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If I could have one wish.
~~~
It was foolish to say with absolute certainty what you would wish for if ever given the opportunity.
Kagome had always assumed that her own wish would center around something simple like happiness for her family when she was younger.
Never once in her young life had she ever thought she would wish for death.
Yet, in the end, that is exactly what she had done.
The battle had been fierce, her friends had been wounded, and somehow, without her knowing it, Kagome had gained possession of the jewel.
Shikon clasped firmly in a hand slick with her own blood, she had gazed out at the battlefield in horror, watching as a war waged right before her eyes.
Tears welling upwards she could take it no longer.
The killing, the pain, the seemingly endless bloodshed.
Staring down at her clenched fist, she knew the answer, knew that the only way to end it all was to use the jewel and wish.
So she did the only thing she could think of.
Kagome knew that no wish was truly pure and so, instead, she would have to make one that would be effective.
So, with all of her heart and soul, she wished to pass from her world and into the next, to cease living as payment for the jewel to be taken beyond all reach for all of eternity.
Needless to say, things had not gone as she had planned.
Heaving a sigh, Kagome turned her gaze upwards to the strangely bubblegum pink sky that covered the Reikai and tried desperately to ignore the crimson eyes that glared at her.
Who would have thought the afterlife would be so… pastel?
In the end, Kagome had indeed passed into the next world. Just not exactly in the way she had in mind.
Instead of her wish ending her journey, it seemed as if it had only further complicated things for her.
Because now she was alone in the realm of the here-after.
Smiling ruefully, Kagome turned her gaze to her silent companion who was currently leaning against the trunk of a fruit-of-the-past-life tree.
Correction, she wasn't exactly alone. She just wasn’t with anyone she really knew.
It seemed as if her falling bloodied and half dead onto the desk of the prince of Reikai with a severely broken leg and a chunk ripped out of her hip had not been a part of her life plan.
So now she was, once again, somewhere she had no business being, surrounded by people who, once again, had no real idea what to do with her.
She could not return to her family, her death had already been reported by InuYasha and a very public funeral was held. For her to suddenly pop back into the living world would, apparently, cause too many problems.
"I wish for once that my life would just be normal." Her voice carried across the garden that she was currently stuck in as her hand caressed the large human world cast that covered her leg.
"Pitiful, wishes do not come true." The response that was delivered in a harsh voice caught her by surprise.
This time her smile was secretive as her other hand rose to press lightly against the starburst on her hip, the place the Shikon had used to come from and go back into her body.
"That's not true, Hiei.” She chided softly. “Wishes do come true; you just have to be careful what you wish for."
His answering scoff rang loud in her ears.
~~~
The first step.
~~~
The first step they always said is the hardest, be it when dealing with love, or problems, or love problems.
That was, apparently, especially true when trying to learn to walk for the second time around.
The cast on her leg had finally come off but the break had been so severe that she had to learn to move and work the muscles all over again.
The healers in the Reikai had been puzzled as to why their powers had no effect on her wound and were instead forced to use the more mundane human medical methods in order to help her heal.
Kagome knew that it was the effect of having her body act as a shrine to the Shikon, keeping it pure and untainted by any outside sources.
While she was grateful that her body was now resistant to many different forms of energy it also made the process of healing go so much slower.
So, unable to live forever in the Reikai and with nowhere else to go, Kagome had been sent back down to live deep in the mountains with an old psychic named Genkai.
With, of course, Hiei acting as her unwilling bodyguard.
It wasn’t long before she found herself content to be there, long used to making quick adjustments thanks to her time spent on the road searching for the shards.
It helped that Genkai and Yukina were both wonderful to be around in their own ways.
Yukina was sweet but she also possessed a core of strength that often reminded Kagome of Sango, and a gentleness that always, without fail, made her think of her mother.
And Genkai? Although the older woman was rather harsh at times, Kagome grew to love her all the same as well.
That is, until the time had come for Kagome to start therapy for her leg.
Now she could officially say that Genkai was evil and had obviously missed her true calling as a dungeon master in Hell.
She worked Kagome mercilessly, forcing her to go above and beyond her limits in an effort to gain the use of her leg back as quickly as possible.
Though she oftentimes hated the workouts in the moment and hadn’t actually felt well rested in days, Kagome was grateful that the woman was helping her at all, and so she gladly threw herself into whatever hellish routine Genkai set her to each day with all of her heart.
Hiei, on his part, only watched and occasionally halfheartedly snarled about the weakness of her species.
Kagome would just glare back at him with all of her might and then work all the harder.
(Genkai had a feeling that he only did it for that very reason.)
~~~
Time passed and, eventually, Kagome could stand with only the aid of the bamboo railings that had temporarily appeared all around the complex.
Railings that she never did get the chance to ask Genkai where they had come from.
The day finally came when she was ready to make that monumental first step without the aid of the railings, to try her legs out without outside help.
Nervous, her hand convulsed, clenching and unclenching on the bamboo railings that had saved her so many times these past few months.
She had honestly grown to love the things, in a silly sort of way. She was sure that she would hate to see them go when the time came even if she’d be happy to no longer have to use them.
Shakily she stepped forward slightly, easing her weight off of the railing and placing it fully upon both of her legs.
