Hiyuki

Hiyuki is the family ship between Hiei and Yukina from the Yu Yu Hakusho fandom.

Canon
Hiei and Yukina's mother was an Ice Maiden named Hina. As a member of that race, Hina naturally gave birth to another Ice Maiden 100 years after her own conception, a daughter named Yukina. However, Hina had engaged in relations with a man which caused her to bear a second child — a son named Hiei. Unlike Yukina, who took after their mother, Hiei took after their father and was born a fire demon with a cruel disposition. In fact, Ice Maidens were forbidden from having relations with men because of the fact that birthing a son would always result in the mother's death. Hence, Hiei's existence had been taboo from the start and, knowing that he possessed a violent nature, the Ice Maidens of the Glacial Village sentenced Hiei to be killed as soon as possible.

Ice Maidens are known for their ability to cry valuable, crystalline tears. However, when they give birth, they cry a single tear of a special color which is given to their offspring. When Hiei and Yukina were born, Hina cried two tears. Hina's closest friend from the village, Rui, was commanded by their elders to throw Hiei off a cliff and onto the Demon Plane below the Glacial Village. Before doing so, Rui gave Hiei one of Hina's two stones. Foreseeing that Hiei would not only survive the fall, but would one day return to the village to exact revenge, Rui asked Hiei to kill her first upon his return as payment for making Hina suffer.

As foreseen by Rui, Hiei not only survived but thrived on the Demon Plane — he took pleasure in killing and growing stronger. However as time passed, he eventually grew bored of fighting and began to think of his homeland, staring at the crystal which was his birthright. Realizing that he felt a sense of peace while looking at the stone, Hiei reoriented himself with the new goal of returning to the Glacial Village. A short time after this, however, he lost his stone in a fight.

Knowing neither where his stone had fallen to, nor where his homeland was, Hiei enlisted the help of a man named Shigure who agreed to give Hiei the ability of enhanced sight. In exchange, Shigure demanded that, if Hiei ever reunited with Yukina, then he could never reveal to her that they were family. Hiei replied that he had never intended to tell Yukina the truth in the first place. With the terms agreed upon, Shigure implanted a third eye into Hiei's forehead. Though this deprived Hiei of all the spiritual power which he had accumlated through years of fighting, it finally allowed him to finally locate his homeland. Upon returning to the Glacial Village, Hiei renounced any desire to exact revenge on the Ice Maidens upon realizing that their hearts were all frozen. In his eyes, they were already living a fate worse than death. However, what he did learn was that Yukina was no longer there, ironically having run away to find him. His search for her eventually led him away from the village and to the human world, where he discovered that Yukina had been captured by a black market dealer who had been torturing her in order to collect her tears for profit. After being rescued by Hiei, Yusuke and Kuwabara, Yukina asks Hiei for his identity. In line with his agreement to Shigure, Hiei vaguely replies that he is merely a friend of the other two.

Some time later, after having become acquainted, Yukina approaches Hiei with her own birthstone and gives it to him. When asked why, Yukina tells Hiei that she has a brother who possesses a stone identical to hers, though she has never met him. Moreover, Yukina knows of how her brother was swathed in flames after being born and, after witnessing Hiei's fire-based abilities, she has come to believe that Hiei and her brother must be of the same kind. She asks Hiei that, if he ever meets her brother in the demon world, to please tell him that she is now living in the human world. When Hiei skeptically replies that her brother is likely dead, Yukina adamantly replies that he is definitely alive, recalling Rui's prediction that he would one day return to the Glacial Village for revenge. Going a step further, Yukina even voices approval of her brother's supposed actions, saying that, if the village can only survive through such cruel practices as abandoning its own sons, then perhaps it should be destroyed. However, Hiei chides her lightly for this, stating that if she really believes the village should be destroyed, then she should do it herself rather than waiting for her possibly-dead brother to. This causes Yukina to smile, remarking that Hiei is right and that, "Somehow, I think that if I ever met my brother, he'd tell me the same thing."

Fanon
Due to the fact that Hiei's character arc and tragic backstory largely revolves around Yukina, this ship is viewed very fondly by the Yu Yu Hakusho fandom. In particular, many fans were interested to see whether or not Hiei would finally tell Yukina the truth about their relationship. This caused some disappointment in the ultimate outcome when such a confession was never made. While most fans prefer to view their relationship in a purely familial light, there are some who ship them romantically. In the Eastern fandom specifically, Hiyuki is actually more popular than the semi-canon ship Kuwabara/Yukina. The relative popularity of this ship may come from the fact that Hiei and Yukina were separated from birth, then later reunited after years of separation. This is a fairly common trope in stories which deal with sibling incest. Others may believe that Hiei and Yukina are simply good for each other, citing Hiei's constant protectiveness over Yukina. On the other hand, Yukina may have given Hiei a sense of acceptance by telling him directly (albeit unknowingly) that she would be sympathetic with her brother if he desired revenge against their homeland — in a sense, indicating that she would side with Hiei over her own kind.

Hiyuki is one of Yukina's most popular ships, rivaling the aforementioned Kuwabara/Yukina. For Hiei, it rivals the most popular ship of the series, Kurama/Hiei, as well as Hiei/Mukuro.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Hiyuki tag on FanFiction.net

ART

Trivia

 * Upon both finding Yukina and receiving her stone in lieu of his own, Hiei has fulfilled both of his goals. In light of this, he states that he no longer has a reason to live.
 * Because of this determination, Hiei is able to kill Shigure at the end of the series. This means that Hiei is no longer bound to hide the truth from Yukina about their relationship. However, he continues to choose not to tell her.
 * In the anime OVA, Eizou Hakusho, Hiei returns to Yukina in the human world, intending to give back her birthstone. She declines however, stating that it's better for him to keep it.