Summary: Koenma unravels a shocking truth from Hiei's dark past while the Reikai Tantei are on a mission. Hiei is hit by a sinister attack that forces him to relieve memories long forgotten . . . memories of the mate he had . . . and lost.

Note: Miroku, Shippo, Inuyasha and Kikyo all died in the final battle with Naraku. Kagome and Sango have longer lives. Storyline set one-hundred years after defeat of Naraku.

Reality

Hiei x Kagome One-Shot

"Ogre!"

A half-naked blue ogre stumbled into his boss's office, muttering, "Koenma-sama, what is it this time?"

"Get me Hiei's file!"

The blue ogre ran into the records room and searched the hundreds of filing cabinets for the miniscule demon's Reikai file. Finally finding it, he grabbed it and ran back to Koenma's office.

The Prince of Reikai, who was currently maintaining the form of a baby, snatched the file from the ogre's hands and flipped it open, searching through it furiously. He was planning to release Hiei back to Makai, after confirming that the demon had dutifully served his probation to Reikai.

"Name . . . age . . . family . . ." Koenma murmured as his honey-brown eyes scanned the full pages rapidly. ". . . history . . . mate . . . weap –" Wait a minute. MATE?!

"What is it, Koenma-sama?" the blue ogre asked, seeing Koenma freeze in shock, staring blankly down at the page in his chubby little hands.

Koenma's voice was eerily calm as he showed the ogre the file and said, "Get me the file of this woman."

"What's her name, Koenma-sama?"

"Jaganshi . . . Kagome."

The Reikai Tantei were walking through a forest in Makai, searching for the demon that Koenma told them to take care of. They soon came upon a wide clearing, greeted by a disgusting sight.

A black hulk was clutching a human body in its claws and tearing into the soft flesh with its sharp fangs. The strong smell of blood had Yusuke and Kurama covering their noses. Hiei was unaffected, considering how many times he had smelt the blood of his victims as they died.

The demon dropped the corpse and turned, licking the last remnants of blood from his mouth. He grinned at the sight of the group and opened his mouth, revealing all the sharp teeth that had Kuwabara cringing.

"More dinner," the demon said, saliva dripping out of the corner of his mouth.

"As if," Hiei snorted.

"Don't underestimate me, midget," the demon said, leaping into the air.

"Rose Whip Lash!"

Kurama's whip struck out at the demon, but they were all surprised when the demon batted it away as if he was swatting a fly. "Hahahaha, is that all you've got, human?" he laughed.

Hiei leaped towards the demon, drawing his sword in a flash and aiming to cut the demon into itty-bitty pieces. However, he did not expect the blast dark magic that the demon sent at him.

He was hit in the chest and the dark magic washed over him, making him grind his teeth together to prevent himself from screaming in pain. Then something unexpected happened . . .

Hiei? That's a nice name.

His eyes widened in shock. What . . . why am I suddenly thinking about HER?

Do you hate me now?

He no longer felt the crushing pain of the demon's attack as he began to relive his haunted past.

Please . . . just hold me tonight.

"Kagome . . ." he whispered as he fell into the darkness.

I don't want to be alone.

It was quiet and peaceful, but not how Hiei imagined he would die. He laid on the ground amidst the demon corpses, bleeding his life's liquid out of his wounds. His vision was blurring, till he could no longer see the brightness of the sky. His senses were dulling, until he could no longer smell the carnage he had caused, or taste the metallic flavor of his own blood in his mouth. This wasn't how he wanted to die, but since there was nothing he could do about it, he might as well embrace it.

His sensitive ears barely picked up a soft voice that spoke to him, but he could not make out the words that were said. He closed his eyes and fell unconscious, hoping his death would be quick.

He didn't expect to wake up later, feeling himself laying on something soft with a warm comforter over his body. He could hear two voices speaking quietly in the background, but his demonic hearing picked up on what was being said.

"– send Rin down to your quarters after her bath."

"Good. But who is going to watch him?"

"You may for now, but I will send the taijiya to watch him."

"I see. I will tend to him now, seeing as he has awoken."

"Goodnight, miko."

"Goodnight, Sesshomaru."

Soft footsteps, then the sound of a door opening and closing, indicated that someone had left. Someone approached his bedside and applied a cool cloth to his forehead. He felt smooth fingers glide across his wounds and he was pleasantly surprised to feel warmth spread through his body as she healed him.

He felt the same hands pry his mouth open and let a steady trickle of liquid into his mouth. The delicate fingers massaged his throat carefully, making him swallow the liquid.

"Your fever's gone down," the melodious voice murmured. "Can you speak?"

Hiei struggled to open his eyes, for his eyelids seemed to be glued shut. His vision was blurry at first, before they sharpened slightly. He saw someone leaning over him, with long black hair and sparkling blue eyes. He assumed that the person who was healing him was a woman.

He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but found, much to his irritation, that he could not.

The woman laughed quietly and said, "That's okay. We can talk when you get better."

And then she left.

