Kyla: All right, this is the sequel to "A Runin With Sesshoumaru" and I wrote it as a way of saying congrats to my friend!! GO AKI! Haha. Now, on with the story.. dun dun DUN!

"Even"
by
Kyla

Aki stomped randomly through a wooded area, grumbling under her breath as her dark blue hair swayed and tangled in the light breeze. She wore a form-fitting gray shirt with short sleeves and a pair of comfortable, baggy black pants. "Can't do this, can't do that, just a stupid dog demon... too stupid to even listen to what these damn humans are saying," she growled, crimson eyes glowing angrily at anything and everything around here. She kicked a rock that was in her path and it flew off, hitting with a dull thud somewhere out of sight.

Soon, the woods around the angry demoness began to lessen until a small village came into view. Without caring about whether she would be welcome or not, Aki meandered into the village. Her ears swiveled this way and that, listening to all the whispers that followed her.

"It's a demon..."

"Look at it.. look at those ears..."

"What is it doing here?"

"Demons are always causing trouble..."

"They're all so vicious and unfeeling..."

"...have no hearts."

"The dumb beast..."

By now, Aki was almost halfway through the village, and there was a noticeable twitch in her right eyebrow. She was gritting her teeth tightly, her rage barely controlled. Her hands were curled into furious fists. "Hey," she suddenly barked, her temper flaring out of control.

Every human in the immediate vicinity fell completely silent. All the whisperings ceased, and all human eyes turned to eye the dog demoness carefully, afraid she would attack them without a moment's notice. They were right to fear that.

"You humans are so damn annoying! You do realize that I can understand every word coming out of your vile mouths, don't you?" Aki bellowed, face turning slightly red in anger. She growled ferociously and took a step forward, "You think that all demons are stupid and can't even form a single word! Well, let me tell you, I am NOT one of those demons... I can understand you, and I do NOT like what I hear! Ugly beast, am I? I'll show you ugly!" she snarled, her eyes glowing a bright, eery yellow. Her canines elongated, and the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. Her claws bit into her palms, drawing blood that she flicked away and onto the ground.

The demoness waltzed up to the balding man that had called her a dumb beast, and she immediately seized him by the front of his shirt. "You," she said quietly, dangerously, "you're the one that called me a dumb beast... Tell me, do I really seem that dumb to you?" she asked with a harsh glare. She held her claws threateningly close to the man's neck. She enjoyed the way the man wiggled around uneasily and fearfully. "What? No answer?" she scoffed, "fine then, I'll just kill you."

The man's eyes widened, and many people gasped, some crying out weak protests. Just as Aki was about to go in for the kill, a shrill voice stopped her just in time. A little boy exclaimed, "Daddy," and ran over to the two, not seeming the least bit afraid of the demoness. "Daddy, daddy, look at this rock I found in the woods!"

Aki's eyes darted to stare at the innocent, little blond-headed boy. She heard the boy's dad shout, "No, Matsuki, no! Get away! Hurry!" She glared at the balding man with narrowed crimson eyes in order to silence him. Her gaze flicked from the man to his son and back again, as if trying to decide something while everyone close by watched with baited breath.

Aki sighed and dropped the lump of a man to the ground. She muttered, "I can't take away a child's father just because the father's an asshole..." Without saying another word, she turned and walked off, leaving the humans in a stunned silence. She set off into the woods again to have some solitary time, but she did not get much time by herself because there was the sound of an annoying, vaguely familiar voice. Curiosity got the better of her, and she dashed forward, hiding in the shadows.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, you must be joking," Jakken whined in that annoying voice of his. "Rin probably just ran off to pick those stupid flowers.. She'll be back soon, why are you making such a big fuss?"

"Rin does not merely run off, Jakken," Lord Sesshoumaru growled, amber eyes scowling at the little demon that stood in front of him. "I know you saw which way she went, now.. which way did she go?" When Jakken stammered but yielded no answer of consequence, the dog demon lord aimed his scariest death glare on the little imp.

Jakken gulped and hurried to answer. "Sh-she... I... I saw her go that way!" he pointed to the north, heading right into the lands of a dangerous cat demons.

