In Time, Death

By Alesyira

Summary: (Or the one where Hiei learns a new skill.) Shippo has been thinking of Kagome as being a legendary thing for so long that it's almost like she's not a real person anymore.

Author's Note: I've gotta say, if you're still reading you're probably pretty heavily invested in this fic. enjoy some subtle m/m fluff.


On a Pedestal

He watched with more interest than usual as Kagome crawled under her sheet and blankets and pulled them up over her shoulder. She peeked at him from the edge of white, her dark hair splayed over her pillow like a void of soft scent he wanted to fall into and never emerge.

She quirked an eyebrow, wondering if he'd actually follow through with his promise (threat) of cuddles, but she wasn't entirely sure it would be the right kind of sleeping arrangements to allow her to drop off into unconsciousness. Maybe she'd be so damned nervous having him at her back without anyone else around that she'd just be stuck, tense like a bowstring until something snapped.

‟You don't seem very much like the cuddling type."

‟I've seen your fox do this several times. The concept seems simple enough."

That must be Hiei-speak for 'No, I do not cuddle.'

He eyed her bed and the small nightstand at its side, considering possible spots to place his weapon. If he ever slept in a room (rarely) he had mounts for his blade on the bedpost as well as a smaller blade hidden beneath both the mattress and pillow.

(Hiei didn't sleep often.)

He hesitantly crawled onto the squashy, soft material by her ankles and paused. The bedding smelled like them. It had been a very long time since he'd last shared sleeping arrangements with anyone. He'd lived a rough life and found it was hard to trust that someone wouldn't murder you during such a moment of weakness.

‟What's wrong?" she whispered.

‟I'm not sure where I should put my sword." It was half of the truth, anyways.

She bit her lip in sudden amusement, thinking that Shippo would have at least three dirty recommendations for that, and then her humor was doused under the flood of her sadness.

She'd run him off by attacking him with her magic.

It made him crazy, he'd told her.

He wanted to avoid it. And she'd…

Hiei crawled up the bed with a sigh and leaned on his elbow, looking at the curve of her cheek just barely visible past the hands hiding her face. He shook her gently with a warm hand on her shoulder. ‟Stop. Whatever it is, worrying about it will do you no good."

He eased himself closer, draping an arm over her side like he'd seen the fox do with quiet whispers in her hair, jokes into the darkness of the night, and long glances over her shoulder in his direction, daring him to join their pile.

Tonight, he dared.

‟Are you sure you're okay with this?" she whispered. ‟You don't have to do it if it makes you uncomfortable."

‟Are you the shield at our backs? The barrier that guards us?"

She nodded, peeking from her hands to look at his face as he stared down at her.

‟Then I will be the sword at your side, to guard you from enemies unseen."

She bit her lip, brows furrowed. ‟What would that make Shippo?"

Hiei relaxed behind her with a sigh that ruffled her hair. ‟A nuisance," he muttered.

‟Hmm," she replied, a tiny smile curving her lips.

It wasn't worth arguing with her over this. He wasn't a nuisance for her.

Shippo, the meddlesome kitsune that had more insight into Hiei's character than he'd have liked, had less insight to Kagome's character than he thought he did.

Centuries to reflect on his fond memories of the girl from his past (as well as thousands of retellings of their many adventures) had gradually shifted his opinion of the young miko from trusted friend to something that might be placed upon a pedestal and cherished from a safe distance. There was only one reason he hadn't stolen her away to put her somewhere safe from the rest of the world. He knew she'd fight tooth and nail for both the people she loved as well as strangers in need, and he couldn't take her away from her calling to help.

Hiei didn't often delve into the minds of others, finding innermost thoughts to generally be repulsive exposures of hidden natures that most would never show to the outside world. His closest friends and allies, though, had been fair game at one point or another. He had to trust those he had at his back, and trust was hard to find without knowing the insanity that went on behind bland expressions or bad-mouthed posturing.

At one point in his life, he might have thought all foxes were roughly the same. Cunning planners, always ready for a good roll in the sheets, and fond of sparkling things.

Sifting through Shippo's mind was a very different experience than Kurama's split personality. Where his partner was cool and calculating, tricky and planning twelve steps ahead while hiding his intentions behind a gentle and placid demeanor, Shippo was heavy sarcasm drizzled over a mindset focused almost entirely on play; an adult that didn't care to hide his nature behind a human facade. More than once, Hiei had been tempted to seriously hurt him for his seemingly careless actions, but each time he'd deflected his anger by demonstrating his uncanny skill to plan ahead, working around the shortcomings of his impulsive nature to ensure things fell nicely into place so that he could continue to be himself.

Shippo didn't often hide his intentions behind careful words and behavior. He was almost as easy to read as Kagome, because he usually only had two things on his mind: comfort and play. To have comfort required careful safeguard around this home. It had become a den of sorts, layered under such extensive protections that he doubted anyone uninvited would be able to even step foot on the stairs.

Shippo and Kagome had spent dozens of hours refining their barrier during practice sessions. It had become a constant source of comfort, knowing your back would be guarded from the unexpected.

Play on the other hand? Shippo, more often than not, had to hold himself back from his more natural inclinations. Hiei knew with far too much detail exactly how much crossed the kitsune's mind.

He teased and hinted at playing, but he was so unsure of where he stood with her that he'd been overly careful to never think of their relationship as anything more than close companions and perfect friends. That uncertainty of her feelings had been one of the few things he'd been unable to plan around.