"So what's your name?" the woman asked, sitting by his bedside with her hands folded on her lap.

Hiei eyed her warily. "Why should I give it to you, onna?" he said.

"I want to know the name of the handsome demon I saved," she replied, smiling at him.

Hiei quickly fought down the blush that threatened to bloom across his cheeks. Handsome? Did she really think of him that way?

"Well?" she prompted.

"Hiei." His name slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it.

"Hiei? That's a nice name."

"Hn. What about yours, onna?"

"Oh. My name is Kagome. Thank you for telling me your name."

"Kagome . . ."

"Oh, come on, Hiei. It was all in good fun. Right, Sango?"

The fuming hybrid glared at the two innocently-smiling girls. Except it didn't have much effect because they started laughing together.

"Oh my God," Sango gasped, clutching her stomach. "That is just too funny, Kagome!"

Hiei felt utterly humiliated and turned to leave, but Kagome grabbed his arm. "Wait, Hiei! It was only a joke!" she said.

He stared at her angrily. "So you mean to tell me . . ." he said in a low tone. ". . . that dressing me in a pink, flowery kimono, putting flowers in my hair and that disgusting powder on my face . . . is your idea of a JOKE?"

"I'm sorry, Hiei. We were bored," Kagome said. "Do you hate me now?"

Hiei was horrified to see tears forming at the edges of her eyes. Sighing, he said, "No, Kagome, I do not hate you. But never do this again."

"Are you leaving now?"

A voice asked quietly from behind him. Hiei turned to see Kagome standing there, illuminated by the moonlight. Her beauty took his breath away, but he shook his head and looked away. "Yes."

She stepped closer to him and laid a hand on his arm. "Please promise me you'll visit," she said. "I like you. You're very special."

Hiei looked at her in surprise. "You think I'm special?" he voiced. "Even when I'm . . ."

Her eyes did not show pity when he trailed off, for which he was glad. He hated pity. "Yes. You're special to me. I don't care that you're the Forbidden Child, you're my friend and nothing will change that," she said. She released his arm and turned to head back into the castle.

"Wait, Kagome," he said.

She looked back at him with a quizzical expression, but whatever she thought he was going to say flew out the window as she felt a pair of warm, soft lips press gently against her own. It was a simple kiss, but Kagome knew exactly what it meant.

And the next moment he was gone in a blur of black, leaving Kagome staring at the space where he had once been.

He came to the castle as fast as he could. When he arrived in the courtyard, he found Kagome sitting underneath a sakura tree, her knees drawn up to her chin. He could see the dried tear tracks on her face and could smell the salt of her crying.

"Kagome . . ." he said softly, bringing her out of her daze.

Her eyes filled with tears of joy when she saw him and she flung herself at him, crying into his shirt. "You're alive! Sesshomaru said that Lord Setsusano's castle was attacked and because you were there, I thought you had been killed . . ."

He felt awkward having a female crying on to him, but he held her closely, whispering, "I won't leave you, Kagome. Ever."

"Please . . . just hold me tonight."

And he held her, almost wishing he could never let go.

Recently a curious new threat had risen and Sesshomaru ordered Hiei and Kagome to go and take care of it. It had been almost two years since Kagome first found Hiei dying on the battlefield, and three months ago, the two happily mated and were expecting their first child within half a year or less.

Kagome had been having extremely bad mood swings and strange cravings that made some of Sesshomaru's youkai servants sympathetic towards him, having experienced their own mates' pregnancy stages. However Kagome was still in peak condition.

She had diverted some of her energy to her baby, making sure her womb was well-protected while she trained or practiced, to decrease the chances of a miscarriage in case she went out to dispose of a youkai that Sesshomaru told her to.

It amused Sango at first to see such a cold killer turning into a loving mate whenever it came to Kagome. She had laughed with Kagome while the two of them were soaking in one of their private hot springs. Her teasing had nearly gotten her drowned, but luckily, she was still alive and happily mated to a handsome dragon youkai that liked her despite her taijiya heritage.

Now, in the present, Kagome and Hiei had pin-pointed the location of their target and were closing in upon it.

They came into a clearing with a silver-haired demon standing in it, talking to a demon with blackish-purple hair and a funny black hat. "Excuse us. Please explain why you are trespassing on Lord Sesshomaru's domain," Kagome said formally.

The silver-haired demon turned. "Oh, what a pretty woman that greets us!" he exclaimed, oblivious to the warning growl that Hiei gave off when he mentioned "pretty woman".

The other demon rolled his eyes. "Youko, you know you can't have her. Can't you see that she's with her mate?" he said.

The first demon, now identified as Youko, huffed. "Just because she has a mate doesn't mean I can't appreciate her beauty, Kuronue," he said. "It's not like I'd try to take her away from someone else anyway. I'm fond of keeping this handsome face on my body, thank you."

Kagome smiled faintly. "Please do explain who you are," she said politely.

