Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One for the Ages ❯ Chapter Twenty-one: Third Eye Blind ( Chapter 21 )

One for the Ages

By Gan Xingba

Chapter Twenty-one: Third Eye Blind

 

While Kurama and Kuwabara had been blessed with the good fortune of being near civilization during their arrival in the 11th year of the Meiji, Hiei had no such luck. He had awoken in the middle of a field with the sun beating down upon him and absolutely no semblance of where he was or how he was still in one piece. Gradually, he went through the same thought process that Kurama, and to some extent Kuwabara, had gone through, eventually coming to the conclusion that he had indeed been sent hurtling through time and space. He had also found out that he could no longer use his spirit energy, although his condition was somewhat different than his comrade's.

 

As the Jagan was entirely dependant on spirit energy for it to function, it simply refused to work at all now that its host could no longer use spirit energy. In fact, Hiei could not even get the lids of the third eye to open, and it remained sealed shut atop his forehead, looking like nothing more than a strange scar. Without being able to use the Jagan or his spirit energy, the first day of being trapped in the past had been a learning experience for the short fire demon. He had started out trying to travel at top speed until he found a village or city of some kind where he could get his bearings, but that didn't go so well. After what seemed to Hiei to be an extremely short amount of time, he had found himself gasping for air, and also found that he hadn't gone nearly as far as he had expected. Granted, any human would be awe stricken at his speed and stamina, but for Hiei, it was unusually poor.

 

After he had caught his breath, he had decided that it would be wise to test his physical limitations without his spirit energy, as it would be preferable not to be caught off guard by them a second time. After several hours of exercises in a nearby forest, he found that he retained a great deal of his speed and agility. However, his strength suffered slightly more than those other aspects, and his stamina, as he had found out earlier, was pitiful compared to what it had been before. Nonetheless, by human standards, Hiei was still quite an impressive specimen, although this fact really didn't improve his mood.

 

Feeling a little worn out from his work out, the demon had decided that it would be preferable to rest, as he would not want to encounter a fight in his weakened state. Upon awaking the next morning, Hiei then set out in a random direction on the first road he saw, with really no idea of where it was he wanted to go.

 

`It's safe to assume that I am stuck in this wretched place,' he surmised as he walked down the road, using much restraint not to burst out into his usual sprint. `I suppose there is a small chance of Kurama and the buffoon also being in this same time, but even if they are it makes no difference. Even Kurama could not possibly come up with a way to get back to our time. But wait…why do I even want to go back there?'

 

Suddenly, Hiei realized that he truly didn't care that much about returning to his own time. Sure, Yukina was there, but he could safely assume that his sister would remain safe, seeing as all those who had ever meant her harm were now dead. Knowing that she was safe had always been enough for Hiei, and the same seemed to apply now, which really left absolutely no reason for Hiei to return to the present.

 

`I may not be able to use my spirit energy yet, but if I can master the Jagan, than regaining my spirit energy will be easy for me with time,' he reasoned, suddenly feeling his mood lighten. `And time I'll have now that I'm free of that damned Koenma sending me on his petty tasks. Without him, I can truly do as I please. Ha! Throwing myself in front of that blast may have seemed stupid at the time, but now it appears to be the best decision I've ever made!'

 

However, thinking about the events that had put him in his current state of freedom caused him to recall the reason for his sudden burst of martyrdom, or, more specifically, the demon slayer whom he had supposedly saved. For just a moment, he felt regret creep up on him before roughly tossing that emotion aside.

 

`Don't be a fool, you were about to leave her forever anyway, remember?' he reminded himself, shaking his head as if to get rid of such thoughts like they were something caught in his hair. `No, this is for the best, for both parties.'

 

For a long time, Hiei's mind was silent as he walked down the road. Eventually, though, he saw buildings begin to rise up from the horizon. Immediately, he realized that he was somewhere in between his own time and the feudal era, for these were neither the small huts or grand castles of the feudal era, nor were they the massive skyscrapers of his own time. Instead, they were somewhere in between and there were enough of them for Hiei to surmise that they were part of a major city. As he approached a gateway leading into the city, he not only confirmed his suspicions, but learned where exactly he was from a nearby sign: Osaka.

 

He began to walk the streets in search of more information that he could happen upon. After all, if he was going to be stuck in this time, then it would be advisable to know as much about it as possible. He turned a corner and suddenly found himself staring at five men all adorned in the same blue uniform, complete with cap, and all equipped with sabers. One of them spotted Hiei, and quickly he pointed him out to his fellows. Hiei kept on walking, not really caring about what the humans thought of him, but one of the men stepped in his path before he could leave their presence.

