I know it's been a while and I apologise! This is a short filler chapter and not very long! My only excuses are the fact that I've got exams coming up again! And I'm seriously considering venturing into some glee fan fiction… just does things to me that it shouldn't… Anyways I hope this little installment will keep you going, My exams aren't over until the 24th of June and then its summer my friends so I doubt my updating will be frequent but I will try and make it at least once a month! Read and Review :D!

Chapter 13- After the storm.

Kagome flinched at the light entering through the break in the curtains and turned sharply intending to sleep the day off. A noticeable black lump slouched over the side of her bed prevented the going back to sleep idea on the backburner as she became more coherent.

What was Hiei doing here?

She vaguely remembered being slouched over the porcelain toilet bowl admiring the contents of her stomach and everything after that was a bit blurry. Had he really stayed here with her all night? Her heart warmed at the idea for reasons unknown to her. She had hardly been a good friend to him lately. She had sensed his awkwardness due to her relations with Kurama and had backed off from being in their company for any duration of time. She was lucky to catch a glimpse of him even when visiting Yukina.

Kagome felt her fingers twitch to twin in his hair and attempt to smooth the unruly locks. Not that she would change them, Hiei's hair was part of Hiei. And she liked him just the way he was. She brushed the bangs out of his face gently to get a better look at his face. Sleep took the hardness from his features. He looked young as it was, no older than 21 which was no easy feat for a demon well over 200 years old. In his sleep he looked even younger, 17 at most, his face was cherubic, quite the oxymoron. If she ever told him that when he was a wake he would probably look at her like she had grown an extra head, Kagome felt that if she was quiet enough even now she could hear the derisive snort.

Startled out of her musing by a warm hand stopping her own in the motions of tracing his cheekbone her eyes shot towards his own now slightly open ruby orbs. He didn't seem angry at catching her fondling his face. 'Fondling! It makes me sound like a hentai molesting an innocent!' Kagome could feel the blush making a fast track race up her neck and cheeks. His eyes if anything reflected agitation for being woken but humour seemed to be overruling his usual morning irritation.

He squeezed her hand before rising up into his chair and stretching. Kagome cringed at the sound of bones realigning and popping back into place. He snorted at her shudder.

"Well onna, I think there is something you have to tell me?"

Kagome looked at him pointedly but remained silent. Hiei sighed loudly.

"Kagome, I think you have something to tell me" Hiei nearly growled at her smirk.

"Hiei, it is none of your business what happens in my life unless I chose to tell you, but arigato or remembering our little talk about names."

"Kagome, that talk was an hour and a half long. I'll never get that time back thanks to you and your speeches on proper Japanese manners. You forget that while I have the characteristics of an asian, I am from demon world and not Japan. Now stop changing topic. It was made my business when the kit rings my home saying I'm needed for Kagome."

"Thankyou for coming Hiei but truly there is nothing to tell." Sometimes. Sometimes he really wanted to kill this woman, regardless of if he wanted her for himself.

"So when I hear messages from Kurama begging for forgiveness I am to assume that there is nothing strange happening?"

"That's pretty much right."

"Damn it Kagome."

Kagome looked at Hiei then and he understood. If he had thought she was expressing her misery on her face beforehand the look she had given him there now disproved that theory. He didn't think he had seen her that vunerable or in pain since the death of her friend. Noticing the tears now pooling in her eyes he moved forwards onto the bed and waited for her to latch on like she usually did.

As he held her to him with reverance he could not help but curse Kurama for the pain he had caused the petit woman currently whispering the events of the past twenty-four hours into his hair. For such a clever fox who left no room for mistake in any plan he follows he was so blind to the bigger picture.

Sleeping with another woman when your girlfriend was away was stupid, getting caught was even more stupid. But to cheat on a woman like Kagome just proved that Kurama's stupidity knew no bounds. A roll about in the hay, or carpet, may seem like a good ideaat the time. But why trade in a lifetime of happiness with a beautiful woman for 10 minutes of minimal pleasure?

As she quieted again Hiei pondered the position he had found himself in. Would he always be the friend who's shoulder soaked up her tears? He didn't think he could bear that. But when her thighs clenched around his hips as her face burrowed further into the crook of his neck he felt all coherent thought leave him.

"I could stab him with my sword if you'd like? I'm certain the fox wouldn't see it coming." He grinned into her hair at the giggle that escaped hr lips. He had always hated woman laughing, they sounded more like they where screeching and heaving simultaneously but Kagome had this breathy chuckle that was slightly husky in its depth. It was like music to his ears.

" I don't think I'll go as far as to main him. I'm so angry at him for doing this to me. And even though a part of me feels relieved to be free again to love as I please a bigger part of me is so angry that he cheated," she spat, "I feel like I was nothing more than an amusement to both Kurama and Youko, a piece to be played in the game they call life. And Shizuru, I thought she was my friend! I want to be so angry Hiei but I can't. Does that make sense that I'm furious but I'm not angry at the same time?"

"Kagome women as a whole don't make sense. I suppose this is normal, your emotions would be all over the place. But you say you feel relief? Why? I thought you where in it for the long haul?" He pressed his body closer to hers as his hands played with the ends of her hair. He couldn't keep himself from touching her, and that was so unlike him that he always felt startled when around her. He was never a touchy person but Kagome drew him to her like a magnet. He couldn't get enough.

" I'll ignore the chauvinism for the mean time Hiei but you will remember the moment you insulted all women when you find a purification arrow slowly burning through your ass. But I dunno, I an incensed that he could do this to me but our relationship wasn't all roses Hiei, no pun intended. He was kind to me, attentive and loving. And it still never felt like enough. I felt I was settling for something but I don't know I was searching in the first place. I cared for him a great deal. I wouldn't lie and say that I gave him a big bit of my heart that he broke but I never gave him my all. I don't know why but to be honest? I'm glad I didn't I don't think even you could fix me then Hiei." Her nose slid along his neck as she pulled back to stare into his eyes before she whispered, " Why are you always there for me to pick up the pieces? Even though I haven't been a very good friend to you Hiei these last few months, why do you always help me clean up my messes?"

"Because I'm a glutton for punishment." He snickered when she nipped his bicep with all her mite. He would never tell her that his arm hurt like fucking hell right now.

"Be serious Hiei! Sarcasm shows a great lack of imagination Hiei remember that!" she grinned a little up at him as she said this, especially when his eyes narrowed in challenge. She loved baiting him nearly as much as he liked baiting her.

"Because ONNA, who else can do as good a job as me?" He smirked at her in triumph as she rolled her eyes and dropped back in a slightly dramatic fashion. She was obviously feeling more like her old self right now. He had to keep her from moping over a stupid fox that doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as her. And so help him, if he can't keep Youko's tongue in his mouth Hiei wouldn't hesitate before cutting it off.

" That's true Hiei-sama. When I get out of bed remind me to bow at your feet ne? Kami-sama you're so full of yourself! But I suppose on some level your right. " She pushed him off of her bed and pushed the quilt off herself before standing up and adjusting her pyjamas. " Since your godly-ness has graced me with his presence how about I make you some breakfast before Shippou thinks you've murdered me for acting all feminine. He knows that stuff annoys you." She didn't give him a chance to answer before grasping his hand and dragging him out of her room and down towards the kitchen where Shippou beamed at them as he leaned against the counter drinking a steaming mug of coffee.

Hiei looked down at their joined hands and vowed to himself that after he helped her heal the new Kurama shaped wounds on her heart he would claim her whole heart for himself.