That first step was the hardest, it hurt and pulled at her muscles, and yet it was one of the greatest feelings she had ever had.
The second and third felt just the same.
It was the fifth that was nearly her undoing.
Unable to handle the strain, Kagome’s knee buckled and she felt herself falling in slow motion.
Desperately, she reached out for the railing only to cry out in horror as it gave out underneath her falling weight.
Eyes squeezed tight she waited for the impact … that never came.
Confused, Kagome blinked down owlishly at the rough hand that encircled her waist and held her just inches from the ground. Her eyes traced it upwards to the sharp jaw and thin lips that she had grown to know so well.
"Hiei.” Her voice was soft and sounded vaguely shocked even to herself. Despite it being ridiculous, Kagome could have sworn his eyes darted down and focused on her lips for the briefest of seconds. “Y-You saved me.”
His answering sneer was twisted and not all that pleasant. Then, without warning, his hand released her, sending her body straight to the ground through only a few inches of air.
Kagome hit the ground with a small puff of sound, nothing damaged but her pride.
Glowering, she stared up at him for a moment, saying nothing as he watched her with expecting eyes.
Narrowing his gaze at her in obvious displeasure when she remained silent, Hiei flitted from the area without another word, leaving the girl fuming on the ground behind him.
Genkai watched, amused, from the doorway, unable to stop herself from wondering if he had learned to court women from the dimwit of all people. She was, after all, pretty sure the kitsune had more charm and suave behavior at his disposal than whatever this was.
~~~
No holding back.
~~~
Kagome was only a little irritated about the whole dropping her thing.
She wasn’t really angry.
Not really.
Okay so she was pissed off.
Honestly, he could have at least helped her back to the railing instead of leaving her on her ass like that.
Speaking of which, she really was eternally grateful to whoever it was that kept repairing those railings and had now even gone so far as to have reinforced them all with another layer to make them even stronger.
Truly whoever it was had her eternal love and gratitude.
Currently she was attempting to stalk the dark yōkai around the temple grounds in order to have a … semi-quiet word with him about dropping her on her ass earlier.
Her efforts were, currently, in vain though since he seemed to constantly stay about three or four yards ahead of her at all times, forcing her to hobble behind him across the entire complex.
"Hiei!” Kagome screamed out into the empty air, having finally reached her limits. “If you don't show yourself right now so help me…"
Her threat was destined to remain incomplete as suddenly her space was filled with his form, his presence crowding her back against the wall and forcing her to wrap both hands around those blessed handrails.
"Woman,” Hiei snarled at her, “that mouth of yours makes entirely too much noise."
Her instinctual noise of outrage was swallowed as his mouth attached itself to hers, his tongue thrusting past her lips and sweeping the inside of her mouth.
Stunned, she whimpered briefly before her hands rose on their own accord to wrap around his neck, her tongue tangling with his as he turned and bent her backward across his arm. Kagome kissed him back for all she was worth, holding back none of the attraction she had felt for him since the moment she had seen him. Or the affection that had grown steadily in the weeks since.
He kissed her, hard and deep, for a moment longer before he drew back, his eyes flashing as he stared down into her flushed face.
A smirk made its way onto his face and, before she could register what he was about, his arms deserted her.
Kagome was, once again, left to fall through the few inches of air beneath her and the floor.
Silence filled the area for a moment before her angered cry rang out.
It met nothing but empty air as Hiei once again left her to her own devices.
~~~
Until the very end.
~~~
Hiei couldn’t help but smirk to himself as he adjusted his form comfortably on his chosen branch. Settled just outside the window belonging to the miko he had become so unwillingly entranced with, Hiei wondered when the naïve girl would figure everything out.
All the foolish woman had to do was ask for his help.
To reach out for him instead of the bamboo she seemed to be permanently attached to.
All she had to do was admit that she needed him and he would make sure she never fell again.
For a moment Hiei wondered when he had become so sentimental but then he quickly scoffed at himself.
Sentiment was a human emotion, this was a purely logical decision.
Sometimes one needed to apply un-favored techniques to win a battle.
And that was exactly what the situation with the woman was, a battle that he was determined to win.
She would be his, his to have and to protect, to support, or he smirked to himself once again, to drop on her stubborn ass as he saw fit.
So he would continue with his current methods until the dimwitted woman figured it out.
He had no problem waiting, after all, time meant next to nothing to him in this situation.
Things would go his way until the very end.
~~~
Genkai chuckled harshly to herself as she took another drag off her cigarette, her smoke making wavy lines in the late afternoon air.
She knew what the apparition was about and she found it all highly amusing.
He seemed determined to drop the girl on her ass as often as possible and Kagome was clueless as to why, exactly, he kept doing it.
It was all rather entertaining and she wondered who would win in the end.
She, personally, had a fat wad of yen on Kagome in the betting pool that had sprung up amongst the group at the first sight of the two’s seemingly private battles.
Genkai was confident that she would be on the winning side when everything finally came to a head.
After all, Hiei had started his own downfall by making those bamboo railings for the girl.
She was softening him already and he was just too arrogant to realize it.
Yes, Genkai was sure that, in the very end of it all, Kagome would come out on top and Hiei would have no idea what hit him.