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Title: An endearing demise

Author: Adorkablebanana

Genre: One shot, IY/YYH crossover, dark, angst, character death.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: If death comes this way she rather not miss it. HieixKagome.

Say goodnight, say it for good.

-Bjork.

Is this it? Is this truly how it ends? A part of her raved with dry sarcasm and the other dwindled in mild disappointment the position she found herself placed in. So this is how it ends. Typical and ironic in a sense one of her own weapons pierced right through her and furthermore she was bound to the same tree a demon over 516 years ago coincidentally was also, although she pretty much assured her body wouldn’t preserve well as his did.

She gazed up, the light headedness spiraling in a rhythmic beat consisting of fast then very slow hazes. It nearly felt grand.

The pain tuned in and out. She didn’t appreciate the frightening flood of bright red blood spilling freely down her front, it’s undignified to waste such a large supply of life blood when there are others who can use a donation, she thought derisively and her reason behind her illogical sudden thoughts in a moment such as this came on as hilarious also. Ridiculous! She can’t even take her own death seriously.

How pitiful. Or is it? Kagome cared less and less about the dramatic theme that goes along smoothly well with a slow death, she wasn’t much for clichés anyway.

Nothing went on as a cliché in her life no matter how much she followed the steps in order for it to occur.

Her trembling hand gripped on the wooden base of the arrow plunged in halfway through her gouged abdomen, in one swift painstaking instant she pulled the arrow out, grunting her momentary jolt of pain. She slid down the rough tree trunk, down to the foot of the god tree. The ancient tree more or less seemed to cast her its final stash of sympathy because she rested her back against the trunk nearly in comfort. Her cold fingers rattled holding the long spear-like pole in her hands, dripping more of that valuable essence she familiarized with during her life time. Yep, all those times I saw buckets load of it pouring out of a person.

“He sure harpooned me good, like a whale,” she said hacking up the blood accumulated in her throat. She examined the length of this baby and was surprised about half of the arrow managed to submerged her.

“What a brilliant time to joke around,” the familiar voice came from her side, she turned to see the very youkai she less expected to see.

“Well this is certainly a big surprise. Good to see you came to my funeral, Hiei,” she smiled wearily in his direction. Her lack of agonistic air rubbed him in the wrong way. Hiei frowned analyzing her current shambled state, there wasn’t much he could aid her in this far along in her critical condition. “C’mon, cheer up. You should be celebrating, I’m finally kicking the bucket. You wanted to kill me a few years ago this should be one of those memorable moments to smile at.”

“Hn.” Hiei shrugged repelling the appalling disbelief from overtaking him as best as he could manage to. “I’m proven correct when I said you were insane. Strange to the bitter end.”

“I prefer the term ‘eccentric’ than strange.”

“How inaccurate of me.” His lips thinned.

This was bleak and the unwanted void opened up slowly. She shouldn’t be smug at all.

“Yup.” This was insane altogether. Having a casual everyday conversation during the mists of her termination. She wasn’t even sobbing her pain out nor begging for professional assistance to save her measly life. Damn it what’s wrong with her?

“I suppose your not going to enlighten me how this all transpired.”

“Nah, no point in it. I kind of was expecting this sooner or later,” Kagome explained, “and besides…my time’s up” she concluded calmly with the best impression of passivism she can concoct. She wasn’t afraid of Fate, not right now she wasn’t. Kagome held no grudge and the person who struck her down already met a fate far worse than hers, sadly Kagome sympathize this more than the condition she’s in.

“Typical,” Hiei mumbled under his breath. He undoubtedly failed to veer this situation to a… more appropriate setting. Yes, a more appropriate setting to carry this on. Hiei reanalyzed this again and came to the more sensible perceptive there is no such thing as a more suitable moment.

In fact, this moment felt inexplicably unreal.

“You go about this as if your life never mattered, woman.” Hiei knelt beside her, she patted the ground for him to sit on the patch of unsullied Earth for a moment. He did as requested. Hiei could not find a more natural way to refuse this.

“Back to those formalities again Hiei? By now I thought you referred to me by my name. Well, that was nice while it lasted,” she chuckled richly, the effort put into the gesture did not go unnoticed by the dark youkai. He stared out into the distance finding nothing useful to say in return.

Kagome sighed, her breaths slowly growing longer, heavier as the silence dragged on. When she spoke again her optimistic ambience dissolved to the more believable shape of solemnity. “You’re wrong. My life did matter to me,” she admitted quietly.

