Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Never have, never will.

AN: This is one of the side-fics I promised to my story Superman, which means that if you haven't read that story you won't understand what is going on or know who my OC is. To those of you who have been waiting for this, I'm sorry it took so long. I wanted to take a break from writing and school has started up again, which is making my life a little hectic.

Anyway, this is a Hiei point of view one-shot that covers scenes from chapters 12-15. Enjoy!

"Do these stairs ever end?"

He smirked at her words, allowing himself a small laugh, though it was nothing compared to Kurama's whole-hearted chuckles. Risking a glance over his shoulder, he saw that she was glaring at them both, her eyes narrowed in what may have been the least threatening look he'd ever seen. "That was a ridiculous question, woman." Noting her indignant expression, he returned his attention to the stairs before him.

"Yeah, well…" Her retort falling flat, she added, "Never mind."

She fell silent, clearly deciding it was better not to complain. Not for the first time, Hiei debated the consequences of breaking his promise to her and reading her mind. He doubted she would notice, but a tense feeling in his gut prevented him from doing so.

Guilt, in all its glory. Rearing its ugly head when he least wanted it to.

But if he could simply skim her thoughts, he knew that dealing with her would be considerably easier. It would certainly allow him to solve some of the mysteries she presented.

"You guys can run to the top if you want to, you don't have to wait for me," she said finally, breaking the silence that had fallen around them.

"Shyle, it would be ungentlemanly of us to leave you here alone," Kurama responded, laughing once more.

"Hiei isn't a gentleman."

The words were like a slap in the face, causing his hands to curl into fists at his sides and forcing him to remember what she had said to her mother. She had been adamant that she would not date him, which would make his plans infinitely more difficult, if not impossible.

Coming to a halt, Hiei twisted around to level a glare at her, his nostrils flaring. "Excuse me, woman," he growled.

"Just making an observation is all, no need to get offended. Don't worry, being a gentleman is boring." Her voice was light, making it clear that she wasn't aware she had offended him in the slightest.

Tense and fighting to control his anger, Hiei watched as she stepped around him and continued up the stairs.

And suddenly it struck him that it didn't matter what the girl thought. After all, she mattered very little to him. Any foolish thoughts he'd had of pursuing her were just that. Foolish, incredibly so. She was a human, a young one at that, and would never understand him or his interest in her.

He barely understood his interest in her.

With that realization in mind, he smirked and blurred into motion, darting past Shyle and Kurama. Stopping at the top of the stairs, he leered down at them. "Seeing as I'm not a gentleman, I feel no need to waste my time here. Goodnight, Kurama." Shooting her one last parting glare, he headed for the shrine.

It was only once his back was turned that he allowed his sneer to fade, his eyebrows pulling together in frustration. Finding flaws in the girl was easy enough, but the pull she had on him had been instinctual from the start and he knew better than to think he could reason his way out of it.

He was in the middle of changing when the knock came on his door. "Hiei? It's Shy. Could you open the door?" Wrestling with his belt, he chose to ignore her. Why should he acknowledge the girl? He knew that it would only undermine his determination to defeat his attraction to her.

But he also knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid her for long.

As much as he hated to admit it, he looked forward to seeing her, to playing her ridiculous question game each morning. There was something about her he simply couldn't ignore.

It was that grudging thought that forced him to move to the door and jerk it open. Stepping into the open doorway, he stared her down. "What do you want?" he asked through gritted teeth, hoping that she thought his anger real.

Her eyes darted to his naked chest and a blush colored her cheeks. Jerking her gaze back to his, she spoke softly. "I just wanted to tell you that I won't be running tomorrow, so you don't have to watch out for me. I'm going to sleep in since it's so late."

"Hn." That was what she did to him, messing with his head, saying things like that, acting as though she valued their relationship, whatever it was. Why else would she bother coming to his room and telling him not to worry about her, especially when she had angered him so recently? Why risk his wrath?

Hiei moved to step back into his room and close the door, but she splayed her hand against it, stopping him.

"Look, I'm sorry if what I said earlier bothered you. I'm exhausted and I didn't mean to be hurtful or whatever. I'm bitchy when I'm tired. Please don't take what I said seriously. Besides gentlemanly is boring. The whole Prince Charming bit is kind of overused. Apology accepted?"

