For some reason, Kagome had held on to the odd idea that Christmas might be peaceful. She'd put up a tree in her living room a few days after Thanksgiving. She'd put lights around her apartment windows. She'd looked up a few good dessert recipes and made tins of candy and cookies for Yusuke, Keiko, Kurama, Yukina, Botan, Kuwabara and Shizuru. It had been Hiei's gift that had stumped her.
Before Thanksgiving, they'd been dancing around one another, neither approaching to let their feelings known. But after Kagome had woken up wrapped in Hiei's arms things had begun to change.
Hiei spent his nights in her apartment, keeping watch. They'd begun to go on little dates together, out to the countryside or out for icecream. When he wasn't busy, Kagome could sense him around, waiting a few blocks away to keep her protected or walking at her side. It made finding the perfect gift very difficult.
But Kagome supposed that didn't matter now. The boys had been called away on a mission yesterday, on Christmas Eve, and now she was fighting for her life, alone, on the roof of a very tall building.
The human men had taken her by surprise, snatching her as she walked to the convenience store for some eggnog and rum. She'd never had chloroform used on her before, but she suspected that it was the drug used to knock her out. She'd woken up, groggy, in a supply closet.
The door wasn't locked very well. All it took was one stumble-fall against it to pop it open.
That was when she noticed all the demon auras. They saturated the building. And all their attention was suddenly on her. It was not a good feeling. The whole building was dark, but for what little light streamed through the windows. It was night already and clouds must have covered the moon.
Kagome tried to run, her mind still foggy, but her body wouldn't cooperate so she stumbled instead. She managed to make it to the elevator and jab a button. Dark auras drew closer and she felt yoki tickling at the edge of her senses. Her aura lashed back, causing most of the demons to draw back slightly before sending their yoki out again.
The doors opened and Kagome slid in and hit the "door close" button repeatedly. The doors shut and Kagome had to make a decision. She could go to the bottom and try to get out of the building, hoping that the demons didn't follow her out into the crowds, or she could go to the top and try to fight them off. For a girl like her, the choice was obvious.
The miko hit the "roof" button and leaned against the wall as the elevator rose.
Smaller, weaker demons tried to slip into the elevator. Many slid off and fell or were crushed against the sides of the elevator shaft, but a few made it through the cracks. Kagome immediately zapped them with a tiny bit of her power.
The elevator dinged at each floor, but kept rising. It gave Kagome some hope. It meant that none of the demons were intelligent enough to figure out the "up" button outside of the elevator. However, the number of demons she could sense was discouraging. It felt like there were at least five for every floor and there were twenty-eight floors. She didn't care for her odds.
By the time the elevator reached the top, Kagome was feeling a little better. She stepped out. The air was clear and cold, the clouds above thick and dark grey. It would probably snow before too long.
For the moment, Kagome was alone. She looked out over the city, enjoying the sight of it. There were a few lights on the roof, Kagome guessed to warn airplanes. She closed her eyes and had a moment of peace. She thought of her family, her little brother and her mom and her grandpa. She thought of the friends she had left in the Sengoku Jidai and the new ones she'd made in her time. And she thought of Hiei.
She'd grown quite fond of him. He was mostly quiet and when he wasn't he was cynical and sarcastic with a very dark sense of humor. But he was also very gentle. When she looked at him, she saw that he wasn't really sure about what he was doing a lot of the time. Especially in regards to her. He was unsure and wary, but he was beginning to open up. She'd been looking forward to spending Christmas with him.
Kagome felt the first of the demons arrive. It stepped from the elevator with its cohorts. They were varying in color, but all had large tusks and had to stoop to get out of the elevator.
"A miko. I haven't eaten one in centuries."
Kagome didn't have any weapons, but neither did the demons. She glanced around. There were pebbles around the edges of the building.
The demons were approaching slowly, enjoying her fear. She couldn't hide that. She was afraid. Terrified. But Hiei would never back down without a fight. He didn't see her as the kind of person that would either.
The miko dashed for the edge of the roof, stooping and taking a handful of pebbles. She remained crouching and infused a bit of her power into each. Then she flicked one into each demon's chest.
It was thanks to Kurama that she knew it would work. She had seen the video of the Dark Tournament. Each pebble hit the demon's heart and they turned to dust.
There was no rest. The other demons rose from the stairs, the elevator and the sides of the building. They came at her in groups and she had to move away from the side of the building, lest she be taken unawares by demons that could fly or climb. It wasn't long before she was surrounded.
A demon managed to swipe its claws along her back. Kagome fell with a cry and lashed out with only her miko energy. It was effective, but it would cost her. The first few layers of demons turned to dust. But there were bone chips in those ashes. Her power was waning.
It was scary, being on the ground, surrounded by red-eyed demons that wanted to eat her. Her hands were shaking, but it wasn't from fear. It took effort to even hold the hand filled with pebbles up and the demons could tell. One reached for her and was singed for its efforts.
They were cackling. "I'll eat her heart."
That got several snarls. "Not if I eat it first."
They began bickering over who would eat her heart, arms and the rest of her. Some of the other demons tried to steal her away while the others were distracted but were thwarted by their fellows.