His pedestal miko. He would let her run off to save the world, but he wouldn't dare tell her he was lonely.

Hiei had seen Shippo's deep-rooted fear that he'd drive her away if she knew where his thoughts sometimes drifted. He wouldn't even fixate on the other available adult, thanks to the fledgling hopes that she'd found someone she liked (not to mention Hiei's casual threats of bodily harm).

Shippo didn't dare push his luck, but it hadn't fully dissuaded the fox from flirting. His troubles were probably made worse knowing he could leave and have any one of dozens of friends to occupy his thoughts and body for a few hours. He hadn't dared to leave her side for long, insistent on spending as much time with her as possible.

The fact that he'd left this evening made Hiei concerned that he'd finally reached his tipping point.

So, maybe Shippo wasn't as big of a nuisance as Hiei had implied. Maybe it was just that Shippo was being an idiot and needed a firm nudge to stop. He took a deep breath and subtly rubbed his face in the softness of the pillow and her hair.

This was something worth staying for.

Something worth fighting for.

Something worth keeping.

Some time later, a disturbance in the air alerted Hiei to the kitsune's return. His eyes slid open to spot Shippo alighting on her windowsill, soaked and shivering. A bright green gaze swept the room and landed on the arm draped over her sleeping figure. He kept his expression carefully neutral, but Hiei knew him well enough by now to spot the telltale signs of confusion and regret in the set of the kitsune's eyes.

He slipped inside the darkened room, dripping on the carpeted floor. "It's raining in Makai," he explained, his voice falling to a quiet mutter as he added on, "I picked a fight."

Hiei had more than a few experiences where getting into a fight with something big and mean had been far preferable to taking out his frustrations on the person that had irritated him. In fact, the most recent of those moments had been less than a month ago, when Kagome had meandered right into his brief (and sorely needed) moment of solitude.

The rampaging building-sized spider had stood no chance.

Shippo's gaze flicked quickly around the room as he breathed deep, calming breaths, looking for the subtle hints that told a muted story of what may have happened after he'd left. His brows furrowed at the scents that spoke of heated passion and her burning anger that had somehow resulted in their unexpected sleeping arrangements. Green eyes eventually met his, filled with questions and a hint of something more.

Hiei twitched his head ever so slightly, copying the motion Shippo had made on his first night at the shrine to indicate he should join them. Shippo blinked several times and then had the audacity to rub at his eye like he'd imagined what he'd seen.

Hiei's eyes closed again, feigning dismissal. The kitsune seemed incapable of relaxing unless he had someone to cling to, and he had no interest in giving him back his spot. A very tiny voice in the back of his mind whispered that he absolutely did not cuddle, but he was loathe to give up his armful of Kagome, nor did he care to suffer through the sad contemplations of the displaced fox for the entire night.

Shippo shivered violently as he stripped out of his sodden shirt. He held it out the window to wring water from the fabric before draping it over the windowsill. His jeans got the same treatment before he pulled a spare pair of soft pants from her bottom drawer and slid them over his chilled legs.

Fuck, he hated the rain. Not even beating that rude bandit within an inch of his life did much to quell the irritation he felt toward his least favorite element, especially considering the intense frustration he'd suffered through after being hit with her magic like that. Maybe he should have sought out a quick fuck instead of a quick fight. He briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, centering his thoughts into neutral territory.

His gaze fell to the pale hand draped over his favorite person. He swallowed thickly and beat back the clawing sadness that threatened to overtake his natural good humor.

He'd promised she'd have him every night until she'd needed to leave again.

He'd broken his promise.

He couldn't believe the anti-social fire elemental would dare to take his spot in his absence, let alone suggest being sandwiched between two such cuddly people.

With the scents Shippo could detect in the room, he could only imagine what had happened once he'd left. He didn't want to imagine it. It could be dangerous, painful, and dangerously painful if he couldn't keep his mind out of the gutter with what he was about to do. He did not need any body part to stab this ill-tempered fire demon that was ready to stab him with whichever weapon might be closest.

Hiei must be ill or drunk, but Shippo was tired and cold. He'd worry about it more in the morning, if Hiei didn't come to his senses and murder him first.

Shippo carefully slid into the narrow space between Hiei and the wall, then hissed in surprise, "You brought your sword to bed?"

Hiei shrugged.

There was a quiet thunk of something heavy being shoved to the floor before Shippo's cool fingers found purchase in the fabric over Hiei's shoulder. "Gods, you're warm," he muttered, nuzzling his face into the dark hair splayed across his pillow. "What're you doing here, anyways?"

"Your job."

Shippo made a short noise of exasperation but didn't push him for more. "She needs a bigger bed."

Hiei hummed in agreement.

"Ah well, if I've gotta be stuck between a wall and a hard place, at least this hard place smells nice."

"If your hands wander, I will remove them from your body."

Shippo smiled, a yawn creeping up on him as he basked in the warmth. Deeply chilled from his fight in the rain, he curled himself against Hiei's back and fell right to sleep.

The level of trust it took to sleep with someone who could kill you… Hiei paused with that thought, looking down at the girl, fast asleep under his arm. Two friendly, playful, and sociable creatures had enough trust in him to drop their guard and accept him as one of their own.

He twitched in dismay, remembering Shippo had knocked his sword to the floor. He was loathe to move from this coveted spot, and now it was out of reach should he need it.

But he shouldn't need it tonight… not with these two at his side.


AN: yes, I've kind of broken Hiei. (omg it gets worse, not sorry.)