He was surprised at how nervous she sounded. Did she truly fear that she had done permanent damage, that she had driven him away? It surprised him that she hadn't made the same realization he was beginning to make.

He was drawn to her and, though he couldn't explain it, he knew that nothing would stop him from making her his. That being said, he wasn't quite sure of what his next move would be.

"I care very little for your opinion of me, woman." But, judging by the way she reacted to his words, he hadn't taken a step in the right direction.

"Oh, well, sure… I understand." Shyle jerked around and started down the hallway back towards her room. "Goodnight, Hiei."

He watched her walk away, unsure of what to say, of how to fix the mistake he had just made. Frowning, he shut the door and resumed undressing before climbing into bed and letting his eyes fall shut, banishing all thought from his mind.

If there was one thing he had learned in his life, it was that late at night was not the time to ponder life-changing decisions.

Hiei settled comfortably on the tree branch, pulling one knee up to his chest and laying the other out flat. Closing his eyes and resting his head against the tree trunk, he searched out Shyle's small energy signature. He tracked it with ease, monitoring her pace and estimating how long it would take her to reach him.

He had plans for this morning, plans to figure out just where he stood in relation to her. If he were going to pursue her – truly, actively pursue her – he needed to determine how to begin and he couldn't do that unless he understood her feelings for him.

Lucky for him, their question and answer sessions provided a foolproof way to get the answers he wanted.

Sensing that she was less than a minute away, he straightened his back and opened his eyes, shifting into what he knew was a confident, rather than comfortable, position.

She appeared a few seconds later, still jogging, but gradually slowing down. As always, he was impressed by her stamina. Yes, she was sweaty and out of breath, but she was clearly in control of her own body. He'd seen plenty of inexperienced runners bend over or sink to the ground after a long run, actions that only succeeded in compressing one's lungs and making recovery more difficult. It pleased him to see that Shyle made none of those amateur mistakes.

She stopped beneath him, tilting her face up to look at him, and exhaled in a manner different than her tired pants, one that he recognized as a sigh. "I was scared you wouldn't be out here this morning." Her cheeks, which had already been flushed, darkened at her sudden outburst and she turned away from him, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Watching as she took seat, he studied her in hopes of determining what was going through her head. "Why wouldn't I be out here?" he asked, keeping his voice level and calm.

"I don't know. You were mad at me before and I thought you may still be." Her hands moved nervously in her lap and he knew that he should say something, anything really, but he couldn't seem to find his voice. "Um, are you still mad?" she asked when he continued to remain quiet.

He searched desperately for words, knowing that he needed to dispel her fears, but his voice remained frustratingly absent. The chance to reassure her passed, when she added, "It's your turn to ask questions."

"Hn." Finally! Relief that his vocal chords were obeying him at last disappeared almost immediately. That single syllable had brought with it hundreds of questions and he wasn't sure where to begin. Forcing himself to regain control, he chose a question that had bothered him on more than one occasion in the two days since it had first arisen.

"Why did you tell your mother you wouldn't date me?"

"I, uh, just didn't want her to start interrogating me," she answered, a blush once more coloring her cheeks. "Plus, I'm obviously not your type. There's no point in me wasting my time pining after you or something."

He could barely believe her answer. It had never occurred to him that she thought herself not his 'type.' If she had truly only answered her mother based on that assumption, which was very much incorrect, then he had far less to worry about than he had thought.

"Are you saying you would be interested if you thought you had a chance?"

"What?" She froze, caught off guard by his follow-up question.

"It was a straightforward question." Her answer was important. If she said no, he wasn't sure how to proceed. He gritted his teeth. She wouldn't say no, she couldn't say no.

"Yeah, I guess I would be. But I'd be interested in any guy who was interested back," she answered reluctantly, refusing to meet his gaze.

Allowing himself a relieved smirk and ignoring the second part of her answer, Hiei leaned back and braced himself for whatever she might throw his way. "Shoot." The human term made his smile widen. He knew that she hadn't expected him to be able to use the word correctly, but he had proved himself more than able to do so.

She seemed at a loss for words, but at last she gathered her thoughts enough to ask a question. "Are you interested in me?"