 

“Hey there little man, don't you know that it's illegal to wear a sword nowadays?” said the man condescendingly. “You better hand it over to me.”

 

`So they are the local law enforcement,' thought Hiei, grimacing. `In my current condition, I'm not sure if I'd survive a manhunt, which would surely be what would happen if I killed a policeman. I'll have to stay non-lethal…for now.'

 

“Hn, no one but me touches my sword, worm” the fire demon scoffed. “Now get out of my way before I remove you from my way.”

 

“What? How dare you talk to me like that, runt?” yelled the policeman in indignation. “Men, I think he's resisting arrest.”

 

The other officers chuckled and all five drew their sabers as they encircled Hiei. To their shock, Hiei began to laugh.

 

“You fools, you know not who you are provoking,” he said with a smirk. “A dozen of you could fight me and it would make no difference.”

 

“We'll see!” retorted one officer from Hiei's left, and he charged, preparing to stab Hiei with his sword.

 

Hiei almost lazily jumped over the attack, rising so that his feat just cleared the man's head before slamming his left foot into the man's face. The officer was hurtled back into a wall with a thud, clearly unconscious. Now thoroughly enraged, all four officers began to attack Hiei at once with all manner of sword attacks. Hiei gracefully dodged each attack one by one, and after each successful dodge he let loose a powerful kick. Within seconds, all four officers had been sent flying by Hiei's retaliatory kicks, and now lay scattered about the street. Hiei made to walk away from the scene when he saw a new squad of policemen round the corner in front of him at a sprint, apparently having heard the commotion.

 

“You there! You are under arrest for the assault of policemen!” declared one, although the look on he and his comrades faces upon seeing the unconscious forms of their peers was more hesitant than the words.

 

“Don't be a fool. All of you together could not possibly handle him.”

 

Hiei's eyes immediately darted towards the direction of the new voice, for it had a deadly calm to it. His eyes lead him to look at another police officer who was leaning against a shadowy wall nearby, where he had apparently watched Hiei brawl the first five officers, stamping out a cigarette. As he stepped out of the shadows, Hiei immediately realized that he was entirely different than the other officers. He was a tall, thin man, who, unlike the other officers, wore no cap, revealing slicked back hair similar to Yusuke's, although several strands remained hanging in front of his face, apparently purposefully, and he had the smallest of smirks on his face. However, these features were all secondary to one thing: his eyes. They were the piercing eyes of a seasoned warrior, and at this moment, they gave of the look of a hunter having spotted worthy game. In fact, one could say that they looked almost…evil.

 

“But…Lieutenant Fujita, sir…” stammered the officer, clearly not expecting the thin man to be there.

 

“Stay out of this fight,” stated Fujita, addressing the officer while keeping his eyes on Hiei. “I'll handle this.”

 

With that, Fujita unsheathed his sword, which was noticeably a katana, unlike the sabers of the other officers.

 

`Without my spirit energy, this man will prove a challenge, even one on one,' surmised Hiei. `This is a fight I should avoid for now.'

 

“Hn, I have no time for these games,” Hiei responded, and then promptly leapt onto the nearest roof top, though he had to use far more effort than he was used to.

 

After several more leaps to the tops of other nearby buildings, all of which were fortunately one story high, he finally stopped at the edge of one and looked behind him. He smirked as he judged the distance he had traveled. Though he was without his spirit energy, he judged that he was still far faster than those humans, who could never possibly catch up to him.

 

Suddenly, he thought he heard sudden movement from the street below, and turned just in time to see Fujita flying upwards at him, his sword ready to pierce right through Hiei. Fortunately, the nimble fire demon was able to shift away from the attack in time to save his life, but Fujita's katana was now in his left hand rather than his right, and thus was still able to clip Hiei's right shoulder with surprising force as the fire demon tried to dodge. The blow sent Hiei flying both off of his feet and the rooftop, and only through some impressive midair acrobatics was he able to land on his feet on the street below. Fujita quickly leapt down in front of Hiei, standing casually in front of the demon, though he had that same piercing look in his eye.

 

`Impossible! How could he have kept up with me?' thought Hiei, bewildered.

 

“I'm glad you decided to run in this direction, this street is always empty,” said Fujita coolly. “We can fight in earnest here.”

 

“Hn, you seem to have a death wish, fool,” spat Hiei, who, given no other choice, drew his sword. “I had hoped to avoid becoming a wanted man today, but if you're so desperate for me to kill you, than I'll just have to oblige.”

