"I'm going to do this, Hiei, with or without you."
"Fine, Onna. If you wish to screw up everything we had hoped for, then it's all on you. I have no part in this." Hiei turned his back on her, but did not make a move to leave, as if her next words had the power to stop him.
"Hiei! Don't, don't do this…please. Onegai." Kagome let out her breath as tears cascaded down her cheeks as she watched Hiei jump into a tree and dash off. She collapsed to the ground once she couldn't hold herself up anymore. Her body was racked with sobs as her tears were running dry. She lay there, unwilling to move as morning turned to afternoon, and afternoon to evening. As evening turned to night, she heard a rustling in the trees. She could not will herself to move as strong arms wrapped around her and carried her away. Instead of protesting, she snuggled into the warmth they offered her.
Hiei continued running throughout the day and stopped at night for some food. He found a rabbit and slaughtered it quickly. As he devoured it, he thought about his words to Kagome. He was right; she was ruining it all, though the others were not much help either.
Hiei had joined the group when he had found one of the shards of the jewel and the group had chased after him to retrieve it. He was amazed at the small group that had formed a family. He began following them. When the dog informed the others of his presence, Kagome began leaving a meal out for him. The dog criticized her for feeding the enemy in not so nice words, and she sat him for his mouth. Hiei watched as the humans interacted with the dog, kitsune, and neko. The dog had similar beginnings to his, and yet none of the humans or youkai in the group noted it. Hiei slowly began joining in the battles and then Kagome somehow integrated him into the group. Hiei still didn't understand how she did it, though now he had a small group that trusted him, and he trusted all of them but the dog.
The hoshi and the elder miko both declared that Kagome would be sent back to her time once she wished upon the jewel. So, the group; the dog, the slayer, the hoshi, the elder miko, the kitsune, the neko, Kagome, and himself; sat down to decide the best course of action for the jewel. After Naraku's demise, the jewel had only been sought after by lower level demons, though it did not mean that a more powerful demon would not show up. The dog and the elder miko demanded it destroyed. Hiei understood their need and rush to be rid of jewel, though he did not understand why they were so readily giving Kagome back to the well. Hiei decided to enlist the others aid in keeping her with them; they couldn't really want to be rid of her.
Surely, the dog understood the best, so Hiei had approached him in private and voiced his opinion.
The dog laughed and said, ' The jewel is only a burden to those who carry it. I'd rather lose her for a short time, than lose her to herself forever. I care enough to wait 500 years for her. What about you?' Then he had jumped off. Hiei had never wanted to decapitate someone more than that damned dog at that time.
The elder miko, the hoshi, and the slayer were no aid either. They all understood the ramifications perfectly and declared they would miss Kagome, but understood the necessity of it.
The kitsune and neko were Hiei's only allies; no one listened to the kitsune any more than they listened to him, and the neko had no voice with which to voice her displeasure.
Hiei found himself in a foul situation with no way out, unless Kagome would listen to him, and that had not been in his favor either. Hiei was not sure if he would return only to become more attached to Kagome and then lose her once she made her wish.
'Is she really worth it?'
When Sango noticed that Kagome had not been back since she left with Hiei that morning, she got worried. It was unlike Kagome to stay gone all day without letting someone know. Inuyasha grumbled, but finally Sango coerced him into searching for Kagome. He found her in the middle of the forest, with tear-stained cheeks, collapsed on the ground. He carefully picked her up and carried her back to Kaede's hut.
Once the jewel was completed, Inuyasha, Miroku, and some of the men from the village had built on 3 rooms to Kaede's small hut. The result was somewhat like a modern home with the main room for company, a small room to the side for dinner, a room for Kaede to sleep in, and then a room for guests (mainly, the shard hunters).
Inuyasha lay Kagome down on a futon in the guest room and sat down beside her, stroking her hair.
"What did that ass say to you? What did he do, Kagome?" Inuyasha stood and left the room.
He returned a minute later with a towel from Kagome's yellow bag and a bowl of water. He slowly almost religiously, took the towel and dipped it into the bowl and washed her cheeks of their tear stains. When he was done, he pushed the bowl to the side and pulled her into his lap as he scooted to lean back against the wall.
