Chapter 33

Well well well, lookie here I found another chapter to post. :3 told you it would be worth the extra reviews too, now once you finish reading this, I'm going to expect some serious surprise from you lot! I mean it, I want angry, happy whatever reviews for my awesome twist on things, come on I want them!

Not much else to say other than two reviews or more for the next chapter!

-I do NOT own Inuyasha or it's characters

-I DO own Sonya, Niki and the plot

~TL S0nya

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-Day 3-

"Do I want to what?" Niki looked over at Sonya, chopsticks still hovering in the air. The wolf sighed and rolled her eyes skyward before repeating herself slowly this time. "I asked if you wanted to go to town with me? There's some things I need to get for Rin's birthday."

Niki blinked her eyes, the lack of caffeine to wake her up in the mornings was making it difficult to comprehend what anyone said to her before noon. "Uh... I guess?"

"Good, you can help carry the stuff back then!" Sonya clapped her hands together excitedly and turned to Sesshomaru beside her. "Want to come with us?"

"There are matters I need to discuss with the new captain of my guard." The Inu leaned over to brush his nose against her mating mark then stood. "I'm sure that's just an excuse so you don't have to go with us." Sonya grumbled, earning the slightest flash of a smile from Sesshomaru. "I will send along two guards to carry whatever you buy."

"Hmph, alright alright, I won't make you come with us. What do you want me to get Rin for you then?"

Niki's eyebrow rose steadily higher the longer the two in front of her talked. Despite knowing they were mated and were living together, seeing them like this made it painfully obvious they were actually... Together. Somewhere in the back of her mind, for some reason or another, she only saw the two of them as friends, never really thought of them as really married in demon terms.

But the easy conversation between the two of them was way too much like anything a married couple might have for her not to see anymore. Before she could stop it, a slight pang of jealousy shot through her quickly only to be squashed thoroughly a second later. 'Oh knock it off. You know full well there's no point to that...'

Looking down at her food, Niki picked up another bite and popped it in her mouth, half paying attention to the conversation going on between the two in front of her while she finished her breakfast.

"Niki."

Looking over at Sonya, she swallowed what was in her mouth and quirked an eyebrow in question. "I'm going to be heading out once Sesshomaru picks a couple guys to go with us."

"Alright..."

"So... Hurry up?" Sonya nodded at Niki's barely touched breakfast with an amused look. "You really aren't a morning person."

"No, and I highly doubt I ever will be." Niki grumbled and picked up a bowl of rice, shoveling it in her mouth with vengeance. "Well, maybe Kagome'll have some of that coffee when she comes to visit tomorrow."

Niki nearly choked on her food at the mention of the miko showing up tomorrow, a fit of coughing cutting off anything she wanted to say. A clawed hand held out a cup of water which she clung to desperately and downed it's contents. "Ka-" Stopping to clear her throat again, Niki grimaced at the sore feeling before continuing. "Kagome's going to be here?"

"Yeah, she and Sango said they have something to tell us, so we're going to have Rin's birthday party tomorrow while they're here. I guess their... Mates? Husbands? Are coming with them so we'll just make a party of it." Sonya lifted a shoulder in a shrug as she settled back in her seat once more. "I'd send a message to them asking about it, but they're probably already heading this way, it's a good three days from Edo with Inuyasha's speed."

"So they left a couple days ago." Niki gave up on finishing her food and sipped on her tea instead. Sonya nodded quietly, her eyes slipping over to the door for a second then turning back to her friend across from her. "Rin's being distracted, but I dunno how long it'll last. Sesshomaru better hurry up."

Niki chuckled and refilled her teacup, one hand lifting up to cover her mouth when a yawn broke through. "Ugh, I need coffee. This is just ridiculous."

"I know how you feel." Sonya grimaced at the tea in front of her, tongue poking out between her lips in distaste. "I never really did like tea that much."

The sound of the doors sliding open brought the two of them out of their thoughts and over to the two men standing there in uniform. "My Lady, we are here to escort you and your companion to the village below." The taller one explained, both of them bowing when Sonya got to her feet with an excited clap of her hands. "About time, thought maybe he was just taking his time to piss me off."

"Apologies, My Lady, my companion is new and the Lord needed to explain several things so he could understand the protocol for guarding you."