 

With that, both warriors got into their fighting stances. Hiei held his sword out to his side horizontally with his right hand while his left hand hung at his side at the ready, but Fujita's stance was one Hiei had never seen before. His sword, held in his left hand, was positioned behind his body, with the blade side facing upwards, while his right hand was positioned right beside the sword's tip, making it look almost like he was drawing back a bow, and his legs were in such a position that it was obvious he was prepared to launch himself forward.

 

Hiei made the first move, charging right towards Fujita with all his speed. As expected, Fujita launched himself forward, again trying to skewer Hiei. However, Hiei had not expected such great speed from the man, and just narrowly avoided the attack as he rolled to his right and out of the way. His roll carried him to the wall of a building on the other side of the street, and he used it as a springboard to launch himself at Fujita, slashing horizontally as he approached. However, Fujita had seen the move coming, and leapt almost straight up into the air to avoid it.

 

Shocked that his opponent had so easily avoided his attack, Hiei looked up to see Fujita bearing down on him with the same stance he had just used a moment ago, but this time it was aimed downward at Hiei. Realizing he would have no time to dodge, Hiei leapt up to great his attacker, hoping to counter the attack with one of his own. Using his speed, Hiei used not just one attack on Fujita, but two. The first was an upward cut that was supposed to hit Fujita's blade and throw his attack off, and the second was be a diagonal cut downward that would, in theory, cut through Fujita's spine.

 

However, Hiei again underestimated the strength and speed of his opponent, for the first attack did not hit Fujita's sword with enough force. While it did change the attack's direction, Fujita's katana still bit into Hiei's side, leaving a bloody gash. This also caused Hiei's second swing to be thrown off, and, all he managed to do was leave a long, but extremely shallow cut down Fujita's back that really would amount to nothing more than a scratch. Hiei managed to land on his feet once he hit the ground, but he could not help but let out a grunt of pain. He knew he had gotten the worst of that exchange.

 

“You have talent that is rare in this Meiji era, I'll grant you that. Few people can survive the Gatotsu once, much less three times,” said Fujita, switching his sword back to his right hand as both opponents turned to face each other. “But nonetheless, I advise you to surrender. You will die if you continue to fight me.”

 

“Hn, you scratch me a little and you think that I'll surrender? This fight is not over…” retorted Hiei angrily. “You'll know it's over when you're in hell!”

 

With that, Hiei rushed the thin man, who was not in the stance he had been before. Thinking him off guard, Hiei let loose a flurry of furious attacks. However, each attack was successfully parried or dodged, which only made Hiei's attack increase in intensity. Fujita was on the defensive now, for Hiei's strikes weren't giving him any kind of room. Eventually, though, Fujita managed to force Hiei into a weapon's deadlock.

 

“Your speed is impressive, but I can read your every move,” commented Fujita with a smirk as he used his height to his advantage and began to push Hiei backwards. “I could have killed you right then, if I so wished.”

 

“Talk all you want, but action is all that matters,” replied Hiei, who, not liking his odds if the deadlock continued, broke away from the struggle and leapt back several meters.

 

Suddenly, Fujita did something unexpected. He sheathed his sword. Puzzled though he was, Hiei did not drop his guard.

 

“As of now, you have three options,” began Fujita coolly. “One: you try to attack me, I kill you. Two: you run away, all the police officers in the region, including myself, hunt you down and kill you. Three: you take the offer I am about to give you, you live.

 

“Hn, what could someone like you possibly be able to offer me?” scoffed Hiei, though a small voice in his head was telling him that listening to the offer was the best choice.

 

“A job,” stated Fujita simply. “Skilled swordsmen are a rarity in this era, as you may have guessed from the fools that you embarrassed earlier. As such, the police will take anyone they can get their hands on, and yes, if beating up a few incompetents is all that you are wanted for, than your record will be wiped clean.”

 

Hiei's eyes narrowed, trying to find some hint of deception in the man before him. He found none.

 

`He is right about the manhunt, at least. Whether I kill him or simply flee, I will be forced on the run…' thought Hiei as he considered the offer given. `And if I truly am stuck in this place forever, I'll need something to occupy myself with, if only until I am able to use my spirit energy again. Also, judging from the way this man fights, deadly force doesn't seem to be an issue for these policemen. I must admit…there doesn't seem to be anything distasteful about this offer on the surface.'

 

“Before I accept, I need to be clear on my terms,” answered Hiei at last, though he kept his sword at the ready. “If I don't like what it is you're having me do, I have to be able to leave with no manhunt.”

 

“Of course,” consented Fujita with a nod.

 

“Another thing,” continued Hiei, suddenly remembering something. “I noticed that all the officers besides you use western sabers. I use my own sword, not some western garbage.”