The smirk slipped from his features and his eyebrows came together as he struggled to comprehend what she had asked him. How was he supposed to respond to that?

Did she want him to explain that he didn't find her physically attractive, though she was pretty enough as far as humans went? Did she want to hear that he didn't understand why he liked being near her? Did she want to know that he was seriously considering her as a potential mate, despite barely knowing her?

He doubted it. And so he stuck to the response that had never failed him.

"Hn."

Realizing that he wasn't going to expand on that, Shyle frowned. "That wasn't really an answer." She sighed and glared at him in frustration.

"Are you going to ask anything else or are you done?" Hiei asked, ready to launch back into his own questions.

She shook her head. "I'm going to ask something else, just give me a second." He was about to inform her that it was taking much longer than a second when she asked, "Have you ever seriously dated anyone?"

"Dated?" he asked, trying to buy himself time. Where in the three worlds had that come from?

"Yeah, like having a girlfriend. I think demons call it courting."

"So you mean have I courted anyone with the intention of mating them?" Cursing every god he knew of, he forced himself to appear confident, willing his ever-present smirk into place. "Yes, I have."

"Would you tell me who? What was her name?" She seemed truly interested, which he wasn't sure how to interpret. But he knew that he could finally seize control of their conversation. After all, the shock value of his next statement would no doubt return the ball to his court.

"Why do you assume it was a woman? And only one at that."

He watched her eyes widen to almost impossible size. "You've courted men?" she managed to ask, just barely keeping her voice steady. Well, he'd certainly been right about shocking her. And since it was working, he decided to keep using her surprise to his advantage.

"I've only dated one man with the intention of mating him. You know him."

"I know him?" This time she did stutter. "Who is he?"

"Kurama."

He'd have thought that telling her he had been with the fox would be difficult to do, but it was incredibly easy. Maybe it was because he liked seeing her astonishment. Or maybe it was because it felt good having it off his chest.

He had a sinking suspicion that the latter was correct.

"Kurama?" she repeated.

"Are you going to repeat everything I say in question form?" He asked the question dryly. The sooner she stopped repeating him and started reacting, the better. He wanted to see what came after shock.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to." She was avoiding his gaze once more, her eyes locked unblinkingly on her hands. "Why did you two break up? You did break up, right?"

He nearly laughed at the second question. Was it possible that she was jealous of Kurama? He decided to put her out of her potential misery painlessly, despite knowing that drawing it out may have proven more fun. There was more he needed to accomplish than torturing Shyle. "Yes, we courted each other at one time, but have since ended things. We decided to do so on mutual terms. We have different goals in life."

"Have you ever dated, sorry courted, a woman?"

"Two," he answered, yet again hoping to surprise her.

"Who?" she asked immediately. Damn, it seemed his method was no longer effective.

Resisting the urge to growl, he opted to keep his reply brief and to the point. "A woman you wouldn't know named Nanami. We broke it off decades ago, over what I no longer remember." That was, oddly enough, the truth. Until that moment he hadn't realized how trivial his first serious relationship had been. He saw now that it was nothing more than a folly of his youth and barely counted as a courtship at all.

"And the other one?" she asked, apparently determined get all her questions answered.

"Lord Mukuro of Alaric." His blunt response rewarded him with the shock he had been looking for.

"Mukuro?" Her voice was disbelieving, her eyes alarmed.

"Did I stutter?"

"No, I just didn't realize that you were involved with her."

"I no longer am," he said, hurrying to make sure she knew that he was single. If she were to think him in a relationship, she would refuse his advances on principle.

"Why did you two break up?"

"I want children. Mukuro does not." That was of course another deal breaker. There would be no getting around his desire for children. Any chance of courting her would be dashed if she didn't want to have children at some point in her lifetime.

She spoke before he had the chance to determine if she wanted kids or not. "You ended things with Kurama because two men can't have children." It was a statement rather than a question, which didn't surprise him. She was smart. It only made sense that she would realize why it was he and the fox had broken up.

"Hn." He waited impatiently for her to pose another question, itching to ask the hundreds of his own that needed answering. In the end, waiting proved pointless.

"I'm done, you can ask questions now."

Annoyed that he had bothered wasting time waiting, he demanded, "Have you ever seriously dated anyone?"