The next morning, Kagome woke up, ashamed, in Inuyasha's arms. She stammered as she apologized for being a burden to him. He told her to 'shut up and take it,' and then rushed off with the excuse of informing Kaede they were hungry.
Miroku and Sango (who had made their own hut soon after Naraku's death) had joined them for breakfast. Shippou was off training with the kitsunes at Youkai School and Kirara had gone with him.
As they ate, they strayed away from what happened with Hiei, and talked about the wish on the jewel. They had had Myoga search out rumors and tales of the jewel, and how to destroy it, but he came back empty handed. No one had wanted to destroy the jewel; they all wanted it for themselves. Slowly they decided the wish should be Kagome's decision alone, because the jewel was her destiny.
She decided she would wait a week for Hiei, and then whether he was back or not, wish on the jewel.
The week passed quickly, and it was already up. Hiei had not been seen or heard from, and even Myoga could not find any rumors of him. Shippou and Kirara had come back in the middle of the week and had begged Kagome to stay, though she declined and demanded they look her up in the future. Inuyasha and Shippou promised and Kirara mewed sadly.
Pulling her aside from the others, Inuyasha grabbed her hands.
"I know I already promised, but I want you to know, I'll be there, and I'll find you. I swear it." He kissed her hands and Kagome blushed.
"Inuyasha…"
He turned before she could say anything else, and pulled her back towards the others. Sango and Miroku hugged her and promised they would name their first girl after her.
Kaede gave Kagome a hug, and told her she was proud of her and she could not have had a better family if she had given birth to them herself.
Kagome backed away and waved. She knew it was time. She grasped the jewel tightly between her fists and closed her eyes. She delayed as long as she could, with tears flowing from her eyes. Once she decided she could not wait any longer, she made her wish.
"I wish the jewel would just disappear."
There was a blinding light that seemed to lift Kagome into mid-air. The jewel floated out of her hands and above her head before it dove and slammed itself into her heart. She screamed and clutched at her chest as the pain of the jewel forcing itself into her body tore into her. Inuyasha jumped out and tried to grab her, but he couldn't. She was slowly fading away. Inuyasha landed on the ground in a crumpled heap with his arms still outstretched.
The rest of the group stayed back and allowed Inuyasha his time, though they did not leave.
Hiei froze where he was. It felt as if Hiei's heart had stopped. An immense pain filled his chest and he fell to the ground. Tears were unconsciously streaming down his cheeks. The pain was so great he didn't even hear his own screams. He clawed at his chest until his claws were covered in his own blood and he passed out from the pain.
He awoke a week later, at dark. His chest still ached immensely, but it was more bearable now. Ignoring the pain, he sat up and left for Edo to confirm his worst fears.
Inuyasha was sitting in the Goshinboku when Hiei appeared.
"Where is she?"
"She left. You missed it."
"That bitch!" Hiei cursed. Inuyasha jumped off his branch and brandished tetsusaiga.
"Fucker, now that Kagome's not around, I don't have to be nice anymore."
"You would do best to put away your toy. I just came to confirm the fact that my mate has deserted me."
Inuyasha stood stunned into silence for a moment. His sword dropped to the ground and un-transformed.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN? 'YOU'RE MATE, MY ASS!'"
"As a full youkai, I have the benefit of knowing my mate by slowly dying inside once she leaves. As a hanyou, you do not have that. You have to guess, just like the humans." Hiei turned and ran off as Inuyasha stood stammering, unable to believe what Hiei just explained to him.
The years passed slowly for Hiei after Kagome had left. He did not have the benefit of knowing the year that Kagome hailed from as the dog did. Hiei had never been allowed to pass through the well. Hiei was there when the world was divided into three and he slowly made a life in the Makai (the demon world). While waiting for her reappearance, Hiei also learned he had a sister and had a jagan implant on his forehead to help him find her. Subconsciously, he hoped the jagan would aid in his search for Kagome too. He also had conquered the dragon of darkness flame and it rested on his arm. After he met Youko Kurama, his life seemed to go downhill. He was sentenced to being a lap dog for the Reikai (the spirit world), and stuck with an idiot, a hanyou Makai heir, and an avatar thief. He acted as if he didn't care and didn't like them, but it was all on the surface. Kagome had opened his heart to new things and then ripped it to shreds by leaving. Without her influence, he never would have teamed with Kurama in the first place. Sometimes, while with his team, with how mismatched they were, he was reminded of his time in the feudal era with his first team.
