Author's note: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. I simply borrow them to use in my own sick, twisted fantasies like this one. - Nira

So, I've been having a terrible writer's block but when I had nothing else to do at work and all I had on me was a pen and some paper, I forced myself to write and I am finally out of it! Please forgive me! This chapter is short, and I thought it would be the last one, but it's not. (Surprise!) There were a few things that I needed to wrap up so this is indeed the beginning of the end. I have already begun to write chapter 36 so we'll see how long the story actually wants to continue. Please enjoy and I will have the next chapter posted soon! Really soon! Thanks for your patience and continued support! I love you all! –Nira

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Miko, dear, it has been three years since you refused to marry Daisuke to chase after Hiei. Others have begun to talk about your still being unwed and refusing to meet suitors," my father stated as we made our way back inside from accompanying the self-proclaimed Bandit Kings of the south out to ensure the safekeeping of our belongings.

"Let them talk, Father. We have discussed this a million times already. Hiei is being unreasonably stubborn on the matter."

"You and I both know that he means well and that his reasoning is good. Can you not come to a compromise with him?"

"Apparently not. He refuses to propose and there is no way in hell that he'd let me propose unless I change him but I won't do it. I wish he would understand that and come to his senses."

"Compromise works both ways, my dear. You must also try to understand his perspective."

"The answer is no. I will not expedite the process of losing him and be the cause of his death should something go wrong; and I cannot watch him suffer through the change worse than I had knowing that I had caused his anguish. Now, if you'll please excuse me, Father, I'd like to shower. I feel dirty from just having been in the same room as those barbaric brutes."

I turned on my heel and made my way to my room leaving my father deflated and exasperated in the foyer. Ever since word had spread that I had called off my betrothal to Daisuke three years ago, my life had drastically become more stressful. Allies began to question if I was fit to carry on my father's legacy if I couldn't even marry the man whom I'd left my fiancé for. It was as if they believed that a woman was unfit to be a leader unless she had a husband beside her to hold her hand through the entire decision making process. Fortunately for me, they had no idea who it was that I'd left Daisuke for. Hiei had a fantastic way of keeping out of sight when it came to social events. I knew once we actually got married, though, whenever that would be, the entire world would be against us since he was "a traitor of the Makai."

Some allies went so far as to assume that since I was still unmarried that it meant I was single and offered suitors only to withdraw their support when I denied them. Even more rivals and acquaintances even threatened war on the estate with my hand in marriage and the entirety of the estate including the staff as a prize should they win. Needless to say, through all of that and over all three of the past years, the estate was still intact with Hiei as my head of security and Hiei and I were still together and in love, though still unmarried and a bit on the rocks with all of the stress and drama surrounding our being unwed.

After my shower, I sighed and ungraciously flopped onto the bed that Hiei and I had been sharing for years now, wrapped in only a towel. I lay there for a while with my eyes closed, just relaxing, and before long I felt the bed sink in with Hiei's weight followed by his tender lips on mine. I hummed into it, kissing back and reveling in his scent.

"I heard you got into an argument with Hisao," he stated as I couldn't help the frown that formed on my lips.

"Can we please not talk about it right now? I'm tired and irritated and I just want to lie here with you and ignore the world and all of its problems."

"The argument was that bad, huh?"

"That and the bandits are threatening us again because they've run out of land to conquer and they want to negotiate ours."

"Tell them no."

"I did."

"And..?"

"I threatened to turn their land into hunting grounds for you, me, and Constantine if they tried anything stupid."

Hiei chuckled and I sighed and repositioned myself so that I was lying in his lap while he tenderly caressed along my arm.

"Kimiko, when is the last time you fed?" he cooed, knowing that I often forgot to feed if I was stressed out.

I thought about it for a moment and frowned. "Three weeks ago…" I mumbled my confession.

"No wonder you're so irritable."

"Shut up…" I grumbled before it went silent between the two of us again for a bit. "Hey, Hiei?"

"Yes?"

"I've been thinking a lot lately."

"About what?"

