Eyes That Change

Three Demons

It was quiet in the clearing that Yuna found deep in the woods. Rock and fallen trees were scattered all around, giving her heavier objects to lift. She knew that subconsciously she had no problems lifting larger objects, however, she needed to learn how to control it on a whim.

During the times Shuichi was stuck at school or when visiting Shiori, she would make her way to this little clearing and train. She would be here for hours at a time, passing out from the amount of pressure she was placing on her brain, and when she would wake up she would do it again. Most times she would come back to the residence completely exhausted.

It was hard for her in the beginning. Every time she would lift something in the air, her mind would replay her father's gruesome death and she would become nauseated. Telling herself that she did it to save herself and Shuichi did nothing to help it. Now, almost a week after starting this training she was able to lift the objects in the clearing with ease at the same time, and it filled her with an accomplished pride at how fast she was learning to control it.

"You really are a naive human aren't you?"

Yuna jolted in surprise from the cruel voice from behind her. Everything around her dropped to the ground as she turned quickly to face Hiei. He stood there with his arms crossed, the same frown on his face as he glared at her.

"I-I don't know what you me—"

"Do you honestly think that lifting heavy crap is the same as holding open a rip in a plane of existence?" He scoffed.

All she could do was look down, honestly, she did think it would work. An irritated sigh reached her ears just as the hair on the back of her neck stood up when he came to stand at her side.

"Take that boulder over there and pry it open from inside."

"h-Huh??"

His red eye glared at her harshly, daring her to have him repeat what he said. She scrambled to do as he said.

Scorching pain ran through her the moment she tried. Quick to let go of the rock in front of her, she dropped to the ground holding her head and whimpering. Her head was pulsing in waves of agony while Hiei roughly grabbed her arm and stood her up.

"Again."

She shook her head as best she could, his grip on her arm tightening until it hurt as well.

"Again. Otherwise, if you fail, the fox will die."

All she could do was nod and do as he said.

Over and over again, they continued until Yuna had fallen to her knees from the pain. Blood flowed steadily out her nose and ears as she stared at the ground in front of her blankly. The demon next to her stared across the clearing, assessing the progress she had made over the hours he forcefully trained her.

Most of the rocks and fallen trees looked like they were torn apart. However, there were quite a few that had clean, straight cuts through their center. Hiei's red eyes appraised them critically before his hand rested itself on Yuna's bowed head.

"The heist is in a week. Keep doing this for the next few days and we'll succeed."

Unlike every other time he spoke to her, his voice held a bit more warmth. It wasn't as dismissive or rude either which caught her by surprise. Looking up at him with blurry, tear-filled eyes; she gazed at him with a mix of emotions.

"You did okay. For a human."

She didn't know why her face turned red at his backhanded almost-compliment but it did.

______________

A week had passed before she knew it. Shuichi had already left to head to the clearing that Hiei said to meet at. Looking at a small, light yellow bag she filled it with a first-aid kit and headed to the meeting spot as well.

As she made her way closer to the clearing the sound of deep laughter reached her ears. It sounded nothing like Shuichi, and she highly doubted Hiei was the originator.

"You must be kidding me, this is the great Yoko Kurama!? He's nothing but a human teenager! HAHAHA!"

The trees in front of her were quickly sliced to ribbons making the laughter stop and revealing her.

"What's another worthless human doing here??!"

The deep voice came from a giant of a man, no more than nine feet tall. The burly man granted and glared in her direction while Hiei looked disinterested and Shuichi tried to hide his shock from seeing her there. He did not want her involved in what they were about to do at all. What had their short acquaintance said to her?

She trembled as she walked further in and towards Hiei, bowing slightly to him and nodding to her friend.

"She will be holding the rift open, so don't kill her, Goki."

Immediately the giant snapped his head to the shorter demon a mix of disbelief and frustration evident on his face. Shuichi, however, was staring hard at Yuna, mentally tapping at her mind.

What in the world are you doing here?

He said you'd be killed if I didn't help...

Turning his green eyes to sharply glare at their more intelligent counterpart, his patience had started to dwindle. As if the universe sensed this a small shiny ripple began to appear in the direct center of the clearing. A feeling of deep apprehension filled Yuna as she stared at the strange distortion in the air.

"It's time. Woman, pull it and keep it open until we're done."

Just as Shuichi started to intervene, Yuna stepped forward and extended her hand. As usual, the image of her father's death played itself before her eyes, once more she pushed it away just as the shimmering ripple ripped open. The pain of holding it open wide enough for the three men to slip in was agonizing and worse than any pain she had felt until that moment. SHe'd take her father's beatings over this any day.

"G-Go!" She had barely managed to get the word out from the mixture of pain and how much concentrating she was doing.

Not wasting any time, Hiei and Goki quickly made their way into the small gate. Shuichi turned to look at his straining friend, resolving to make sure this went as quickly as possible.

As the three made their way into the Spirit World's vault, Kurama and Hiei made sure to stay as stealthy as possible. Neither of them wanting to draw attention to themselves and alert more guards. This plan was thwarted quickly by Goki, who had decided he had had enough skulking in the shadows. The nine-foot-tall demon rushed into the second to last room before the target room they needed to get to. With his large hands, he grabbed two of the smaller guard's heads and crushed them.

The remaining guard in the room almost managed to make it to the alarm and sound it just before he was killed.

When they made it to their target vault, there were only two guards there, their backs to the main door and the pair of them only turning as they heard it open. Hiei and Kurama were quick to strike, both of them killing a guard each.

In the center of the room sat their prizes, underneath a glass case. The Shadow Sword, the Orb of Baast, and the Forlorn Hope. Goki shattered the glass, and the three of them took each treasure, making their timely escaped and incapacitating any that stood in their way.

Yuna's arms and legs were shaking, trying to stay on her feet and keep the rip open. Over the last hour and a half, keeping it open took a toll on her and she was barely managing to stay upright. Her nose had started bleeding twenty minutes ago, and if the gross wetness in her ears were any indication, those had started bleeding too. She knew she had started crying, but she couldn't see anything but red blurs.

Much to her relief, she could sense that Hiei and Shuichi had jumped out of the rift. She nearly forgot their burly counterpart until his yells reached her ears.

"Don't close it yet! I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Soon he tumbled out the rift just as she let it snap closed. Shuichi was quick to catch Yuna as she began to fall to the ground.