Her response, when she finally voiced it, was hesitant. "With the intention of getting married? No," she muttered, "I haven't."

"You've never dated anyone?" Whether that was a good thing or not, he wasn't sure. Innocence could be interesting, but inexperience would no doubt prove rapidly aggravating.

"Well, I've dated guys, just not with the intention of making things permanent." Fair enough. He could deal with that.

"How many guys?" Hopefully not very many. It would be horribly disappointing if she proved to be a slut.

"Three. The first two ended immediately. My last boyfriend, Hideki Okijima, broke up with me and I haven't dated since." Good, three was a suitable number. In fact, it was exactly the same as his, though his were serious and she claimed hers were not.

"Why didn't any of them work out?"

"I don't know. Maybe guys just don't want to have a real relationship with me." He had to fight down the urge to laugh. The entire conversation they were having was entirely due to the fact that he was considering her for a potential courtship, one that he hoped would end in a mating.

"Would you be willing to… get married if the right guy came along?" He'd thought the question would be relatively easy, after all he'd asked everything else, but it proved to be the most difficult.

"Yeah, of course," she answered immediately, thoughtlessly. "Every girl, no matter what they say, wants to get married. It's how we're made."

And that was all he needed to hear. "Hn." Shifting his weight, he sprung down from the tree branch. "Let's go in."

"Oh, uh, sure," she muttered. Pushing herself to her feet and brushing off her butt, she fell into step beside him as he started toward the shrine.

He had the answers he needed. All that was left was to determine a plan of action.

Hiei leaned against the tree in which he normally perched, his eyes closed, and allowed his thoughts to wander, contemplating the events of the past few days. He'd made no progress in planning his conquest of the girl, though their relationship had been unintentionally advanced by factors beyond his control.

Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined sharing a bed with her so soon. But, if he were being entirely honest with himself, he would admit that he had enjoyed the experience. Needless to say he had not wanted to relinquish his grip on her even once she had awoken and the idea of waking each morning with her in his arms had its appeal.

A smirk tugged at his lips at the thought and he opened his eyes, sensing that Shyle was nearly upon him.

"Hi." Her voice echoed through the still forest and he raised an eyebrow upon realizing that with her head tipped up she was unable to see him and therefore unaware of his presence. "Are you here?"

"I'm right here, woman," he said, his voice light and joking. "That was rather pathetic."

"You're rather pathetic," she retorted. He watched as she turned away from him, only to groan and turn back. Crossing her arms over her chest, she grumbled, "It's my turn for questions."

"Hn, then go ahead and ask some." He was interested in what she would ask. She always seemed able to come up with new questions, despite having asked him about every piece of his life, whether it was trivial or not.

"Why do you want children?" Hiei struggled to control his reaction and it took all his concentration to keep from appearing completely shocked, making it impossible for him to formulate a response. How was it that she was able to catch him so off guard? "You have to answer, Hiei, or I won't answer anything you ask."

Her words spurred him to respond. "I didn't have parents growing up. Since meeting Yusuke and the others I've seen what families are like. I want that." He resisted the urge to add a frustrated snarl to the end of the sentence, knowing that it was only fair for him to answer since he expected the same from her.

But the obligation he felt didn't mean he had to like it.

"That's sweet," she murmured, smiling and looking oddly innocent. He often forgot that she was still young and would therefore see anything to do with kids as cute and, he suppressed a shudder at the thought, adorable. "Have you given any thought to names or what gender you'd want?"

"Why does it matter?" He would have no control over gender, that was a power reserved for the gods, and naming a child before its birth only brought bad luck. Why would he waste his time in such a manner?

"I'm just interested, that's all. I didn't take you for the family man type, so learning that you wanted kids was kind of surprising."

"I haven't," he said shortly.

"Haven't?" She cocked her head, confusion showing in her eyes.

"Given any thought to either of those things. It makes no sense to do so without a mate. It would be nothing more than a senseless waste of time."

"Spoken like a true man." He wasn't sure what that comment was supposed to mean and so he chose to ignore it. "Hmm, so that's enough baby talk."

"Is it my turn?"

"I'm afraid not, firefly."

"Firefly?" His eye twitched at the name.

