He's late again…

When has my mate ever been on time?

But why is he always so late?

You know why, I laughed inwardly to myself. He's out there saving the Spirit World!

I turned away from my window, the rain making soft, small sounds against the pane. My husband was on a mission again: And like a good wife, I waited. Every night that he was away from our bed, knowing that he was lying on the cold ground somewhere… with out me. This is what I get for being a demon's wife I guess: Especially with a mate like my own. No one could even understand why I chose him. That's right: Chose him. If my mother and father were still alive to see my marriage, they would have thought I was insane!

But he was the one who saved you, wasn't he?

"Yes…" I mused the memory in my head repeatedly. I pushed a long strand of chestnut hair behind my elf-pointed ears. My skin is tawny like the skin of a buck, amber eyes seal me.

There I was, a little alchemist demon. My entire village was gone, and I was a second-rate thief going around the largest city in the Mikai looking for any work I could get. Of course I had heard of him; everyone in the Black Market of Spirit World heard of him. He was one of the hotshot thieves turned goody goody and became a Spirit Detective. It was hard to imagine, but it did all happen. And he had caught me red handed, trying to turn stones into gold and passing them off as the real thing.

Maybe that's when I fell head over feet in love. I can't be sure why. I mean, at that moment, he had a katana to my throat! But then again I always had strange ideas about "love at first sight." All I could remember from that first meeting was his staring at his gorgeous jet hair, slim muscles and that his eyes burned through me like a wild fire…And he let me go with a warning. I think after that, I was a hard core criminal just to see him. Just to see him…And every time, he let me go, the same warning in my ears: "Don't let me catch you again, Onna."

He never knew my name, or maybe he did and never told me. I guess my name is nothing too familiar to someone so supposedly cold hearted as him. My name is Aine, but he only knew me as "Full Metal" (I don't know where the name came from, some ningen show…). It was our game; our constant play of cat and mouse. Only this little brown mouse wanted to be caught.

And when he caught me for the last time, I think I finally got through to him what I really wanted. He wasn't alone this time either, his team mates were with him; the Fox, the Kid, and that Dumb one. But despite his ugly mug, the Dumb one had a strong Spirit sense; my metal magic took care of that in a jiff. I concealed my self in the tree tops, watching and listening to all they had to say. The kid was whiny and complaining. "What the hell are we suppose to be looking for! There is nothing and no one here!" Sounds like a cue to me.

"No one here? I'm hurt Detective." I decided to be all skilled-like and appear from the shadows (the moron that I was…). "I mean, how could you not notice me?"

How COULD they not notice me is what I still wonder. I mean, I was in a tight leather body suit and had a metal chain belt; my aura was screaming "DEMON OVER HERE!"; and with my hair pulled up nice and tight, I looked kind of sexy. Kind of the thing that is not too hard to spot. The others immediately recognize me as the target; but he, the one I was fond for, just stared. His gaze was almost unbelieving at the heights I would go to. The Kid started to shout at me. "Okay, Full Metal! Your days are up! Return the treasures you stole from Koenma and we'll go easy on you!"

"Easy!" the Dumb one was in a fit. "Yusuke! We can't fight her!"

"Why the hell not!"

"She's a girl!"

"She's mine." That was the last thing I heard when all of a sudden the dark one dived at me. I jumped to the side and flipped over to another tree. But to my surprise, he was fast. I mean really fast. I had to focus all my energy on running from this guy! I smirked at him when he came up to about a foot near me.

"The infamous Hiei Jaganshi; pleasure to finally have this talk with you."

"Onna, I've been lenient with you in the past." His katana came swirling out at me. "Don't make me regret that."

I muttered to myself "shit" and pulled out my only weapon; a steel rod. He looked kind of arrogant and slashed out at me, but I immediately morphed it with my will. It took the shape of a kanna and blocked on target. "Alchemist demon: Remember that, Hiei."

He retreated his sword and jabbed at me, nearly hitting my rib cage. "Since we are being so informal, what can I call you?"

I flipped back and onto the next branch. "Aine."

He was right on my tail. "Aine? Feels kind of funny to have a demon named 'Love song.'"

I shrug and jump ahead of him, merely foot by foot. "Even demons fall in love."

He slashed at my legs way too close for comfort. His speed made me slightly uneasy as I was playing a dangerous game of tag. "And what do you know about love?"

