Author's Notes Before Beginning... Stuff

Stories so far:
Beginnings
Bonds of Life
The Pesadilla Tournament (incomplete)
Of Life and Love

Pairings:
Yusuke x Keiko
Kuwabara x Yukina
Kurama x OC (Kitsu)
Hiei x OC (Shakaku)
OC x OC (Salem x Hyouga)

1.

Things had calmed down considerably after the Pesadilla Tournament. Enma saw no more need for full-time detectives, and so put Sha and her squadron on office duties, sharing the load of paperwork he normally placed upon his son's head. Doing so made the Spirit Word duties run a lot smoother. Yusuke and Keiko had their daughter, naming her Reia. She took after her father, causing trouble from birth, giving Keiko a lot of exercise. Yusuke was not the only new father on the block. Yukina had finally sported a rounded belly a year after the tournament, much to the surprise of the others. Kuwabara, unlike Yusuke, took it upon himself to proclaim his love for his wife and his growing child every waking second in the presence of others, usually making an unknown brother-in-law very angry. Kurama and Jen had unfortunately had a falling out around the time Yukina became pregnant, though after a few months, he started seeing Kitsu again, eventually proposing to her four months later. Having left her once after two years, he wasn't ready to do so again. Hyouga and Salem spent most of their time making sure their two children Yuki and Misou didn't kill each other. Salem also had a job with Hiei, employed by Enki to eradicate problem demons every so often. Said fire demon spent his off hours mostly at home with his wife Sha and their kids Kiete and Tsunada. After the tournament, he took it upon himself to start teaching his son and daughter how to defend themselves, much to the disapproval of his wife. She didn't exactly think handing a sword to a four and two-year-old would be such a good idea. So life had gone on for three years, peaceful and undeterred, leaving the demons and humans to finally have time to themselves for their personal gains. Though of course, things are never as good as they seem…

"You son of a bitch!"

Hiei stopped dead in his tracks as he left the room he shared with his wife, pausing as he pulled his shirt over his head. "What the hell did I do? I just woke up." His appearance had gotten a bit more rugged over the years. A faint shadow of hair sat along his jaw line, not too long but still noticeable, and his skin had tanned slightly from needing to work outside on missions most of the time.

Sha looked up from what she was doing, which was currently standing up in front of the couch in their living room, the game she was previously playing paused. "Oh, not you. This damn game." She sat back down, having had leapt off the sofa in a small fit of frustration, continuing from her last save point. She flipped her red bangs back over her head into the rest of the black hair, staring intently at the screen with her black eyes. Her dragon tail twitched ever so slightly as she moved the character around.

"Isn't that Kiete's?" he asked, folding his arms and quirking a brow.

"Not anymore after what I saw him doing with it. The kid's only 7, he shouldn't be playing games such as this."

"What, with the violence?" He sat and watched her hack and slash one of two hydra heads, then leap onto a pile of crates next to it to trigger a platform to impale its head. "Why does he have this game again?"

"Because my dad doesn't understand the concept of ratings," she said, now having taken out the other head and moving to the main one.

"Doesn't Hydra have five heads?"

"I took those down already. Easy." She side-glanced him. "What are you doing up so early? I'd expected with a day off of Daddy-duties that you'd sleep in."

He remained silent for a minute, before stating firmly, "I came out to tell you I have a mission. I'll be leaving in a few hours." Inwardly he felt a massive pang of guilt in telling her the news. Especially with it being that day, of all days in a year.

She paused the game and stared at him. "But we went through the trouble of Hyouga taking care of the kids so we had the weekend to ourselves." Sadness crept into her voice. "I had even gone shopping for a present for you."

"I know, but this one is important. Unavoidable." He paused, wondering how to say the rest. "We'll… have to put it off until another day."

She placed the controller down next to her, moving to get up.

"Sha, I'm sorry."

"Forget it." She moved out of his way as he tried to reach for her arm. She folded her arms over her smallish chest. "You know what day it is, right? Why Hyouga even agreed in the first place to watch our two hellions along with hers."

"Of course I do. I can't turn this one away though. Please, try to understand." He waited for her to come back to the couch, but she only shook her head.

"Any other day and I wouldn't mind. Just go. Happy anniversary." She stalked into their room, slamming the door shut and locking it behind her.

He clenched his jaws, clamping down his anger. He'd been a lot better at keeping a lid on it, though times like these it was hard. "Sha don't do this." He moved from the couch to stand in front of their bedroom door. No answer. "Look, Enki wouldn't let me turn it down. I even said I'd work for two weeks straight if he'd pass me just tonight, but he wouldn't go for it. Something is killing demons en masse, and my team is needed. If it makes it any better, Salem has to come too." Still no answer. His hand clenched into a fist, but catching himself, he only released a breath and put his forearm to the door, leaning his head into it. "Fine, be like this. Even though I don't know when I'll see you next."

Just as he was about to walk away, he heard the lock click.

He tried entering, but she held the knob fast. "Sha…" Hiei started.

"You have how many hours until you need to go?" Sha finally said from behind the door.

"Four, why?" The door slowly opened in front of him, showing Sha had slipped into his "gift". It was a lacey black negligee, with matching panties and her heeled boots that brought her to his height, something that he had seen one day and jokingly prodded her attention at. His throat went dry. "When did you-?"

"While you were yelling through the door," she smiled, showing a glint of fang. "So, four hours?"

He returned that smile. "That's what he said."

Sha nodded behind her as she innocently tugged at his shirt. "Well we can always move tonight's plans to now."

"We could."

Rolling her eyes she tightened her grip on his shirt and pulled him into the room, slamming the door behind them. The game sat forgotten in the living room, to be completely untouched for the next few hours.