"That was a question, which you aren't supposed to be asking right now, but yes, I did say firefly. You like it? That's what I'm going to call you now. You call me woman, I call you firefly. Pet names are awesome, huh?" She looked very satisfied with herself, apparently under the impression that the nickname, or pet name as she called it, was in some way witty or amusing.

Personally, he found it disgusting.

"No, they aren't." Like hell, he was going to answer to that ridiculous name.

She ignored his aggravation, plowing ahead without a second thought. "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. Now, on to my next question. Why haven't you told anyone about these conversations we have? I would have thought that you'd tell at least Kurama."

"They weren't, and aren't, anyone else's business. What I do with my time is no one's concern but my own." Plus, he didn't want to deal with the fox's curiosity. The redhead would attempt to advise him or pressure him into acting before he was ready.

"Isn't it my concern too, at least in this case, seeing as I'm part of the conversations?"

She was right, of course, but he certainly wasn't going to admit it. "Being a smartass isn't attractive."

"Excuse me?"

"Was I unclear?"

"No, I just don't understand where the hell that little tidbit came from. I mean seriously, thanks for the fun fact, but how is it any of your concern?"

She had no idea what she was asking, that much was clear. He'd expected her to at least have an inkling of why he was spending so much time talking to her, but it seemed that she didn't have one. Wasn't it obvious that he had an interest in her?

"Is that a question you want me to answer?" he asked wryly.

"No, you don't have to," she answered, spitting the words out as though she was afraid of what he might have said next. "Go ahead and ask whatever you want, it's your turn."

"Why haven't you told anyone about these conversations we have? I would have thought that you'd tell at least Keiko." He smirked, proud that he had been able to turn her own words against her.

"You're freaking hilarious," she barked sarcastically. "Being a smartass isn't attractive."

"Wise words." His smirk widened when she used his words against him, proving yet again one of the things he liked about her. She was witty enough to keep him entertained and bold enough not to put up with his crap.

She laughed and said, "That was incredibly cocky."

"Answer the question."

"If I told Keiko, she would make assumptions." Her response was too short, too brief, making it apparent that she was hiding something.

"Assumptions? Care to expand on that?"

She answered his question, though she did so reluctantly and kept her explanation brief. "She'd think there was something between us, something more than being friends."

He fought down the urge to ask if she thought there was something more between them, opting instead to say, "Your turn."

"Okay, let's see. What should I ask you now?" He knew the question was rhetorical and waited impatiently for her real one. "You're Mukuro's heir, so why aren't you in the Makai? You've been here for over two weeks. Doesn't Mukuro require you to go home?"

Yet another apt question. "When I first met you, I was taking a brief vacation. Since then, I have requested an indefinite leave from my duties."

"Why?"

You, but he didn't say it. "Personal reasons. There are things in the Ningenkai that I am interested in pursuing and I can not do so from Alaric." He wouldn't return to his duties in the Makai until he had made her his mate or determined that she was not right for him.

"Oh."

He allowed the silence to stretch until he couldn't take it anymore and finally asked, "Are you done?"

"Uh, yeah."

Deciding to act before he lost his nerve, he stepped away from the tree and started toward her, glad to see that she did not back away. Whatever followed his question would decide the future of their relationship and the clenching feeling in his stomach made him painfully aware of his nerves.

Stopping before her, he asked, "Does this make us more than friends?"

As soon as his lips touched hers he knew – knew beyond a shadow of a doubt – that he would do everything within his power to make her his. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and he snaked one of his own around her waist, using the other to angle her head better.

He pulled away with one simple thought in mind: no matter what she said or did to deter him, she would be his mate.

AN: Yes, I decided not to write the fight that directly follows the kiss and I skipped their night out, but I think it's fine without those things. That being said, I'm interested in hearing what you have to say. Writing Hiei's point of view was hard, much harder than I had anticipated. Plus, I had to use words and scenes I'd previously written, which was challenging. I doubt I'll write another one-shot like this one, but I do have plans for a fic about their kids (I'm hoping it will surprise you).

Did you notice that this is named after a song? I wasn't going to break the mold now in what could technically be considered the thirty-fifth chapter of this story. The song is by the Backstreet Boys (surprise, surprise) and fits nicely.

Reviews would be lovely. I really want to hear what you thought of my attempt at capturing Hiei's thought process.