Kagome sat on the ground, fighting not to shake. She gripped the pebbles in her fist and placed on the ground to help hold herself up. It was hard not to fall over. Her eyes scanned the crowd of demons. There were probably twenty demons left. Kagome had a wisp of power left.
A pebble to the forehead of the nearest demon. His eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed, dead. The other demons didn't even pause in their arguing.
Kagome took a deep breath and pushed to her feet. The world spun but she stayed up. "No one is going to eat me." Another demon went down with a pebble in its head.
The other demons roared with laughter. "You're almost out of energy, miko. How can you stop us?"
"She doesn't need to."
The voice was cold and most of the demons turned to see who spoke.
"Ah, Hiei. I didn't know you ate humans as well. You'll have to fight the rest of us to get a piece though."
The demon that spoke had its tongue cut out. It gagged for a moment, its eyes wide and afraid before its entire head was cut off. The other demons hardly had time to prepare themselves before they too were in pieces.
Kagome realized she was kneeling in several inches of snow. Large flurries were flying around, making the world blurry.
'Or maybe that's just me,' Kagome mused. She was swaying and her chip dipped. The snow was stained bright, lovely red.
Kagome was suddenly on her feet, warm hands wrapped around her waist, holding her up.
"Hiei," she whispered, his eyes only inches from her own. "The mission?"
"A distraction. From this." He lifted her, one arms under her knees, one supporting her back.
"The men who kidnapped me? They were human. So why?"
Hiei turned his head, looking toward the stairs. Kagome followed his gaze to a video camera. "They videoed it?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Her chin was dropping again. "Hiei?"
"Yes?"
"Merry Christmas." She managed to kiss the corner of his lips before passing out.
Hiei carried her down the stairs, meeting with Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara on the first floor.
"How is she?" Kurama asked.
"Exhausted. She'd started to pull from her life force." Hiei turned his ruby gaze to Yusuke. "The humans?"
"Koenma's taking care of them. They, uh… They might have tripped a few times on the way though."
Hiei nodded. Yusuke knew he would never say "Thank you," but it was visible in his eyes.
"Go home, shorty. Take care of your woman."
The little man in black disappeared.
"What I want to know," started Kurama, "Is how they knew she is a miko."
"Koenma will make them talk. And if he doesn't, I'm sure we can."
The apartment was too cold for the little miko in his arms. She needed warmth. Hiei carried her to her bed and lay down with her, covering her with her blanket and using his own body heat to keep her warm. He stayed awake, keeping watch until morning.
When Kagome awoke, she immediately knew that Hiei was there. His scent surrounded her and she was so warm, it could only be him with his arms around her. She turned to face him.
He was looking at her.
"Good morning."
Hiei sat up and looked down at her, examining her critically. "You still smell of blood."
"My back hurts like crazy," she offered.
He turned her over. Her clothes were shredded and her back had dried blood caked to it. He raged inside, his aura going wild. "You should not have fought. You should have run."
Kagome shrugged. "I couldn't do that."
"Damn it woman. I can't handle leaving and coming back to find you like that."
Kagome struggled to sit up as well, but Hiei pushed her back down gently. "I'm fine Hiei."
He growled. Kagome could tell he had been worried and angry… maybe even scared. Hints of fear lurked in his eyes. Kagome touched his cheek softly. "I wouldn't leave you like that, Hiei."
The koorime looked away. "Humans are fragile. You will die eventually," he said harshly.
"Hiei, look at me." Maybe it was because she was so tired or maybe it was because she was feeling him draw away or maybe it was because she hadn't quite lost the fear that he would walk away, simply because she was human, but Kagome felt tears pool in her eyes. Her shaking hand nudged his face back toward her. "Please, Hiei. I wouldn't leave you like that. Hiei, I'm falling in love with you."
She shouldn't have been surprised when he looked shocked. She knew that underneath the bravado and insults, he was still an unconfident boy.
He wasn't narcissistic enough to express his doubts only to hear her say it again. He knew she was an honest woman. He knew she rarely said anything without meaning it. "Do not say that if you are unsure, miko. I do not let treasures go easily."
"I am falling in love with you. I promise."
He was surprisingly gentle when he kissed her. He had no doubt seen how her strength was not quite what it normally was. Kagome knew he was observant.
"Hiei," she said quietly when they parted.
"Hn."
"Merry Christmas."
His red eyes were amused. "It is no longer Christmas, Kagome."
She smiled. "I know. But I've been wanting to say that for days. Only, I was hoping it would be Christmas and we'd be somewhere with lots of snow."
It was difficult for him to use his ice powers after taming the dragon on his arm. But it was worth it to see her face light up as snow began to fall around her bed.
"Merry Christmas," Hiei said for the first time in his life.
~~~…~~~
I know it's a little late, but I came up with the idea to make a follow-up to Tryptophan on Christmas Eve and didn't start it until around midnight on Christmas Day.
I know Christmas isn't really a Japanese holiday, but Kagome is a little unconventional. Also, I apologize for the change in feeling of this story, from that of Tryptophan. I may make another follow-up for New Year's. No promises though. I'm working 11 or 10 hour shifts for the rest of the week…