Title: Five Things That Never Happened to Hiei
Author: Hieiko
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Characters: Hiei, Yukina, Hina, Mukuro, etc.
Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, or any of the characters.
Summary: Hiei's life in different universes, spawned by choices he did not make.

i.

Hiei has done this twice before.

The ward comes off easily, and then he unties the small knot at the back of his hand. He peels the bandages away from his skin, inch by inch, until most of his left forearm is bared. There's nothing special here, he thinks.

His sister Yukina enters the room, and he suppresses the urge to hide. She sits beside him on the bed, and her eyes widen as she stares at his arm.

He looks down, and realizes that his arm is suffused in a faint red glow. Curious, Yukina puts her hand over his. "You're... warm, I guess," she says, smiling.

Then they hear the sound of the front door opening, and Yukina leaves the room. Hiei rewraps his arm with the discarded bandages. He has just replaced the ward when his mother comes in.

She regards him silently for a moment.

He stares back.

Finally, she shakes her head, murmuring something that sounded like "so much like his father", and turns away before saying, "You should be careful, my son."

Hiei understands. They live in an island of ice maidens, after all, and he's neither a maiden nor an ice demon. (Actually, he's half-ice demon, but that's not the point.)

Still, he can't help but play with fire every now and then.

ii.

His throat is raw from screaming. But the operation is finally done.

Hiei can feel the Jagan's energy doing a tug of war with the little that's left of his own. He'll need to train harder in order to utilize its power.

For now, though, he wants to rest. His eyelids feel heavy, and he won't be able to move himself off the operating table if his life depended on it.

Shigure is standing over him, saying something, but he can't make out the words. Probably wants to pester him about his life story. Again.

He ignores the older demon, and gives in to sleep.

It seems like only seconds have passed before he opens his eyes again, and he's floating several feet above Shigure's head. There's still someone lying on the operating table, and his eyes widen a fraction when he recognizes himself.

Before he can fully comprehend what's happening, there's a blue-haired woman flying on an oar beside him.

Telling him that he's dead.

iii.

The Koorime at least had the grace to carve their names on the gravestones.

Hina. Yukina.

Hiei stares at the pair of stone slabs, both of which are half-buried in snow. All that time and effort spent to find his way back to this frozen hell, for nothing.

From behind him, someone speaks, saying that Hina (and years later, her daughter) had committed suicide. The voice is familiar, and he half-turns to look at her.

It's the woman who threw him off the island. She suddenly realizes who he is, and drops to her knees. "It's you... Hina's son. You've come to kill us."

"Don't flatter yourself," he says, then walks away.

He stops when he reaches a cliff. It's not the same one as on the day he was born, but he jumps anyway.

iv.

"Take me with you, brother," Yukina pleads. A single teargem falls to the ground in front of their mother's grave, and it's enough to make him say yes.

After leaving the island, the siblings are ambushed by a gang of bandits. Hiei quickly disposes of three of them, but the other three prove to be a challenge. He's lying exhausted on the ground by the time he finishes them off.

His sister is at his side immediately, her healing powers already working on his wounds.

He struggles to stand when he notices other demons, likely also part of the gang he'd just decimated, approaching. But Yukina places a hand on his chest, and pushes him down gently.

"It's my turn," she whispers, as the temperature begins to drop.

The increasing cold lulls him to sleep.

By the time he wakes, he's already healed. The ground is covered in snow, and every demon nearby (except Yukina) is encased in a thick layer of ice.

v.

The fortress is deserted, except for him and Mukuro. Hiei thinks of the bloodbath that must be occurring miles away.

"Why didn't you join the tournament?" he asks her, though his hands don't cease their exploration of her body.

"Why didn't you?" she retorts, leaning forward. Her mouth descends on his, then travels across his jaw and down his neck.

"I asked you first," he mutters, before clutching at her shoulders to push her away slightly.

She caresses his cheek. "I don't think I have to tell you my answer."

He looks at her for a moment. Finally, he says, "No, you don't," and kisses her.