might have been acceptable, but a fire demon!?”

Hyoumu of the Tsurara House - the House that was currently ruling the city - was on her way up the stairs of the Mannenyuki House household to witness the birth of the fire demon's spawn. She was to pass judgment. However, everyone knew what the punishment was for something like this. The half fire demon would be thrown from the Floating Isle of the Koorime to die.

She shook my head sadly. Hina would be heartbroken. She already was. Hyoumu had tried to visit her dear friend as often as possible. Every time that she saw the woman, Hina was in tears. There were hundreds produced everyday. Hina saved the first two hiruiseki for her children, and sent the others to her beau, Kurokoge. Hyoumu had been the one who smuggled them out to a messenger that gave them to him. The third hiruiseki that she had cried had been sent separately to him with a note that said that he could sell the other hiruiseki, but not this one; it was his.

Hyoumu hurried past the other Koorime that were helping Hina with the delivery. She arrived just in time to hear the midwife shout, “Now then, Hina-san, you need to push!”

With an effort, she struggled not to cry as the first child emerged. A dark blue wild mat with a white and navy starburst served as his hair. It was so dark that it seemed black. Hina cried out, “My son! My son! My beautiful son!”

However, one of the other midwives was already wrapping him in enchanted scrolls to keep his power over fire at bay. Hina then growled, “Give me back my son or I'll do it!”

So occupied with looking at the half fire demon, Hyoumu hadn't seen Hina grab the dagger hidden under her mattress. She was aiming at her stomach. Her hand was shaking as much as her voice, but it was still aiming at her daughter.

The midwife had stopped the preparation of the child to stare, wide-eyed, at Hina.

Hyoumu gasped, “Hina-san! You know the penalty!”

Hiruiseki dripped from her eyes, “If I can't have him then I won't have any of them. Give me my son. Queen Hyoumu, please! I want my son! If you throw him over I will kill her!”

What was she to do? If they had him thrown him over, Hina would kill her daughter, and that was a crime that would mean her life. The queen had no wish to be the cause of the death of a family, and she turned to the midwife, “Rui-san, that child is under the protection of the Ice Queen, and thus under the protection of the Ice Goddess. Hold him until Hina-san is capable of holding him herself.” Ice Goddess, take me as a fool for it.

Rui smiled a small smile at her, finished wrapping the child with the scrolls, and sat by Hina. Then Hyoumu remembered who the woman was. Rui was another one of Hina's friends - the only one other than the queen herself just then.

The other child's hair was a soft mint green. As she bent over Hina to get a better look at them, Hyoumu noticed that their eyes were a startling color. Even, Yukina, Hina's new full-blooded Koorime daughter, had red eyes. When the five of them were alone, she whispered to Hina in a low voice that she and Rui could hear, but no one from the outside hallway would be able to, “The council won't like this, Hina-chan.”

All Hina could mumble through her tears though was, “Thank you, Hyoumu-sama.”

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Koorime - Ice Maidens

Hiruiseki - Ice Tear Pearls

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Hina cradled her son and daughter in her arms as she was brought onto the stand. The council about the woman looked down on her in disgust, except for Shimo of the Bashira House, who kept fingering one of the hiruiseki pendants around her throat. The queen recognized it as the hiruiseki that the young High Seat had cried for her daughter on her birth who had died three days later. The event had only been a few months ago.

Shimo was very young for her position - the youngest in the room, in fact, since she had not yet reached full womanhood. If she let her light pink hair down more often, she would not have looked as old as she usually did, however, in front of the council, she had to use any weapon at her disposal to gain any type of respect. Her mother had died a mysterious death when she had been ten-years-old. To ensure that her House would not fall in case her mother's fate would be her own, Shimo had a daughter as soon as she was able to produce one; she had been twelve. This was likely the cause of her child's death.

The queen vaguely wondered what she was thinking of, and if she could use it to help Hina.

Hisame of the Sekisetsu House rose to her feet first to question Hina. She threw her dark green hair over her shoulder as she spoke, her eyes flashing cruelty at Hina, “Your firstborn, as I understand, is your … son, correct?”

“Yes, he is.”

“You understand the problem with this, right?” At Hina's nod, she continued, “He will be given all of your fortune when you are dead, and males are forbidden to receive any sort of inheritance.”

“Then my daughter, Yukina, will receive the inheritance.”