It was time for me to take offense. I took the high dive straight at him, catching him totally off guard. I caught him by the shoulders and dragged us both to the guard. He looked at me like I was crazy, at that moment, maybe I was. I leaned in close enough to his ear and whispered. "Because I am in love with someone…"

I forgot, or didn't feel what happened when we both collided into Mother Earth. All I could think about were his crimson eyes and the look on his face the minute those words left my lips. I must have gone out cold, losing all the feeling in my body for such a long period of time, I was actually scared I wouldn't wake up. And I wouldn't see Hiei again…

But as you can guess, I am alive and well. When I finally came to, I woke up in the hospital. But I thought I was dead to begin with, seeing as Death herself with pink eyes and bright blue hair was just by the door waiting for me to arise. I would have shrieked, but she beat me o the punch. "HEY SHE'S AWAKE!"

I covered my ears to endear the horrible sounds that were coming out of that thing she called a mouth. Everyone that was pretty much after me the previous day ran into the room. My God I was caught and it was extremely embarrassing…My cheeks felt warm and I looked at everyone around me. The Kid, the Stupid one, the Fox and well…him. He gave me this sort of "superior" look at finally handing me in. I felt like going and saying Hey! You're the one who kept me out of jail for so long!

Don't make me regret that Onna…

My eyebrow rose in surprise, hearing Hiei's voice in my head. How on earth did he get himself in there! I have my ways.

I immediately became annoyed till I heard Death address me. "Are you okay? You took a nasty spill out of that tree. I didn't want to have to come and get you!"

For someone who was suppose to be Death, she was oddly perky. You're not kidding.

Can you please leave my head now?

No.

Just get out…

Hn, make me.

GET OUT!

"What's your name?" I looked up again at her when breaking the connection with him. He snickers at my obvious confusion. "I said what's your name?"

"Oh, it's Aine." I murmur shyly. "How soon am I going to hit the slammer?"

"Jail? Who said you were going to jail?" I turned around to the Kid who was leaning on my bedposts. "Koenma had a talk with someone who said they had been studying your case, the baby got over come with grief. He was so upset, he gave you a full pardon under the condition you were released into a guardian's hands."

My stomach tightens for a minute before relaxing. Someone had bothered to save me, but who? Not like I had any living family to bail me out… "Who am I living with."

The three other Spirit Detectives all looked at each other. "Well Kuwabara and I have school…so does Kurama…that means…"

"You're staying with me." My stomach must have ate an acrobat… "Seems the other bakas are occupied with ningen things to watch over an injured little girl."

I scowled at him fiercely. "I may be injured but I'm not some little girl!"

"Hn, you'd have to be if you were caught so easily."

"If you didn't remember correctly, I took you dow-!"

"ENOUGH YOU TOO!" We were both knocked over by the boom in Death's voice. She left out a tiny huff and had her hands at her hips. "Now both of you should stop this nonsense, I mean honestly! If you two are going to live together you might as well get along!"

I followed my arms across my chest, glaring heatedly at the door. But the pound in my chest made my heart dance with excitement. After watching him from afar for so long, wanting him secretly with out even knowing anything about him, I was going to live with him! I don't know for how long, but it seemed to me like a beautiful dream…You know, perverted thoughts such as yours should be kept in your head…

AHHHHHHHHHHH!

When I moved in with him, it was the spring, and he had already told me this was only going to be for a couple of months. But it was still a tiny joy in my heart. He lived in a small woodsy forest in a rural part of the Spirit World. He told me he liked it here the best, because it was so far from everyone else: He hated everyone else. He gave me a room, a set of rules and chores to keep me occupied.

The two of us had a routine; wake up Hiei, he runs bath water, I make breakfast, he trains, I make lunch, he reports to Koenma, clean house and do laundry, he comes home, I cook dinner, he brings fire word and we go to our own rooms for the night. I was happy this way, for the first time in years I was part of something stable. And I don't think he actually minded having me around, because when Spring turned to summer, our looks of each other got a little lopsided.

It must have been summer, I was hanging laundry outside to dry. Hiei was just finishing another work out, just sitting on a tree stump and wiping the sweat off his body and face. I tried my best to focus on my work and not on him. He watched me for a while before talking. "Aine san, remember when I caught you?"

I folded up a sheet and set it into the basket. "How could I forget that day Hiei dono?" I always used a higher honorary title with him.

He wrapped the towel around his shoulders. "You said you are…in love with some one."

"Did I?"

"Hai, and you know you did. Don't forget I'm in your thoughts Onna." I ignored that last comment and continued with my work. "Don't you think your lover would miss you after not seeing you for so long? You haven't even tried to contact anyone."

