Disclaimer: YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi

Credit where credit is due… the idea of this style of chess game was inspired by a scene of Merlin and Domnu in The Lost Years of Merlin, by T.A. Barron.

Was originally going to be Hiei and Kurama, but I wanted a Hiei/Mukuro pairing. But… they don't do anything, really… so I think I may have failed.

Title is French, means "chess." But it also means "failures, setbacks, defeats"… I get the feeling there's a deeper meaning, but I've written this while losing sleep, being on a bus for more than 3 hours at a time, and taking tests to prove my school is smart.

Les Échecs
(Chess)

"You found a human today, didn't you." He knew that if he looked up, he would see Mukuro's lips curling into the same self-amused smirk he could hear in her voice. "You smell very… freshly washed."

Instead of lounging on her throne, carelessly busy to show that she did not bother to wait for him, she had set up a small table and two stools. In hindsight, he should have assumed she enjoyed playing games, for she had a quick and proud mind. The pieces had been scattered in no apparent order, as if she were in the middle of play; of course she would prefer an opponent, but she could not stand to imply that she needed Hiei to join her.

He did not sit. He resented her comment, and he knew she had done it just to needle him. Yes, Hiei had been scrubbing vigorously in the shower. And yes, he had resigned himself to the stench of humans.

"They taste better than they smell," she conceded to his unspoken comments. "But it's quite possibly why some breeds managed to adapt to a diet lacking in human flesh." Mukuro moved a playing piece decisively, setting it down with a sharp and clean click.

There was nothing to say to that, so he studied her game in idle curiosity. When no comments were forthcoming, he remarked, "I've never seen one of those before."

"A gift from your friend, Kurama. I dare say he anticipates the need for a favor in the future, or at least social niceties."

"He's not my friend." He came closer, sensing her unvoiced invitation, and ran a finger along the edge of the very expensive, and no doubt very illegal, playing board. Gold and silver, ivory and ebony; small chips of jewels he recognized from his bandit days as being very valuable, even though he lacked the fox's innate fascination to learn all their names.

"Far too gaudy," he scoffed.

Mukuro laughed just long enough to see the deadpan of annoyance creep across his features before she volunteered, "He tried to make a bet with me that such would be your reaction, but I would not take it, because I knew it was true." Her dark eye glittered with a self-satisfied gleam. "For one who knows you well, your approach to life is sometimes predictable."

"Spare me." Hiei plucked a pawn from the board, glancing from the corner of his eyes to see if she would glare like Kurama did when his intricate things were disturbed. She merely continued to watch him in entertainment.

As he moved to replace the little figure, she stayed his hand. "Hiei. You really aren't one for games, are you? Well, that will make this all the more interesting."

He sat opposite her, staring at the pawn in his hands as if it would divulge all the secrets. "What is it?"

"Does it really matter? But for your curiosity, it originated in the human world, where they call it chess. The name is a bit mangled in the demon plane, as is the play, but I find I prefer it. The human version lacks a bit of excitement and… spontaneity."

The grin playing across Mukuro's face was very like the one Kurama wore when he felt he was being especially clever. The game had some trick or detail he had not caught yet, and he seemed to be asking the wrong questions. Suspiciously, he inquired, "What are the rules?"

Mukuro smiled indulgently. "You may play however you like. You are free to make your own rules, unless you break one of mine."

She wanted him to start in the middle of play, with no idea what to do or how to do it. Hiei briefly wondered why this reminded him of his missions for Koenma before it clicked. That was why the rules had no importance. She did not want him to follow the dictations of the game constraints; she wanted to see how he would play.

He set the pawn in front of her king in a bold challenge. And so the game began.

Both possessed a wealth of confidence; even Hiei, who had not yet discovered how to win, made his moves with unwavering purpose. He had never backed down, never made excuses for his mistakes. He simply strove forward, and did not look back.

"I don't keep you here as my slave, Hiei," she remarked absently, sliding a rook off to the side. "You could take your leave every once in a while, visit the human world for a few days."

"I don't like the human world." He moved another piece, satisfied when Mukuro obligingly disappeared her own over the table edge. "And I don't like the people in it."

"Not even your friends?"

Hiei's response was automatic. "Don't call them that. They're pawns," he snapped. She wondered in amusement if he was even consciously aware of speaking.

"I hate to remind you," she drawled, "that your pawns manipulate you quite well." The rook snuck back into play, taking a piece Hiei had never realized was in danger. "I have to wonder, then, if they aren't truly pawns. There lives your sister, as well as your fox, your detective, and your human. In fact, I even suspect that you don't hate the human. You simply feel the need to motivate him to be stronger. Strong enough for your sister, perhaps…?" She trailed off, smiling slyly. Hiei had stopped playing to glare at her.

Mukuro laughed, "Really, Hiei, the game isn't any fun if you don't play a little manipulation on the side."

He clacked a piece down angrily, but she silently shook her head, so he searched for another move. "You do realize that you're far too like Kurama own good."

"Oh? You mean beautiful, cunning, and red-headed?"

He gave her a pointed glare. "No, annoying."

Resting her chin on a fist as she thought, she sighed. "Hiei, there's no point in playing if you don't enjoy yourself even a little."

"The point is to win." Another chess piece shot across the board, straight-forward and single-minded as always.

"And will you enjoy winning?"

She had to bite her lip to keep from smirking at his sarcasm. "Yes. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go strategize with my minions."

Hiei half-turned as he reached the doorway, enough to glance back at her reaction from the corner of his eyes. The expression on her face was unreadable, but her posture radiated smug satisfaction. She tapped a finger on the top of a king, though he could not tell the color. Mukuro knocked it over with finality, murmuring in approval, "Checkmate."

…
Owari
…

-Windswift