“Hina,” she said with a sickening smile while shaking her head, “second born daughters cannot receive your titles however. Your house will go to ruin, and the title will be tossed to whatever House wants the estate blemished by a man's blood.” She sat back down with a smug look on her face.

The queen frowned behind her fan, I bet you would like that too. You'd receive something in the process. You would have made sure of that. She had never liked that woman, and with that in mind Hyoumu smirked slightly as she stood, This should push her back a step. “Hisame-san, in our laws it says this, `All firstborn daughters will receive the inheritance of titles,' and Yukina is her firstborn daughter.”

Hisame flinched, and she sat down. The remainder of the council moved restlessly then, looking back and forth between each other as they whispered to those beside themselves.

Shimo stood hesitantly in the quiet noise of the room, and her hands were no longer fingering her hiruiseki, but were at her sides as if they hadn't been anywhere else. Almost hissing, the queen thought to herself as she watched the doll-like figure, A loose card. She could ruin things for Hina and her children.

Shimo's quiet voice bounced around the large vaulted room, and made it seem louder than it actually was, “That still leaves us with the question of what we should do with him. There is no law against having sons, but there are also no laws about what are to be done with them. We were born of the Ice Goddess who hated men, but she did not ban us from them. We, the Koorime, in our vanity and pride shunned ourselves from men and the outside world. We altered the Ice Goddess's laws to suit our own desires. However, after we almost corrupted ourselves by doing this, thousands of years ago, we stopped changing the laws, and tried to put them back into some semblance of order. Nowhere in our mess that we call our laws does it say to throw away our sons. This was just an outdated tradition that we have done because of our vanity. If Hina of the Mannenyuki House wants to keep her son, then I say that we allow her to. However . . .” she tilted her head to the side to look down on Hina in the stand with her newborn twins.

She just let Hina keep her son! Hyoumu thought ecstatically. If that doesn't win them over, nothing will.

“However, something must be done quickly about his control over fire.”

“What do you suggest that we do?” Hyoumu stood finally, and asked of her. “We know nothing of fire, other than it could destroy the entire Isle of the Koorime.”

Shimo was silent for a moment before raising her eyes from the mother and her children, “We keep referring to him as half fire demon when, in fact, he is also half Koorime. We could teach him how to control his ice power to counteract his fire power.” She let the council mull that over before adding, “Perhaps, we put him to use in our defenses of the Isle?”

“Oh? You wish for him to become a warrior in our army?”

“Possibly, or we could train him to become part of your Royal Guard.”

Tenka of the Ooyuki House stood, smoothing out her dress in the process. Her dark pink hair - on the verge of being called red - was pulled back into three braids, which made her look child-like, and thus, she was often underestimated, “We should put him in the outer defense in case his fire demon side shows more than his Koorime side.”

As the council began to bicker over where to place him, how he was to be trained, and whether they should exercise his fire powers to put them to our advantage, the queen snuck a peek at Hina. She was smiling down on her son and daughter. Hiruiseki were falling from her eyes again, this time in happiness.

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“They still haven't decided on what to do with him,” Hyoumu chuckled.

The queen was sitting across the small table from Hina. Her blue hair shone softly in the light of the ice chandeliers above them, and Hina realized that she had let it down for once. The cradles to Hina's right were slowly being rocked by her feet. Down, up, down. Slower than a snail's pace, “That's all right with me. It's not as if he'll need to go into training right away. In two or three years, he'll begin his training for whatever they keep their mind on for longer than three seconds.”

Hyoumu laughed anew, “He, him, his. I haven't heard his name once since he was born.”

The mother frowned slightly, “I haven't decided whether to honor his Koorime side or his fire demon side. I have the hiragana in mind, but not the kanji.”

Smirked, and tapping her foot thoughtfully, Hyoumu gazed over my son's sleeping form, and then her foot stopped, “Don't honor either.”

“What?”

Hyoumu's smile was one of delight, “Snip the council's collective ass, and use a kanji that doesn't involve either ice or fire.”

She giggled at her audacity. Kurokoge had been much like her. At the thought of him, Hina's breath left her as she contemplated the father of her son who looked much like each other - their red eyes, and flame-like hair …

Hyoumu frowned slightly, sitting back as she looked at her in worry, “You might see him again.”

“Maybe,” Hina had no hope of ever seeing him again. She remembered the way he had seemed to fly into her window to give her one last embrace … She gasped then, and began to giggle, “Hiei.”

“What are you talking about?”

“His name is Hiei.”