 

“If it were up to me, katanas would be the standard,” Fujita responded with a knowing smile. “I'm sure we'll be able to work that out. Now then, are we agreed?”

 

Hiei slowly nodded, and sheathed his sword even slower. Fujita motioned for Hiei to follow, and the fire demon did so, although he remained behind the thin man and kept one hand on the hilt of his sword.

 

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Upon arriving at Osaka Police Headquarters, Fujita, whose first name Hiei had learned was Goro, had directed Hiei to the medical wing to get his wounds patched up while Fujita filled out some paperwork that would officially make Hiei a policeman. Although Hiei knew that he would heal on his own fairly quickly, he didn't want to raise any suspicions. If the manhunt was going to be large if he killed a policeman, it would be positively massive if they found out he was a demon. Once his wounds had been treated, he exited the medical wing to find Fujita waiting for him, holding a police uniform in one hand and some papers in the other one. Hiei also noted that he had changed into a new jacket, though it was still of the same make as the one Hiei had sliced.

 

 

“It was difficult to find a uniform small enough for you,” said Fujita with a smirk as he handed over the uniform, to which Hiei grunted in response. “I also neglected to mention earlier, but I will, of course, need your name.”

 

“Hiei,” answered the fire demon simply as he examined the police cap that came with the uniform.

 

“Excuse me if I don't find that amusing, but I'll need your full name,” Fujita demanded rather curtly.

 

“If it is a surname you are asking for, than your guess is as good as mine,” Hiei replied in all seriousness.

 

“Well, you're certainly a strange little man, Hiei,” stated Fujita with a chuckle. “If you have no surname, we'll just have to find one for you.”

 

Fujita then pulled out a pen and wrote down what Hiei assumed was his new surname. However, Fujita said nothing.

 

“Well? What is it?” snapped Hiei impatiently.

 

“You are now Hiei Takahashi,” answered Fujita as he began to walk off, presumably to finalize Hiei's enlistment. “You'll find a room where you can change into your uniform just down the hall.”

 

The uniform, Hiei found, seemed to fit him just fine, leading Hiei to surmise that Fujita had unusual aptitude for judging distance. Of course, Hiei hadn't even bothered to try the cap on. Even if he could get his hair to cooperate enough for it to fit, it would look positively stupid on him. He also left his headband on, not wanting to risk any suspicion that might lead to the discovery of his Jagan. Fortunately, the changing room also had a small set of lockers, and he managed to find an empty one where he could store his other set of clothes, although they were so ragged and damaged now that he wasn't sure how much good they'd do him. After exiting the changing room, Hiei found Fujita waiting for him.

 

“So, what exactly is it that I'm supposed to do?” asked Hiei irritably, silently hoping that it involved some form of violence. “It had better be nothing trivial.”

 

“Nothing I do is trivial,” Fujita replied. “There are some arms dealers that have set up a small base just south of Osaka that may be connected to a certain incident just a short time ago. I'm going to go take them out. You can come as my backup.”

 

“Hn, we'll see just who the backup is,” scoffed Hiei, and followed Fujita as he made for the building's exit.

 

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By the time Hiei and Fujita arrived at the arms dealers' camp, night had fallen, and they only had the moon to go by as they looked down at their quarry from among the forest. It was what one might expect, a small group of tents accompanied by a large amount of crates arrayed along the bank of the bay. Hiei estimated that there were around forty men all told in the camp, and all were armed.

 

“What are we waiting for? These weaklings will be easy to kill,” said Hiei in an impatient whisper.

 

“You're impatience is starting to irritate me,” responded Fujita, and then pointed to one of the arms dealers. “You see that one with the gray hair that's holding the fan? He's the leader of this group, and I need him alive until I can question him.”

 

“Hn, I won't kill the old one then,” complied Hiei. “Now can we just get on with this?”

 

“Of course,” replied Fujita simply, and then began to walk down towards the camp with Hiei following just behind him.

 

The pair walked casually down towards the camp, and as they approached, all the miscreants present were alerted of their presence and began to approach. By the time they had arrived in the camp, they were surrounded.

 

“Well, well, looks like a couple of stupid cops have dropped by for a visit,” said one thug as he flicked his katana out of its sheath. “What's the deal, cops? Trying to get us to surrender peacefully?”

 

This triggered a round of snickering from all of the thug's comrades. Hiei remained silent, for he was just watching Fujita. He had that same predatory look in his eye that Hiei had seen earlier in the day.

 

“I'm afraid that you are not so lucky, no,” answered Fujita, with a cold voice that immediately silenced any snickering that had been going on. “You see, it would be against my code to allow you scum to live.”