“Then why did you allow yourself to stay this way? Why didn’t you try to attempt to save yourself?” Hiei pressed the inquiry forward. He swept his eyes over the fatal wound pouring in thicker gushes, the misleading boldness she demonstrated did little to fool the naked eye. Hiei read through it and in the same case he stood between the fork in the road unsure if his logical guess was correct. Kagome did have a unbelievable tendency to delude a person from their former guess.

She wants to embrace death. “I don’t know really, I think I’m ready to …well you know.”

“Figures.”

“Hiei, how did you know about this?” Kagome asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Just happen to pass by. The strong smell of blood and youkai reached me, I came investigate it,” Hiei regarded her with the barest answer. The truth to the matter behind his reasons wasn’t false, he actually happen to pass by the shrine he planned on pestering her for a day until he grew bored. Hiei adjusted to the routine to occasionally drop by. He had no true motives for this, even he was oblvlious why he accustomed himself to visit her.

“I see.”

The pausing between words continued. Her heavy, struggling breaths rapped harshly against his ears, the abundant odor of her blood drugged his senses, he knew she was reaching her time and yet she continued to strive on to keep on breathing. “You’re dying and you still fight to maintain consciousness, do explain. Or is it you’re actually afraid? This fear is normal,” he laid on the truth thickly and blunt as ever.

The tiny smile on her lips stretched in a way appreciating the faint manner he expressed sympathy. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m not nervous and unsure, but, it’s not about me exactly.”

“How so?” He arched a brow in query.

“First off, this isn’t too bad. At least I don’t get to go through the pain of aging alone. Dying at thirty sounds much better than at eighty, don’t you think? That’s the cycle a human’s life circulates.” She shifted in her spot as another aching pang coursed her. “And…I lead a good life. I lived through many pains along with many pleasantries, what more could a woman want?”

“Conserve your energy --

“No.” Kagome put a stop before he could finish. He glared and the flickering displeasure crossing his features reminded Kagome of the past. He always gets annoyed when I do that. A warmth touched her somewhere she did little to ignore it. She rather liked it and it sadden her to leave it behind. “I prefer not to leave certain things unsaid. I want to thank you for staying here beside me whether the intention was thoughtful or not I appreciate it,” she closed her eyes reopening them to stare out into the quiet distance taking in her surroundings for a last time. “Of all the things I caused and regret I don’t regret ever meeting you, Hiei.”

To this Hiei glanced at her pale face, his eyes were slightly widen hearing her speak her words so profusely and with an honesty Hiei felt confused by. He said nothing, the lingering aftereffect her words left sunk in.

Kagome suspected she unsettled the Jaganshi on a level she accepted his recoil to her little confession. The slight furrow of his brows confirmed the awkwardness she placed over him. Kagome regretted nothing up to this point, he can bear with her just a bit longer. Her world took a deeper turn to the hazy side, slowly she felt herself slipping away and right before she lost her complete sense of self her frail hand reached over to Hiei’s hand, resting it on his in a feeble, gentle grip.

He froze, staring down at the small bloodstained hand lying over his. What is she doing and for the record why hasn‘t he brushed her disgusting hand off his person? Hiei and Kagome’s eyes met for a moment, they gazed into one another’s till she sighed a blissful sigh, then closed her eyes. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead, my opinion never stopped you before.”

“Will you remember me once I’m gone?”

“I never forget those I cross paths with, miko.”

“That’s good to know. Can I ask you one more favor?”

“Hn.”

“If it’s not too much trouble can you take my body and burn it elsewhere? I don’t wish for my relatives to see me this way,” Kagome asked softly in such a quivering tone she thought her tears were going to spring forward.

“Granted,” he said in response to another rare act of compassion.

“You lifted another weight off me. I appreciate it a lot Hiei.” Her hand squeezed his, her strange form of showing the last bout of affection she can offer. “And thank you, for not letting me die alone.”

The strength she held his hand faded as her grip loosened. Kagome spoke no more after that. The silence overtaking the solitary shrine thickened tenfold in an unspoken way mourning her leave. Hiei learned the meaning to what the wise kitsune meant when he said humans are selfish creatures. They disappear leaving the living to reminisce their memory.

Unfortunately Hiei will look back and remember the human woman he once befriended.

The end.