Ikigai (Hiei x OC)

ENDINGS

Airi stared up at the night sky, with her head resting against Hiei's shoulder and his arms around her waist. She looked for the constellations, as her mother taught her to when she was a little girl. It felt like she was there with her, this night. Mori had come to find them, and his small face was directed up to the stars, as if he too searched.

They'd been in the same spot for hours, neither of them in the mood to talk. Her body rose and fell with his breath, steady and strong. It was like a pendulum, and the sensation mixed with his warmth induced a sort of hypnosis. Her fingers absentmindedly moved back and forth over the arm that still had skin.

Emotionally exhausted, but filled to the brim with contentment, she could no longer feel nervous about the final fight. Months of preparation, of worry and restlessness, had led them here. There was nothing left to be done, and the outcome was out of their hands. Fate would make the call.

She refused to think of the past and could not imagine the future. All that existed was this moment now, tucked into the arms of the person she'd been waiting for her entire life, and the vastness of the sky above them. She could comprehend what was coming as much as she could make sense of the universe itself. So she stopped trying.

If this was to be their last night on earth, it would be the perfect ending. Knowing that this may be her final chance to show Hiei what he meant to her, she let her wards fall. He tensed as he realized what was happening, her thoughts clouding his mind, feelings permeating his body. Unsure of how he would react, she waited, nauseous with the fear of rejection.

All of those indescribable, wonderful, terrifying things that filled her every day, every time she looked at him, she laid bare. He'd become the very air she breathed. Who he was now, and who he'd been, transfixed her. She saw his strength for what it was beneath the surface. The greatest longing she'd ever known was her desire to go back in time and be with him through each excruciating second of his life.

Tilting his head against hers, he sighed. His exhale was shaky, and she could feel his heart beating faster against her back. He was nervous. As she was about to regain control over her thoughts, worried it had been too much for him, he released his own. Never before had he purposefully dropped his defenses this way.

His feelings for her, so different than the ones she held for him, were complex and confusing. When he looked at her, all he could see was that someday, somehow, he would lose her. Paralyzed by fear and reservation, he gave her everything he could manage. She came to understand why he pushed her away so often. 

His lips brushed against her cheek and she leaned into them, wishing there was any conceivable way to be closer to him, to be inside of his skin with him. As she settled more deeply into his arms, happily prepared to spend the entire night that way, an enormous flash of energy vibrated through the air. They looked around for the source and saw an electric blue orb hovering over the beach, not far from where they were.

"Yusuke," she whispered, her stomach in knots.

She had not seen him since Genkai's passing, but she'd felt his grief crash over the island. Keeping away from him, knowing that she could ease his pain, was one of the hardest things she'd ever done. Judging by the enormity of the power he held now, Genkai's plan had worked.

Hiei rose up from the ground, extending a hand to help her up. She took it gratefully, and he pulled her against him, locking her in a bittersweet kiss. When it was over, she lost herself in the depths of his eyes, cherishing the last few moments in which she knew what lay beyond them. His thoughts and feelings severed from her, and her body adjusted again to holding only one soul. Getting used to that fleeting emptiness was something she would never be able to do.