"I don't have any family, Hiei dono." I folded a second sheet and laid it on the first one. "Who ever told you to keep me here must have gave you a history of me."

"Hai, I know, I did the research." The blanket fell out my hands and plopped down into the basket. "Hadn't figured it out yet? You seemed bright enough, thought you would have figured it our by now."

My hands started to shake, my cheeks were madly hot in surprise. "W-Why did you go through all that to save me? After all the trouble I put you through, why?"

I was waiting for that answer, it felt like forever before I heard him speak. "…I have been chasing you for so long, I was curious to see what led you down the road you did."

"Of course…" I murmured to myself slowly. "Of course, you always put your career and training first. To, ya know, know the target better. Guess that's why you're so good at what you d-!"

He caught me by my wrist in seconds, spinning me around to meet his eyes. They gleamed like hot coals and bore me deeply. He leaned in close to my face, his breath touched my lips. He didn't need to speak this time, his mind made the message clear. Mark my words Aine san, I will make you forget who ever you love…

We didn't talk about that moment for half a year, just falling back into old habits. But my mind wouldn't let it go, what did he mean by that? I learned the trick from Yoko Kurama to shut off my mind so Hiei couldn't constantly peer into my thoughts. Yet his words kept coming back to me over and over again. But by now, it was winter and the Holidays moved my love-sick heart to the side.

I began to see more of the Spirit Detectives around this time, though Hiei didn't seem too pleased to have all his companions for the holidays. I didn't mind really, I did just spend half a year with one person. They all seemed nice, slightly annoying, but nice. There was Yusuke Uremeshi, Kazuma Kuwabura, Yoko Kurama, Death better known as Boton, Keiko Yukimura, and Yukina (who happened to be Hiei's sister, but it's all a hushed up secret). They were all extremely friendly with me, and called me a saint for being able to live with Hiei for so long (Kuwabara got a punch for that, with Yukina right by his side mending him).

Well, they had all decided to come to our house (Hiei started calling it our house by November, seeing with all the work I did). It didn't please my bunk mate one bit, but I told him we should just to be polite, and so they don't bug us about it in the future. I won that battle, so they were coming over for Christmas and Osyogatsu. I hid what ever alcohol was in the house because, well…Boton was a scary drunk, and I learned that the hard way. The house was clean and rosy, and Hiei even got a tree from the forest to decorate. I made some spiced cider and sugary junk, and piled the guest rooms with fresh linens. I never really got to entertain, so I was kind of nervous. At least I knew these people really well. So don't worry about it so much, Onna.

I told you no going into my brain!

Hn, make me.

I spun around to see Hiei behind me, dripping wet out of the shower. Instead of drooling like I really wanted to, I shrieked. "DON'T GET THE CARPET WET!"

I immediately shooed him into his room and demanded he become decent before the guests. At that precise moment, the door bell rang and entered the one and only gang. I let them into the living room, only to my dismay that Boton brought booze. What an alcoholic…Tell me she didn't bring beer.

Oh, she did.

Don't let her start a round of Truth or Dare…

What's that?

You don't want to know…

Hiei came down from his room a little while after that ominous thought, tugging down a white button down shirt. I admit, it made him look clean and cute. At least he knew to dress in company (he walks around the house half-naked!) He must have read my mind because he gave me a nasty little look and I giggled to myself. Everyone looked at me strangely as I cleared my throat and offered to bring in cider. I think that's when the trouble started…

I think half way through Boton spiked it, and never have drunk I felt a little tipsy. I think EVERYONE got a little tipsy: Yukina started giggling, Yusuke slurred his words and Boton started to get all haughty and hiccupping. "Ish the hol-e-daies sho I say…Let's have a lil' fun! Kurama! Get er bottle! Let'sh hava lil' truth or dare-er!"

"N-No Boton!" I felt a little giggly and warm in the cheeks. I shook my head weakly from side to side and hold up a scolding finger. "Hiei ish the Master of the house and he said 'No truth er Dare!'"

"Oh what does he care!" I think Hiei slurred a "Hn" in the background. "Come on Aine! It'll be fun!"

