Chapter 5

Hiei pulled his katana from the dead Makai beast.

Five down, three more to go.

Briefly, he wondered how Mukuro's soldiers managed to capture the ferocious beasts alive and lock them in one of her training arenas. Come to think of it, he did hear some panicked screaming last night… The fire demon decided that it was none of his business.

One of the creatures leapt at the tiny black-clad figure and Hiei flitted out of sight to land on its head. The katana was driven through the beast's skull along with a bored sigh.

Secretly, he was sick of this routine. For the past few months his life had revolved around training, sleeping… And why in the three worlds do I have to clean her personal chambers?! Those damned servants are employed for a reason!

He took out his frustration by incinerating another one of the Makai beasts.

"Che. This is endless."

*~*

Safe behind a kekkai, Mukuro watched as Hiei bad-temperedly kicked aside the ashes of the beast that had almost buried him. (It turned out that Hiei was actually slightly shorter than Mukuro's thumb >_<)

Though she was more than satisfied with the growth of Hiei's youki level - he had gone from a D-Class to a high B-Class in a matter of three months - the fire demon's attitude pissed her off. Manners? What manners? He wouldn't even call her 'mother' , preferring to address her with 'oi', 'you', 'woman' or just get her attention with a simple 'hn'. When he was in a better mood, she was referred to as 'Mukuro' - no honorifics attached.

She'd tried to give her heir a good upbringing (i.e. she taught him to fight, kill, steal… huh? What morals?) and provide for him. Doll's clothes were stolen from Ningenkai … Hiei started a bonfire with them just they were lacey and pink.

She gave him a swing, which was totally ignored

She gave him a doll's house to live in… Hiei tore downthe purple curtains for use as towels, melted the plastic bed and fake fridge, then practiced his swordsmanship skills on the rest of the (plastic) furniture.

So she got a skilled youkai craftsman to make a tiny bed from half a walnut shell… Hiei chopped it up for firewood.

K'so, that ungrateful brat. So what if it wouldn't stop rocking? It's supposed to rock, dammit! What was he expecting, square walnuts?Hell, the only gifts he appreciated was that damned expensive custom-made katana, that book on mastering Jaou Ensatsu Ken (The set of fighting techniques, not the fiery sword… it's kinda hard to tell the difference when it's written in Romanji) and his new name…

Actually, the stubborn Makai ruler had only relented when faced with her even more stubborn heir.