He still saw Shippou and Kirara sometimes, but he and the dog stayed away from each other. The kitsune would sometimes bring news of the dog to him, and he blew it off, until Shippou mentioned something about Kagome. Hiei jumped on him and held him down with his sword at his neck and demanded he repeat himself.
"Inuyasha said that he saw Kagome. He ran into her mom at the mall and she took him home to see Kagome. Inuyasha said that Kagome looked like hell. She had been crying for days, and hadn't eaten well at all. He thinks you should go see her. I'm going to see her this weekend. I couldn't get away from work long enough to see her before that, or I would have already been; but I did have time to come inform you of her reappearance." Shippou took a deep breath. "Inuyasha told me what you said to him. You still ache for her….don't you?"
"Hn. She's the one that choose to leave. That's her problem." Hiei ran disappeared into the night.
Shippou rubbed his throat where Hiei's sword had scratched it.
"Just like Inuyasha used to be…completely in denial…at least one of them matured!" Shippou sighed and wandered off in the opposite direction.
Hiei, Kurama, Yuusuke, and Kuwabara were assembled in Koenma's office for their next case. Koenma had been frantic when they had first appeared in his office, but that was nothing new. He had been screaming about A and S class demons entering and leaving the Ninjakai without permission. He explained that while they were not harming anything, they might be planning something; therefore, he wanted the team to check it out.
Botan opened a portal and they all stepped through.
"Higurashi Shrine, here we are!"
"Higurashi?" Hiei asked cautiously.
"Yes. The Sunset Shrine, how romantic, huh? It's so beautiful here." Botan chatted away about the scenery and the view from the shrine while Hiei shriveled up at the thought that it could be Kagome's home. He opened his jagan and searched for her, though all he found was a barrier around the home and another small building on the grounds. The barrier was too strong for his jagan to break through. Hiei remembered Kagome's disastrous barrier practice that the elder miko and the hoshi had imposed upon her and almost laughed.
The door of the shrine opened and his worst nightmare stood in the door frame holding a bow and arrow, and wearing an ancient miko outfit. He looked at her, and his heart finally stopped aching. His breath quickened and his stomach jumped at the sight of her. After nearly 500 years, he had his answer: she was worth it.
Kagome looked out over the shrine grounds and searched for the youkai presences she had felt. The shikon had merged with her body and significantly increased her powers, though she still remained the slightly immature young girl that clumsily fell down a well into a feudal fairy tale. Her blue-grey eyes shimmered in the blinding light from the sunset. She looked at the youkai she had felt and her eyes widened. She dropped her bow and ran towards Hiei and latched onto him before Yuusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, or Botan could stop her, and they all had tried.
The tears streamed down her cheeks and she prostrated herself before Hiei. He crossed his arms and looked away from her as she began apologizing profusely. She stammered and stumbled over her words as she became more and more choked up, until Hiei had tired of it. He reached down and grabbed her chin, pulling it to look up at him.
"Stop making a fool of yourself, Onna. You left without me."
"I'm so sorry, Hiei. I'm so sorry. I had no choice; I had to do it. I told you…"
"With or without you? That's what you said, right? I didn't get to choose. You decided for me."
Yuusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Botan all stood slightly slack jawed as Hiei ignored them in favor of a woman that they did not know he knew, and a human woman at that.
"I had to, Hiei, it was for the best."
"Onna, I swear if you ever feel the need to decide what's best for me again, I will ensure that you are never given the opportunity." Hiei grabbed Kagome's hands and pulled her off the ground. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard on the lips. As they pulled apart, he glanced over to his team.
"Kurama, tell Koenma it is no threat." Hiei grabbed Kagome and picked her up off the ground, carrying her bridal style. He dashed away quickly, leaving his team staring in awe.
"Well, I suppose Hiei knows her."
"What's Shorty doing with a girl like that?"
From inside the house, Inuyasha and Shippou smiled at each other.
"I told you it would work."
"Yes, well, I wish she woulda told him where to go instead of kissing the ass."