Even in an intoxicated state, I was hesitant. But I felt Hiei's warm arm and breath on me and he had rosy pink cheeks. He nuzzled my neck almost…affectionately. He whispered raspily "C'me on Aine…maybe it'll be fun…"

My body felt on fire when he touched me that way. Goosebumps went up my spine when he ran his hand down my arms. Immediately my mind softened and I accepted the idea of the game, despite the previous warnings. Kurama stumbled back in with a bottle and set it in the center of our circle. Everyone started to laugh and Boton had a loose grip on the bottle, twirling it around. I watch almost inventively (I say almost because the soft attention Hiei was giving to my neck was beautifully distracting…) The rules seemed basic and entertaining. Watching Kurama dress up like a girl, Kuwabura and Yukina in a passionate make-out fit, and Keiko doing the hammered version of the chicken dance. But when the button landed on me, my stomach tensed up when Yusuke addressed me. "Aine, truth or dare?"

"…Dare…"

Yusuke leaned back with a smirk on his face, swirling the glass in his hands thinking almost hard. "I dare you…to kiss Hiei."

Oh God… My mind sobered up slightly. Hiei, we don't have to-!

Before I could finish my sentence, his lips covered mine in a hot, heated, first kiss. I let out a squeak, my body falling back underneath his. I closed my eyes, sinking into the moment. Everyone whistled and cat called in the background, but lordy I didn't care! I had Hiei all to myself for the first time and it felt good, it felt perfect…

It felt like I was being robbed…

I pulled back from the kiss to gaze into his eyes, the effects of the alcohol in my system starting to peel. He looked hungrily into my eyes. "What's wrong?"

Everyone was staring at us, just staring with unbelieving eyes. I shook my head. He kissed me drunk and on a dare… I felt low. I felt ashamed. I got to my feet and ran out of the den, murmuring I felt ill and locking myself in my room.

My first kiss to the one I love, and he doesn't even know it.

The holidays slipped out of our hands and it was us two again. I never brought up that poisoned kiss, just kept it like a secret to my heart. I don't think he pressed it very much. I was honestly afraid to. We would sink into old habits and just live on like it never happened. What difference would it make at this point? We already acted like a married couple.

I was scrubbing dishes on a summer day, Hiei was off at the Shadow Tournament. He had offered to take me, but I loath senseless bloodshed. I just told him to come home to me safely. That tournament made mw so worried for him, the last thing I wanted was for him to go to some silly fight and die. It was anguishing for weeks. Every night I stood up on the porch, just waiting for him to come back to me through those trees.

It was about two months since I started waiting, I was close to just giving up. Koenma stopped sending me word, so it made me sick to my stomach. And listening to the fights from the t.v. didn't help neither. All I could do was wait for him to come back to me now…I hate waiting.

Why won't he just come back to me…?

Things are never that simple, Aine san.

My heart skipped a beat, making me spin around and stare into flaming eyes. Hiei was standing in the door was with a black duffle bag, which he let drop to the floor. My knees felt weak, a smile finally came to me for the first time in two months. "Hiei…"

His tone with me was sharp. "Who were you thinking about, Onna?"

My face dropped. "W-What?"

He stomped over towards me coldly. "Don't play dumb with me! You were thinking about him weren't you! Your precious lover, don't you think after a year he would have come for you by now! Well he's not, so you might as well get over him!"

My voice caught in my throat, I was so startled. I could hardly take in what he just said to me. "Hiei… What are you talking about! I was thinking about you! I've been waiting two months for you to re-!"

"Why! Why were you waiting for me! Why are you still even here! If you really loved this person as much as you made me think you did, wouldn't you want to go back to them and stop clinging onto me!"

I felt like snapping at him, my body was shaky. I twisted the rag I held in my hands tightly before hissing at him hotly. "A-And who do you think is the one I love, eh? Why on the gods' earth and hell would I ever STAY here with a baka like you if you can't even figure out why the bloody hell I'm here! YOU'RE THE ONE I LOVE YOU IDIOT! That's why I've been waiting for you! That's why I led a life of crime! All I ever wanted was to get closer t-!"

He had a habit of never letting me finish, but this time it was with his lips. Now this time I was definitely sure we weren't drunk, or playing any game. He was just kissing me on our own free accord, and it was different then the last time: it was hotter and deeper then anything I had ever felt. He never pulled away from our kiss, and I melted into his arms and was his for the taking. I've waited too long to hear you say that...

The rest is history: His room, became our room. And I was standing here with a mating mark and a belly full of life. Now that's what I call waiting like a good little wifey. And boy, it's a shock to everyone! I mean come on, I am the wife of Hiei Jiganshi:

I am a Demon's Wife. And I believe in love.