 

“Your code? And just what kind of stupid code does an ugly son of a bitch like you have, huh?” retorted the thug, trying to avoid being rattled.

 

Suddenly, Fujita's eyes lit up, and if they had been predatory before they were positively wolfish now. Even Hiei was startled by the sudden change. Then, slowly and with great intensity, Fujita spoke.

 

“Slay…evil…immediately!”

 

With that, Fujita snapped down into his the stance he had used previously on Hiei, which the fire demon recalled as his “Gatotsu stance”, and leapt forward at the thug who had been speaking.

 

“It can't be! It's Haj-” were the last words that the thug managed to say before Fujita's sword pierced him with such force that the man was thrown back into a stack of crates, dead before he hit the ground.

 

Instantly, Hiei followed Fujita's lead, and he too leapt into the crowd of terrified criminals, his sword tearing through flesh and bone like it was nothing at all. Together, they were a whirlwind of destruction, cutting down most of their adversaries before they even had a chance to react. Within a minute's time, all of their attackers were dead, and neither Fujita nor Hiei had a single wound to show for it. The only man left was the gray haired man that Fujita had identified as the leader of the group, who was cowering among a stack of crates.

 

“Now then,” said Fujita, taking several menacing steps towards the man. “A man named Makoto Shishio recently purchased a battleship called the Rengoku and stored it in Osaka. You're going to tell me who sold it to him.”

 

“It w-wasn't me! I swear!” stammered the terrified arms dealer. “It wasn't a local guy, either! It was someone else!”

 

“Surely, that's not all you know,” persisted Fujita, grabbing the man by his color and picking him up of his feet.

 

“Wait! I heard a rumor that he wasn't even in Japan!” continued the arms dealer pleadingly. “They say he might have been a foreigner, maybe someone from China! That's all I know, I swear!”

 

“Good,” stated Fujita, and then brought his sword's tip to rest against the arms dealer's throat.

 

“Wait! Aren't you going to show me mercy for helping you?” begged the man in fear.

 

“No,” answered Fujita coldly, and then stabbed the man straight through the jugular.

 

“Well, it's good to see that you have no problem with killing,” commented Hiei, smirking as Fujita wiped some the blood off of his face with a white gloved hand.

 

“As I told them, it would be against my code to let this cretin live,” stated Fujita, flicking the blood off his sword and sheathing it.

 

`Slay evil immediately…simple and deadly,' thought Hiei. `I approve.'

 

Unlike Fujita, Hiei did not simply flick the blood off of his sword before sheathing it. Walking over to one of the tents nearby, he used the cloth to carefully wipe it clean of blood, leaving it spotless before sheathing it. Noticing this, Fujita walked over and raised an eyebrow.

 

“That sword must be important to you,” he commented as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, though he drew nothing but a grunt from Hiei. “A gift from someone, perhaps?”

 

Hiei shot Fujita a threatening glare, suddenly very irritated with the man's perceptiveness.

 

“Yes, though that's none of your business,” answered Hiei after a moment's pause as he continued to glare at Fujita, realizing that he would have trouble hiding anything from the man. “But as long as we're prying into each other's lives, I noticed that that thug was about to call you something else other than Goro Fujita. So, who are you really?”

 

“You don't strike me as the type of person who would use this against me, so I may as well just tell you,” answered Fujita casually. “In public, I am Lieutenant Goro Fujita, but in private, you may know me as Hajime Saitou, ex-captain of the Shinsen Gumi's third squad.”

 

“Hn, just the name would have sufficed,” scoffed Hiei, confirming to Saitou that he had read the fire demon correctly. “I could care less about your past, I just dislike being deceived.”

 

“That makes it simple then,” concluded Saitou, shifting his cigarette so it hung casually at the side of his mouth.

 

With nothing more to be said, the two began the long walk back to Osaka. The only sounds that were emitted from them were the sound of their feet against the ground, and Saitou taking a long drag from his cigarette. This caused Hiei to smirk contentedly. It had been a long time since he had been among such silent company. On top of that, he had to admit that the fight with the arms dealers had been fairly entertaining, and Saitou's merciless justice was something that Hiei found quite refreshing from the usual restrictions that he had faced while working under Koenma.

 

`I have a feeling that this occupation is going prove a most agreeable distraction until I can use my spirit energy again.'

 

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Note: Yes, “Aku…Soku…Zan” does sound damned cool, and I actually did consider putting it in there in place of the translation. However, I decided to stick with my whole “keep in line with the English version in an English fic” rule (with the exception of that oh so wonderful non-word: oro) and went with the translation. Sorry if you're disappointed.HHhh