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Note On Hiei's Name: The kanji `ice' and `fire' each have the hiragana `hi' in them, so it could have meant either. In actuality though, his name means `Flying Phantom' because in the kanji that means `fly' there is the hiragana `hi.'

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Five Years Later

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“Big brother! Hiei-san! The council wants to see you!” He heard Yukina shout from the ground.

Young heirs to Houses were often made to be little errand girls, and Yukina had been given the task of being the messenger between their mother and the council on issues that dealt with Hiei. She had never really shouted before however, so the reason behind the message must have been important. What would the council say this time around?

Hiei jumped down to the ground beside Yukina, who jumped at the sight of him landing directly in front of her. She giggled once she got over her fright, “Big brother, you're going to get really hurt one day, and then you won't be jumping around everywhere anymore.”

Shrugging, not truly concerned about such a thing, he asked, “Do they just want me or do they want Mom to come too?”

“They only want you.”

He tried not to swallow a lump, but Yukina felt his distress anyway, and patted his shoulder to comfort him. Hiei had never been summoned in front the council alone, and he could think of only one cause for them to call him in this way. The council had come to their verdict, and they were ready to put the young boy in whatever division they had deigned would benefit the Koorime Isle.

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“My queen, you called me?” He bowed low. Hiei had stopped only at his home to change into some suitable clothes. They were itchy, and this meant that they were formal.

Queen Hyoumu chuckled low in her throat. That was always how she laughed. Deep and low in her throat, “Hiei-chan, the council and I have debated over your training for well over five years. Only now have we come to a conclusion.” She stopped, which made him look up at her. The action suddenly made him swallow a lump in his throat when he saw that they were all staring down on him. “We want you to choose where you think that you will serve the Koorime best.”

They're letting me choose? With so many paths to choose from, this seemed like a boggling task for the young boy. He had always wanted to be part of his mother's House Guard, but she had advised him against choosing that option if it ever came down to choosing on his own. One of the House Guards. I'll have to pick one of the Houses to serve. Then I won't be part of Mom's House anymore, and they won't think that she'd give me any special treatment. His mother had taught him as best as she could in the way of politics, and he didn't want to give them another reason to hate his one and only mother.

However, which one would he choose? There were just so many! He would not be able to pick the Tsurara House for that was the Queen's House, and she was his mother's friend.

The Sekisetsu House was off-limits due to the fact that their High Seat, Hisame, hated him with a passion. She had tried to convince Queen Hyoumu to throw Hiei off the Isle dozens of times.

The Ooyuki House was the one that had convinced Queen Hyoumu to cast an enchantment on him until he was ten-years-old. It was a ward to protect Hiei and others, which made her House a possibility. Tenka, the High Seat, only wanted to protect the Koorime from whatever threat that he seemed to possess.

Shimo, High Seat of the Bashira House, was the one that had persuaded everyone not to throw him over, and that made for another good prospect.

The Hyou House had Arare as the High Seat. She had tried to persuade them into hiring a demon to train Hiei to control whatever threatening powers he held. His mother had advised him against them as well however. Arare apparently wanted to use him as a weapon.

The High Seat of Hyouzan, Koorimizu, had wanted Hiei trained to control the power too, but his mother had told him that all Koorimizu had ever wanted to do was protect the Koorime.

That left the Ooyuki, the Bashira and the Hyouzan Houses, and so Hiei finally chose, “I would like to serve the Bashira House.”

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His mother and Yukina each bid him farewell. Hiei was to report at the Bashira Household in an hour, and during that time, he had rid himself of his mother's house colors, which were white and purple. Since he was a part of the Bashira House, Hiei would wear their colors, which were black and navy blue.

Hina had said jokingly before he left for the Bashira Household, “You look much more handsome in those colors. White and purple don't flatter you at all.”

Judging his speed, Hiei figured that he would be at the Bashira Household in a minute or so, but he didn't want to go straight there - he wanted to see someone first. Yukionna would want to know what was truly going on. Rumors were flitting about the Isle, and most were likely so far from the truth that it was staggering.

He was at her booth in the marketplace in seconds. When he stopped right in front of her booth, he scared her so badly that she jumped, “Hiei! Don't do that to an old woman.”

“Yukionna-baasan, you're not that old,” he smiled.

She laughed, “You cheeky little rascal.” Yukionna looked around her clothing booth, which made her silver hair swing, and when she saw that no one was heading to interfere, she whispered, “So, Hiei-chan, I see that you're heading for the Bashira House. Shimo-sama will treat you well.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. She thinks that you are an absolute doll,” she giggled. “I don't think that she knows you very well.”

