10. Breathe Again

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the right to my middle finger and my pinky, and the effort to be whimsical at 1 am. So no, don't sue.

Word Count: 826

It was starting to unnerve her lately, at least more then normal. It wasn't difficult for her to hide from the probing questions, or to overlook the worried glances. People, and there inane desire to help others – an urge she herself had felt many times, and suffered consequentially – were easy to ignore, to hide from.

But those dreams.

She was a warrior damn it! She had seen worse, she had been through more! Things like this – a single death, a lone loss – were hard for her empathetic soul, but by now she should be able to deal with it! Her friends could, and by every deity she knew, so could she!

And yet...

Kagome untangled herself from her covers, her back and neck sticky with sweat, and slowly made her way downstairs. Opening the door, the young teenager silently crept outside, aware of the three sleeping bodies above her.

It was still dark outside, and from what she knew, Kagome figured not too much time had passed since she had first drifted of. She sighed, exasperated and angry at herself, all the while drifting towards the tall tree looming overhead, intent deadly clear.

Just as she was settling into a nook near the bottom of the Goshinboku, a clear voice spoke out, and Kagome almost grumbled when she realized it was only in her head.

"What is wrong with you priestess?"

She resisted the urge to snap at the invasion of privacy, and tilted her head up high, meeting the cold red eyes of her friend. If one could ever call Hiei that.

"Nothing."

"You are outside-"

She snorted. "How astute of you. Is that what this place is called?"

He finished "-when it's nearing three am."

Instead of asking Hiei how he knew the time – she didn't think a watch was exactly his thing – Kagome just patted the ground next to her. "I'm fine."

A soft thump alerted her to his presence, and Kagome looked beside her to the small stature of the Forbidden Child. At first, his cruel red eyes had reminded her of him, but soon the differences became clear. Because while Hiei was a cold-blooded murder (or was, at least, according to him. Now he was only a cold-blooded demon killer, which really, Kagome failed to see the difference between) he wasn't maniacal and out to rule the world. Anymore.

She just shrugged her shoulders. She'd had weirder friendships.

She didn't wonder why he was in her tree of all places, and instead said "I recently lost something, and I'm just a little sad, that's all."

She ignored Hiei's probing look – and mental touch – and frowned into the air. The well had closed, after the defeat of the hanyou, and while Kagome was very happy that her friends had lived through the experience, it still pained her to know that she couldn't see them again. She didn't belong in the past after all, no matter how much her heart protested the thought.

"But that is not what makes you restless."

Kagome faced him this time, glaring. "Stay out of my mind."

"Block it." He challenged. While the Spirit Detectives may not know about her...rendezvous to the past, they certainly were aware of her power as a priestess.

She scowled. "I'm too tired. I don't feel like working for my privacy tonight."

Her mind flickered back towards the image that had woken her up. Expressionless blue eyes morphing into green ones, fair, blonde hair slowly dying itself until it was a thick auburn color. And the blood, oh so much blood, covering the tiny form. She blinked, scurrying the image away, but it was too late.

But instead of remarking on her lack or steel, her persistence to be 'kind' (he'd say it like it was a bad thing), Hiei just said "You're suffocating."

She nodded.

"And so you're outside..."

She smiled. "Using your freaky mind voodoo to read me is rather unfair don't you think?"

A few seconds of silence dwindled by, and then she sighed. "To get some fresh air Hiei. That is why I'm outside. Shocking I know."

He shook his head, black hair falling down gently as he backed into the shadows slightly. "You are here because you need to escape."

Yes. Because she had seen worse, would continue to see worse, and living like this was starting to nag on her, and she knew without it she'd be nothing, but she was concerned that with it she'd be worse then that. That remaining in contact with this world would only bring her more bloodshed, would only bring her more tears. And it was literally stealing away her breath.

"Yes." She mused. "I need to breathe again."

After that, the demon disappeared up her tree, for who knows what reason, and Kagome could laugh at herself and at him at his odd tendencies, and knew things would be okay.

Everyone just needs to breathe once in a while.