Youko bowed. "Hello, my name is Youko Kurama. I am a yo-ko, or a spirit fox, and I am the King of Thieves!"

Kuronue bowed. "Hello, I am Kuronue, a bat demon. My idiotic partner – " this comment earned an indignant glare from Youko " – and I steal beautiful things."

Youko playfully swatted at his partner, retorting, "Take that back, Kuronue! I'm not an idiot!"

"Yes, you are, Youko," Kuronue said. "As for the reason why we're here, we were just wandering around looking for something to steal. Youko thought it would be a bright idea to steal from the Western Lord, but as you can see, I clearly disagree."

Youko crossed his arms over his chest. "You're no fun, Kuronue," he whined.

"Just because I want to keep my head on my shoulders doesn't mean I have to be fun," Kuronue snapped. "Let's go, Youko. We're better off stealing from lesser lords."

Youko rolled his eyes and walked after him. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Kuronue." And the two disappeared into the foliage.

Kagome and Hiei blinked. "Well . . ." Kagome said, turning to look at her mate. "I guess we didn't need to take care of anything. Let's head back."

It was almost a month and half until Kagome thought that their baby would be born. She sat in her mate's lap under the sakura tree in Sesshomaru's courtyard, enjoying the sunshine and the warmth of her mate's body.

"Hiei . . ." she said softly, catching his attention. "The cherry blossoms are beautiful, aren't they?"

Hiei kissed her neck once before replying, "Yes. But you are more beautiful."

She giggled at his claim and twisted in his lap as much as she could without straining her belly. "Thank you," she said, pressing her lips to his again.

Suddenly she pulled away, alert. "Oh no," she whispered. "No, not now . . ."

Hiei didn't catch the meaning of her words until the gates to the courtyard crashed open, spilling in multiple hoards of youkai screaming for blood. He grimaced as he scooped her up and ran back into the castle.

Shit! How could I not have sensed them? He thought, setting her down gently on their bed. He kissed her once. "Please stay inside where you'll be safe," he said. "I promise I'll come back." And he was gone in a flash of black.

Still, she couldn't help but worry, so she walked over to her window and hid her aura while looking down at the carnage happening below.

"No . . . Kagome . . . you can't die on me," he begged, cradling her body close to him and listening to her shallow breathing. "We're going to have a child in a month and a half, you can't die!"

His beautiful mate, now battered and bloodied with a gaping hole in the flesh of her chest, looked at him and tried to smile. "I'm sorry. It was instinctive when I threw myself in front of that attack. I couldn't let you die," she whispered, tracing the line of his jawbone endearingly.

"You're going to live, Kagome. You can't leave me now," he said, lifting her up and walking over to the stoic demon lord. "Save her, Lord Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru drew the Tenseiga, but the sword did not spark with life or a pulse. He shook his head and turned away, unable to look the hybrid in the eye. "The Tenseiga won't heal her," he said.

"Hiei . . . stay with me, please?" Kagome asked. "I don't want to be alone."

Hiei knew that he was about to lose his mate for good. Forcing back his tears, he held her close to him and didn't say a word. His heart had already cracked.

"Thank you . . ." she murmured, pressing her lips against his one final time. "I love you, Hiei . . ."

"And I love you too, Kagome," he choked.

And his heart shattered into thousands of pieces as she died in his arms, a tranquil smile resting on her face, a face that was once so lively and joyful now peaceful and covered in blood.

It was then that Hiei finally let his tears fall.

"KAGOME!!!!" he screamed, his tears falling and clinking upon the cold, bloody ground.

All the survivors of Sesshomaru's castle mourned the loss of their beloved princess, who would never say another word, see another day, taste another meal, smell another flower, or touch another heart. She was gone, now and forever.

They buried her underneath the sakura tree and wisely left Hiei alone to mourn the loss of his mate and unborn child in peace. After a week, he disappeared and rarely came back. He began devoting all his time to finding his sister, thus obtaining the Jagan Eye. Nearly two and a half centuries later, he teamed up with Goki and Kurama in order to steal from the Reikai vault, and was defeated by Yusuke.

He buried his emotions, knowing that he could never show them again.

Kagome . . .

Hiei slowly awakened, only to find that someone seemed to be poking his cheek. "Wake up, Hiei, I'm worried . . ." A familiar voice made his eyes shoot open in shock.

"You're awake!" the female next to his bed hugged him tightly. "I've been waiting for almost four hundred years!"

"K . . . Kagome?" he asked weakly.

His mate smiled brightly at him. "Yes, that's me. Your friends brought you here after claiming that you fainted during the mission," she said.

Hiei scowled. "I did not faint," he said. "That demon knocked me unconscious and forced me to relive some of my memories of you."

"You think that's a bad thing?" she asked.

"No. It's a good thing."

And he hugged her back.

A trip down the memory lane! That last memory must be painful for him, though. Having your mate die in your arms? Yikes! Anyways, this is only a one-shot, so there will not be a sequel, so please don't ask me for one.

No flames, please.

MangaFreak15