Hiei grinned, showing his strange fangs. Yukionna laughed harder before she calmed down enough to ask, “So, is that all you wanted to say?”

“Nope,” Hiei grinned even wider.

“No?”

“I'm taking you out for lunch, but I have to be at the Bashira Household in an hour.”

She giggled, “Oh, you're such a sweetheart, Hiei-chan. Let me get my daughter to keep shop for now.”

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Obaasan, Baasan, Baba - Grandmother, Old Woman

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Some few hours later, Shimo walked the young boy through her courtyard where her Guards trained.

“Here, you will be given the best training that I can offer you. The first thing that you will be taught is the sword. As you know very well, the Bashira House holds the very best swordswomen on the entire Floating Isle.”

Hiei cocked his head to the side before he asked curiously, “Shimo-sama, who will teach me?”

“I will.”

“You?” He looked first at her hands. Hiei noticed suddenly that they were calloused and rough, unlike his mother's hands, which had always been smooth and soft.

“Yes, Hiei-kun. I am the best swordswoman to be found anywhere on our Isle.” She smiled down on him, and he found himself smiling back, “After I teach you the sword, I will teach you how to use your power to make the Hyou Jin. After you have learned this technique, I will teach you our House Weapon, the Koori Ken.”

Much more sophisticated than the Hyou Jin, the Koori Ken looked more like a sword than an icicle, and it had the ability to freeze anything other than the bearer. It was a formidable weapon in the hands of an expert swordswoman, and, as Bashira's Weapon of the House, there were few that could withstand it.

Mannenyuki's Weapon of the House wasn't truly a weapon, but it was deadly to those not of ice origin. It was said that human could be frozen solid in moments. Hiei had been taught the smaller version of it. Hyou Setsu wo Futte was a command to the sky to make a snowstorm. Dai Hyou Setsu wo Futte was the one more often called a weapon, and this command made a tremendous blizzard.

The queen wanted Hiei to learn the bigger version before officially becoming part of the Bashira House Guard. For the next few months or so, he would be going back and forth between the Bashira Household and the Mannenyuki Household to learn it.

Having been of the nobility of a House, Hiei had to be taught the Weapon of the House and all of its versions.

Hiei would be a formidable opponent when he was older. He could feel it.

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Feeling a smack against his back, Hiei landed hard against the ground, rolling across the courtyard. Shimo said softly, “You're dead. You'll have to try harder than that, Hiei-kun. I saw through your feint. Either become faster or hide your intentions.”

It had been seven months since he had come into the Bashira House's service. Since then, he had finished his training of the Dai Hyou Setsu wo Futte five months before, and he could now realize that Shimo had been going easy on him for those first two months, giving him the chance to concentrate better on his training between the two Houses. It was also possible that she had been soft on him so that his mother wouldn't see the bruises.

Hiei had learned through these months that Shimo was not as gentle as she had put out. Shimo was a harsh teacher, and she expected the very best out of him all the time.

She sighed, “Hiei-kun … go take a shower.”

That sigh, he knew, meant that she was disappointed in him. Hiei shouted at her retreating form, “Shimo-sensei, I want to try again! Please, Shimo-sensei!”

She looked back at him, her eyebrow perking upwards, “Are you sure?”

“Yes! I want to try again!” He nodded, lurched to his feet, and then got into an offensive stance.

He waited for her to go into a defensive stance, and attacked quickly. She easily blocked all of his attacks, and, with a flick of her wrist, she swung the practice blade so that he would trip. However, for once, Hiei dodged this, and took a full swing at her shoulder. Since he was not as strong as she was, it likely did nothing but sting her.

The look on her face was priceless. When the two were settled, she standing, and Hiei breathing hard as he sat on the snow-covered ground, Shimo said with a smile, “Hiei-kun, go take a shower.”

“Yes, Shimo-sensei!” He said, jogging across the courtyard before he stopped to run back, and put his wooden sword away.

She called after him, “You can have the rest of the day off, Hiei-kun. Tomorrow, I'll teach you the Hyou Jin.”

Stopping, he stared at her, “Really?”

She chuckled, “Go! You smell, Hiei!”

Nodding numbly, he ran as fast as he was able to at that moment. Hiei was especially tired, but he gained new energy at those words. Shimo was going to teach him how to make the Hyou Jin!