"Us… where our future is headed… what we're doing now… if there's anything more for us."

"Yes… and..?" he asked, goading me on and if I could still blush, I knew I'd be a tomato.

"I want to have a baby," I muttered, curling into myself a bit.

Hiei went silent, stopping everything and even holding his breath as he sat completely still. I curled up tighter into myself and bit my lip wondering if I should have said anything at all. Yes, we'd been together for almost our entire lives, but the topic of children had never come up or even crossed our minds. Did he not want children at all?

"Okay… we can talk about it. But for now, it doesn't change the fact that you need to feed."

I frowned and let out a deep sigh, knowing that he was right. I sat up and stretched before standing to finish getting dressed and walked into the closet.

"I'm going out. Do you want me to call Adrian or Constantine for you?"

"Where are you going?" I inquired.

"I haven't eaten yet, either. If I let you bite me, I'll pass out and I can't do that today. I have a lot of work to get done today."

"Fine," I pouted and as I turned to walk back out of the closet, I ran into him.

He wrapped his arms around me to steady me and smirked, staring deep into my eyes for a moment. He brought his hand up to my chin, tilting my head back and kissed my forehead, then my nose, and finally my lips, lingering a moment longer before he pulled away.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"Just because I love you," he smiled before he released me and made his way toward the door. "Now that you're dressed, I'll call Adrian for you."

"Thank you."

((Hiei's POV))

After I'd contacted Adrian and informed him that Kimiko was looking for him, I went straight to the study where I knew Hisao liked to spend his free time. Hisao and I had grown content with each other over the past few years despite our initial disagreements in regard to Kimiko and I'd even grown to trust and respect him and his opinions so I often asked him for advice about Kimiko, mostly. This was one of those occasions that I needed it. Surely enough, he was sitting in his favorite plush arm chair and reading a book. When he heard me come in, he smiled and set the book aside.

"Good evening, Hiei. What can I do for you? Is Miko giving you a hard time again?"

"No, not exactly. I have a question that I'd like answered and I figured that you would be the best to answer it rather than Kimiko."

"What is your question?"

"Can vampires have children?"

"Of course we can. Kimiko is here, alive, and well, is she not?"

"Yes, but her mother wasn't a vampire. Can vampire women have children?"

Hisao's face fell at that. I don't think he'd ever thought about it or even really knew the answer.

"Why do you ask? Miko is not expecting, is she?"

"No, but she'd like to be. She just told me and though I would be ecstatic, I wonder if it is even possible."

I thought better of adding what was really on my mind; "If it was possible, we would already have children. Many of them."

"I see… Well, we vampires are physically much stronger and biologically very different from the average demon. Our entire existence is sustained by the life of others. Theoretically speaking, it should be impossible for a being that is other than alive to give life to another. To add to that, our blood is also quite toxic. It is impossible for us to catch ill due to the spectacular amount of antibodies in our blood due to the mixture of immune systems from every victim we have fed from in our existence, thus killing any foreign matter and assimilating it into us.

"With that being the case, there are only two possibilities. One, it is completely impossible for a vampiress to conceive, or two, she can only do so if the genetic material to create life with is equally potent to her own. In other words, my boy, you—"

"I would have to be a vampire as well."

"Precisely. And therein lies the conundrum. She fears for your wellbeing so much so that she refuses to even test for your compatibility."

"Test? There's a test?" I inquired, taken aback.

"Oh, yes, of course there is, my boy. We vampires cannot go giving our blood to just anybody, now can we? If the receiver is not tested prior to receiving the transfusion, it is more than likely that they will die and that is what Kimiko fears the most for you."

I took a seat opposite Hisao, staring at him intently. Kimiko had never told me about a test or the process of how she had been changed. Hisao grinned and chuckled, realizing that I was completely clueless on the matter and got more comfortable in his seat before he went on to tell me everything. When he'd finished we sat in silence as I contemplated how to convince Kimiko to at least test my blood against hers.

"Forgive my intrusion, but I believe that I may be able to help," Hisao smirked and my eyes widened as he planted an idea into my mind telepathically.