"Kajiko?"

Kajiko? Who the hell was that? Who the hell was this strange man who had just barged in calling him...wait a minute! Wasn't that the name of the man on his dream? Why was this man calling him that? He wasn't Kajiko.

Yurei stopped in his tracks as he saw a ningen with silver-gray hair and baby blue eyes instead of the fire demon with long black hair, a faint white starburst and blue-gray eyes that he had only seen in his bestfriend's son. Who was this ningen? He had been certain that he would see Kajiko. He eyed the ningen with suspicion as he expected an attack. Was this a trap?

"Who the hell are you?" Mikagami demanded. "And what the hell do you want?"

Yurei's mind was clouded with confusion once again. It really felt like the ningen was Kajiko. Maybe he could find out. He *could* read souls because his mother had been a half soul reader. He concentrated his ki and glanced at the ningen's soul.

It...it was! It was Kajiko reincarnated. This was Hikaru's son! He was so happy and excited as he ran to the ningen and almost hugged him. He stopped however as the ningen pointed a sword at his neck.

"I said what the hell do you want!" Tokiya demanded in anger. Hn. The man was crazy and was probably a hentai.

Yurei had a sheepish grin as he scratched his head. "Oh, sorry, Kajiko."

"I'm not Kajiko!!!"

Yurei sighed. Of course the ningen wouldn't remember. He had a new life now. True, his soul had been Kajiko in the past but he was a ningen now. The only way he would have remembered and possibly remained part youkai with all his powers as a demon was if he *had* consciously reincarnated himself. "Ningen, how old are you?"

Tokiya glared at the man who had almost glomped at him earlier. He sure was nosy. "Why the hell do you wanna know?"

"Onegai? Please tell me. I need to know." Yurei pleaded with a smile.

The Hyomon Ken master looked at the black-haired man with doubt but he couldn't make himself doubt him. It was like he had trusted him before...in another lifetime perhaps. "I'm seventeen. Got any problem with that?"

Yurei shook his head with a smile. "My name is Yurei. I'm a prisoner of this world. I was about to escape with my friend. I also felt your presence so I came here."

Mikagami stared at the man. Maybe he had a way to get out of here. "Do you know how to escape this dimension then?"

Yurei's eyes widened. That was the thing he hadn't figured out yet. "Uh, we'll figure out a way, I guess."

Mikagami folded his arms and snorted. "Hn."

Yurei then smiled at Kaji- er... "What was your name again?"

Mikagami looked at the man. "Mikagami. Tokiya Mikagami."

Yurei nodded. "Come now. I have to get my friend so that we could get out of here fast."

"I'm also with a...er, friend as well. He went to see his father."

"Oh, he's going to see a prisoner?" Yurei asked with curiousity. "That'll be bad. I'm sure that he wouldn't survive it. Honshu is going to torture him just to hurt his father - the prisoner. There are rules within this plane and one of them is never to hurt a prisoner physically. Honshu's going to hurt your companion just to hurt the prisoner. Sorry, ningen, but your friend's a goner."
 

The guards had dragged a screaming and kicking and punching Hiei out of the cell of Hikaru, dragging Hikaru behind him as well. They came to another room not so far away. The room was dark and cold and the smell of death and torture was everywhere.

Honshu smiled as he glanced at Hiei. "This is the torture chamber."

Hiei still thrashed around furiously. It was getting hard as the wards they had put on him had started to wear him down and take away his youki. He hated this. After being hurt emotionally - a hurt that topped all the other hurts of before, he was about to be tortured. Maybe it was better if he hadn't existed at all. In his mind, all he wanted was death. He was only sorry for one thing. Yukina...

"Guards, you know what to do!" Honshu yelled.

The guards nodded as they dragged Hikaru to a chair by a huge concrete post, made him sit down and tied his hands and feet securely.

The other guards then grabbed Hiei harshly and slammed him against a post, laughing at and mocking the young demon.

Hiei felt some ribs crack as blood trickled from his mouth.

"Don't worry, Hiei." Honshu said with an evil grin. "This is just the beggining."

Hiei winced as he felt the guards forcing him to stand up. His chest hurt and there was a lot of blood coming out of him.

The guards then pulled Hiei to the center of the room, in front of Hikaru, and stopped. There were two chains hanging from the top of each post and two other chains at the bottom. They then chained the small fire demon's hands and feet to each one of them, making him immobile and unable to move.

Hikaru glared at the guards and at Honshu. What were they doing to the small demon? It almost seemed like even they believed that the demon was his son. Well, he didn't. He was sure that Honshu had done this just to get what he wanted from him - pain. Honshu was a sick and twisted individual. He looked away. No. The demon couldn't be his son. He only had one son - Kajiko - and he had long been dead.

Honshu smiled at seeing Hiei like that. He went in front of the fire demon and went forward, crushing their lips together.

Hiei tried to get away but couldn't. He knew what to expect next. He knew it very well.

Then it began. Honshu ripped the black material clothing the demon.

Hikaru tried to close his eyes as Honshu started the torture. He was impressed that Hiei didn't give a big reaction. The young demon obviously didn't want to give the bastard attacker what he wanted. Hiei was tough. Kind of like him...

The guards, who had noticed Hikaru's reaction, forced his eyes open, forcing him to witness. Honshu also made him see everything as he was made immobile, his eyes and body following the brown-haired being's command.

Hiei didn't cry out. He didn't moan nor did he made any kind of sound; yet in his face, the pain was very evident. He couldn't stop it. He was being hurt too much. Finally, he gave up. The hell with pride! It hurt! "STOP!!!"

