A/N: Yes, I know I have absolutely no business starting another project without finishing the ones I've already got going, but I just couldn't help myself. The following was inspired by a contest/challenge posted on the Kindred forums (a Sango/Hiei sanctuary, for all those interested) back in the winter calling for 100 word Sango/Hiei drabbles. "Snowman" was my entry, but I thought it just seemed awfully lonely, and I had so much fun with my T.T. drabbles, I couldn't resist expanding on the idea. Thus, a series is born. There will be approximately 10 chapters of three drabbles (likely all unrelated) a piece, though this one has an extra little bonus.

Also, special thanks to EmaniaHilel, whom I give full credit for the title. She had thrown it out as a potential for a series of hers in another fandom and was most gracious enough to let me borrow it. Thank you, Lovely!

That said, I hope you all enjoy this little project of mine. Feedback is greatly appreciated, and if you sign in, I'll be more than happy to reply. Peace, all.

"Too solemn for day, too sweet for night,
Come not in darkness, come not in light;
But come in some twilight interim,
When the gloom is soft, and the light is dim."

--William Sidney Walker

Hate

The truth was, Hiei had never bothered to wonder why.

Yet here it was, hanging in the air between them like a hydrogen balloon, ready to explode in a great ball of flame.

'Why do you hate me so?'

She'd said it, but he knew without ever facing her that she hadn't expected an response. And what was worse...he didn't have one. He'd been so determined not to answer to anyone about anything, that he'd never taken the time to answer to himself.

When he turned to find the huntress gone, he wondered if that was her true question.

Sleep

Sango had never been a curious sort. Not any more than most, really.

But as he lay there with the shadows, wrapped in the tranquility of sleep, the sharp lines of his eyes softened in a way his consciousness never allowed, Sango found that she was, indeed, curious.

And for the first time, she just couldn't help herself.

And even as he caught her there, brushing the feather soft wisps of hair away from the angles of his face, and held her gaze hard as the steel clamp of his fingers upon her tiny wrist, she knew...

She wasn't sorry.

Fireflies

She liked fireflies.

It was one of the many bits of knowledge he'd collected about the slayer since their arrival in this time. Unconsciously, of course. It wasn't as though he was...watching her.

He wasn't.

After all, it wasn't his fault if his favorite tree happened to be at the edge of a clearing where they were particularly thick. And he couldn't be blamed if, on a warm, midsummer's eve, she would slip into his corner of the world just to watch them dance.

And if his thoughts drifted to the soft glow of her skin in moonlight, or the far-off look in her eyes as she listened to the symphony of nightfall in quiet respect, he wasn't curious.

...Right?

++BONUS++

Snowman

He hated the snow. Even before the associated sting of rejection. Before the bitter chill splintered inside and his heart became winter.

He hated it.

"I love the snow." And he watched, fascinated, as her breath rolled like smoke, and crystalline melted upon her cheeks, ruddy from the fire that burned within her.

He hated…

…But she was so beautiful.

"Hn, you would."

Just the slightest turn of her lips and that spark behind her eyes lit anew, and Hiei went completely still as she folded her warmth around him.

And there, amid the falling snow, he felt the thaw.

Yeah...okay, so "Fireflies" is 22 words over the limit. I liked it better that way, so sue me. Hope you all enjoyed!