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“Yukionna-baasan! Yukionna-baasan!”

“What is it, Hiei-chan?” The old Koorime turned to him with a wide smile on her face.

He motioned for her to come closer, and he whispered in her ear, “Shimo-sensei is going to teach me the Hyou Jin tomorrow.”

“Oh my!” She said with a vast smile on her face. “My Hiei-chan is growing up before my very eyes! I'm so proud of you!” Then she looked him up and down with a frown, “What are you doing telling me this? You think that you can hassle me into getting you a sweet bun don't you? You rascal!” She laughed, “Go bug your mother, Hiei-kun.”

Kun? The smile on his face became even wider. Shimo was going to teach him the Hyou Jin tomorrow, and Yukionna had called him `Hiei-kun!'

Hurrying to my mother's Household, Hiei spotted Yukina drawing in a sketchpad on the sidewalk, and stepped up behind her with a smile, “Yukina-chan!”

She jumped at the sound of his voice being so close, and then cried out in joy, “Hiei-san! What are you doing here?” She got to her feet to give her brother a hug.

“Shimo-sensei is going to teach me the Hyou Jin tomorrow!”

“That's wonderful, big brother! Mother is inside. Come on!” Yukina grabbed his hand, and pulled him inside, telling the guards that Hiei was her guest when they attempted to stop him from entering. “Mother! Mother! Hiei-san is here! He has a surprise!”

Their mother was sitting in her study, looking over some documents, when the two came in. “Yukina-chan! Hiei-chan! What are you two doing?”

“I'm going to learn how to make the Hyou Jin tomorrow!”

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Going through the hallway of the Bashira Household to his room later that same night, Hiei tried to keep back a yawn. Hina had taken her family to dinner to celebrate. It might have been the last time that Hiei would have dinner as a family after all. When he learned the Hyou Jin, he would officially be a part of the Bashira House Guard, and thus Hiei wouldn't be able to visit his mother and younger sister as often as he would like. However, he was growing up, and as such, he had to show them all how grown up he was. His mother wouldn't like it if he continued to cling to her.

A sudden rumble shook the ground, and made Hiei fall to the tiled floor in a heap. The House Guard as a whole came out of their rooms, ceased playing cards, or stopped drinking in the common room. One of the Personal Guards helped the boy to his feet, and Hiei recognized who the golden head belonged to, and asked her, “Yukiyake-san, what's happening?”

“That felt like an explosion,” then she looked him up and down suspiciously.

Explosion? Doesn't that mean there's a fire? He shivered, and looked up at the older Koorime for guidance. Unexpectedly, Yukiyake began to sift through his mind, but it was in a way that he knew that she was checking his enchantment. She nodded thoughtfully, and pulled her searches away. She thinks I did something? Why?

Then Shimo's voice called out, barking orders, “Find out what that was! I think that it came from the Ice Palace! Arrange a guard for me! I want to find out what is going on now! Where is Hiei? He needs to come with me!”

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Queen Hyoumu was dead. Someone had planted a bomb in her chamber. She had gone to bed early, and then …

She was dead. She used to give Hiei sweets whenever they saw each other. She was his mother's best friend, and she was dead. She had taught him how to make ice sculptures by making ice columns grow from the ground, and chipping at the ice. All of the ice sculptures that he had ever made for her had melted in the flames.

Hiei shivered, and his hand tightened over the ice cutter, Who would bring fire here? Someone from below?

Currently sitting in front of an ice column, Hiei was carefully chipping away at it. Upon his arrival, Hiei had sat down with his mother and sister, to watch the wake, and listen to the ceremony. Only hours later had he been able to approach the coffin, and created an ice column, soon chiseling at the ice. The piece was almost finished, and he stepped back to study Hyoumu's form before he began working at the more detailed parts of her face. The sculpture was of her sitting on the ground with a large book in her hand - just as Hiei remembered her most. He stopped finally, and stepped back to look at it from another angle, and before long noticed something was missing. Hesitantly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out two dark blue hiruiseki.

Carving out small notches in her eyes, Hiei placed his hiruiseki where the new sockets were. They were the exact color of her eyes.

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…-waves-

So! I want to know. Which one of you guys are ready to kill me for abandoning this fandom and fic for what … almost two years? Well, I'm back now for some rewriting. Not sure whether or not I'll be adding new scenes, but if I see an opening for one and I'm inspired, then don't be surprised to see something you don't remember. As for any new faces here … Hi!

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