Honshu stopped immediately, hearing what he had wanted to hear. He loved seeing beings at their mercy. They deserved it...as much as he had. He then leaned close to Hiei's ears and whispered, "See, Hiei, this is pain. Feel it now. Realize that before I did this to you, your father hadn't accepted you. He would never accept you - especially now."

The torture had hurt but those words hurt even more. He tried to ignore it but it kept ringing in his mind. His father would never accept him - especially now. He felt dirty.

Hikaru screamed mentally. Even if the boy wasn't his son, no one...NO ONE deserved such pain. It had been his fault. If only he had never made any mistakes. If only he was perfect. If only...if only... He felt a tear trickle down his cheek. Many had suffered because of him. Even an innocent young youkai who had nothing to do with him. He was glad that the torture was now over but then, the damage had already been done.

"You gave me great pleasure, Hiei." Honshu said with a smirk. "We should do it again sometime."

Hiei only glared at him. If he ever got away, he would kill the saddistic asshole. He would kill everyone - including himself.

"No, Hiei." Honshu purred. "This is so much fun to end. Besides, my guards are all feeling cold tonight. Will you warm them for me, my little fire demon?"

The guards perked up at this. Just as Honshu winked at them and left, they pounced. The demon was theirs now.
 

Tokiya and Yurei sneaked down the hallway with caution and silence. They were heading to free Hikaru and also Hiei who, upon the hyomon ken master's insistance, will also be rescued.

They sneaked in one of the rooms but it, just as Hikaru had expected, was empty.

They headed to the torture chamber and immediately hid as a happy-looking Honshu walked down to the opposite end of the dark hallway, whistling along the way.

Suddenly, they heard low moans which escalated to pained cries.

Tokiya winced as he recognized the voice. It was Hiei. What were they doing to him? Immediately, he moved towards the thick metal door. But then...

Yurei immediately stopped Tokiya. "No." he whispered. "It would ruin our chance at escape if they find out that we're here."

Tokiya glared at Yurei. "Damn, he needs us. They're hurting him. What the hell's wrong with you?"

Yurei just shook his head. "We have to wait."
 

Many minutes later, the shouts became sobs, soft and contained. It was then that they noticed a lot of guards leave the room, nasty and malicious grins on their faces.

After they were sure that no one else was inside, they silently opened the room and went in.

Both gasped as they saw the horror evident on the half-koorime's exposed body.

Mikagami slowly moved closer to his companion, not wanting to believe. How could anyone do this? And why? No one deserved it.

Hiei couldn't face them. He couldn't face anyone at his state now. The way they looked at him - it was like a slap on his face. He couldn't meet Mikagami's eyes as the ningen came closer to him. It hurt. This hurt. Hell, death was better than this!

Yurei glanced sideways and finally saw his bestfriend, Hikaru. This was supposed to be a happy moment - their reunion - but somehow, now, it wasn't. The boy that had been tortured...had looked a lot like Hikaru when they were younger. And Hikaru was here which meant...he was Hikaru's son? No, that didn't matter right now. First, they had to get away. He then moved to his friend and freed him. They had a brief hug which he somehow wished could have been longer.

After he had reunited with Yurei, Hikaru immediately rushed to the poor youkai still bound by the chains. He had seen it all. He could only imagine the hell the boy was going through. He had to help him.

Mikagami instinctively went in front of Hiei as Hikaru stepped closer.

"He needs to be freed." Hikaru said softly. He then used his youki and melted the steel chains with his bright orange flames after the ningen let him pass.

Mikagami looked on in wonder as he saw that the man was also a flame weilder like Hiei. He also looked like Hiei in a way but seemed older.

After Hiei was set down, he immediately curled up into a tight ball, wary of anyone touching him. He didn't trust anyone anymore, not even the ones he recognized in his hazy state as the good guys. They were all going to hurt him too sooner or later.

Yurei looked at the young youkai again then at Hikaru. "Is he your son?"

Hikaru's eyes were red as he saw the reaction of Hiei. Honshu would pay. Hearing Yurei's question, he looked up and shook his head. "He's not my son."

Hearing it once more, Hiei closed his eyes tightly. It was happening again - the world against him. Did he really deserve it? The only fault he knew of was existing.

Yurei, who had seen his reaction, looked at Hikaru questioningly. Hikaru was being stubborn again. What if the boy really was his son? Hearing that statement had probably hurt more than the torture. Being rejected was painful. Very painful. He knew that from experience.

Hikaru just stared back at his friend. Was what he said too harsh? Harsh? But it was the truth. He was sure of it. He sighed.

Knowing that it didn't matter now, Hiei finally gave in to what every tormentor tried so hard to get from him. A tear trickled down his bruised and beaten face and materialized into a teargem.

Hikaru and Yurei knotted their brows at that. A teargem?

Their thoughts were interrupted however as the ningen scooped up the little demon and stood up, heading out of the room to finally escape.
 

Along the way, they stopped by a supplies room to get the things they needed. So far they had been succesful. No one had seen them and they had seen no one.

After that, they headed out of the gloomy-looking castle and fled away rapidly, never once looking back.
 

Honshu snorted as he and the master of the lands looked at them through the orb. Oh yeah, sure, they were getting away. Big deal. When they realize everything, they'll just come crawling back, begging on their knees and kissing his feet. He snickered at that.

"You enjoyed?" Ryu asked with a smile.

"Hai." Honshu smiled back.