Sesshoumaru growled and set off down an unworn path. He did not say another word to Jakken, who hurried to catch up to him screaming, "Milord! Milord, wait up! Please! Lord Sesshoumaru!"

Aki, meanwhile, was sitting in the shadows, watching as everything went on. Thinking back, she could remember the girl named Rin. It seemed that she and Sesshoumaru were pretty close. Apparently, she had run off and probably gotten lost and unable to find her way back. Since she was headed straight into the lands of the cat demons. Any human that went into those lands never came out. The dog demoness looked thoughtful for a moment, then she sighed and murmured, "Well I do owe Sesshy for when he saved me..."

Squaring her shoulders, Aki made a decision, and so set off north. She moved swiftly and silently through the trees, eyes and ears alert for any hint of a human girl in the area. "Okay.. I am deep into the cats' lands now... Did she really make it in this far? Jeez.. she'll be a lucky one if she survives till someone gets to her..." Just as she was about to give up and turn back, she noticed the sound of a girl crying. She followed the sound and found none other than Rin hiding in a small hole.

"... Rin?" Aki asked just to make sure that it was indeed Rin. "Is that you? You're the one that travels with Sesshy—I mean Lord Sesshoumaru, aren't you?"

The girl sniffled, and there was a stammered, frightened, "Yes..."

Aki rolled her eyes and squatted down to where she was close to eye level with the girl. "Well, come on then, I'll take you back to Lord Fluffy," she said with a smirk.

Rin gave Aki an uneasy look that faded after a few moments. Wiping away the tear stains on her cheeks, Rin pushed herself up and dusted herself off some before silently following after the demoness. "Thank you, miss," she thanked Aki with a smile.

Aki glanced at her sideways before nodding and saying, "It's nothing, kid, just don't run off like that again. Lord Fluffy looked like he was pretty concerned, and that's saying something, since it IS him we're talking about.."

"Lord Sesshoumaru is worried? About Rin?" Rin asked, eyes wide and unbelieving.

Aki gave an irritated sigh. "Yes, he is."

"Oh."

While the two made their way back, Sesshoumaru had run into a large pack of cat demons. "Have you attacked a human girl in this area?" he demanded coldly, gold eyes hardened angrily.

The leader smirked and said, "Hm.. come to think of it.. I think we did... seems like about five stupid humans wandered into our woods. Three of them were kids, and two of those were girls... One got away, but we did manage to kill a young human girl, yes."

Sesshoumaru glowered, his hand inching toward his sword. The cats took this as a sign of hostility and immediately launched themselves forward, engaging the demon lord into a fight, which he easily won. He killed about ten of the cat demons, and the other six had run off in fear. Snorting, Sesshoumaru flicked his sword to rid it of some of the blood. Then, looking the least bit defeated, he headed back to where he had lost Jakken.

It was along the way that he caught a couple of familiar scents. One he had not smelled for months since their last meeting, but the other one was.. "Rin," Sesshoumaru near-whispered, as if slightly unsure whether to believe his nose this time or not. It could just possibly be where she had passed by earlier.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin suddenly shouted in glee as she glimpsed the long, silver hair of none other than Sesshoumaru. She ran over to him with a bright smile on her face, "My lord," she greeted happily, "this girl helped me! She said you missed me!" She hugged his leg and pointed to the way she had just come.

Sesshoumaru looked up, eyes meeting with Aki, that bothersome dog demon he had, for some reason, saved months back. They both knew that she had owed him, but now she stood there smirking at him. "You thought you would hold the fact that I owe you over my head... Too bad, we're even now.. I saved Rin for you. No thanks necessary, you big jerk."

The demon lord scowled before saying, "Fine, you win, mutt. We're even..." He turned on his heel and started walking off. "Rin," he called, not bothering to look around to see if she would follow him.

"Coming, Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin replied. Then she turned to face Aki and smiled at the demoness, "Thank you! Good bye!" She waved and ran off.

Aki just grinned and said, "Bye Rin, Bye Lord Fluffy!" She was amused to see the reaction it got from Sesshoumaru. He growled loudly, "Stupid mutt..."

Kyla: Hey, guys! Did you enjoy it? It's not my best work, but eh... Anyways, review real quick!