"Ah, don't worry about it. I can take care of myself you know." Sonya grumped, arms folding over her chest as she studied the two in front of her with a critical eye. "Though, I do need to strong guys to help carry bags back once we're done."

"Of course, My Lady. Senshi is a strapping lad, able to carry twice his weight if need be." The older male clapped the younger one on the shoulder with a wide smile.

Niki's eyes widened slightly, her feet moving on their own until she came to a stop in front of the shorter guard. "Senshi?"

He jerked his head up so quickly a soft popping noise could be heard as he looked up at Niki, obvious surprise written across his face. "Lady Niki..?"

"Senshi!" Niki broke out into a wide smile, arms flinging themselves around the startled guard in a big hug, nearly giving the poor man a heart-attack with the sudden action.

"You have no idea how much I missed you!" Niki laughed, pulling back far enough to rest her hands on his arms and taking in his face for the first time in a month.

"My... My lady." With comically wide eyes, Senshi simply stared at her in shock. "Wh- What are you doing here?"

"I'm visiting Sonya, come on, don't tell me you forgot she was with Touga and me when we first showed up at the shiro." Shaking her head in mock despair, Niki sent a pout in his direction.

"Ah, of course, apologies, Lady." Senshi bowed his head slightly, barely remembering she hated it when he did that moments later when she smacked his shoulder. "Knock it off."

"Of course." Straightening back up, he caught the curious look from the older guard and took a step back. "Before coming here, I had been requested to teach Lady Sonya combat." He explained quickly to his senior's amusement. "I see. Very well then, shall we leave?" He turned his attention back to Sonya, one hand waving for her to lead the way.

"Let's go shopping then!" Sonya cheered, linking her arm with Niki's and dragging the poor woman away towards the door. There were some things she wanted to talk to her about, mainly consisting of exactly how friendly she was with that guard.

A hour later found the four of them in a bustling village full of shops and carts. Sonya, still dragging Niki behind her made her way through the busy streets towards one of the shops with an excited sparkle in her eyes.

Ducking inside, she waved at the guards following them to stay beside the door and made her way towards the back, her unrelenting grip on Niki's arm beginning to cut off circulation before she finally let her go. "Alright, explain."

Chewing on her lower lip, Niki watched the wolf begin picking through some of the bolts of cloth, examining them closely before setting them aside for another one. "He was a guard back at the shiro. We got to know each other because he was the one Touga had teach me. That's all."

"I sense a 'but' in there somewhere." Sonya looked over her shoulder at Niki with a raised eyebrow at her nervous expression. "Well, he left. So I haven't really seen him in a while, that's all."

"Yeah right. If he's your teacher then he's the one who gave you those arm guards, right?" Sonya picked up a yellow cloth covered with a scattering of orange butterflies.

"Well, yeah." Niki glanced at a deep blue colored cloth, silver stars stitched along the edges of it. "So what?"

"Seems pretty obvious the guy was in love with you."

Sonya's blunt statement made Niki flinch, remembering the letter and the resulting argument with Touga afterwards. "I guess so."

Mokuzai shot a glance over at Senshi, the faint conversation from the women inside clearly heard by the both of them, and judging by the faint pink beginning to grow on the younger guard's face, there seemed to be some truth to it.

"I see, so that is why you so readily agreed to join the guard here." He broke the silence between them, making Senshi jump in surprise, wide, brown eyes looking over at him then back facing forward.

"It was for the best." Senshi silently cursed the older guard for his demon blood, if he could just barely hear the girl's conversation inside, it was easy to assume the older guard could hear it as if they were standing beside them.

"For yourself, or for her I wonder?" Mokuzai shot back, green eyes sharpened when Senshi flinched ever so slightly. 'So, the wound is still fresh then.' Turning away, he faced the crowds once more, his grip on the handle of his sword tightening in thought. "However, it has nothing to do with me."

Silently sending a thanks to the kami, Senshi nodded his head curtly, grateful to have the conversation behind them. With Lady Niki there, it was hard enough as it was, but now he had the senior guard questioning him about it.

"Alright, we're done here. Mokuzai, carry this for me, would you?" Sonya swept out of the shop, arms loaded down with various wrapped packages which she handed off to the fox demon without another word. Turning around, she grabbed onto Niki's wrist, intent on dragging her to another shop when the fox finally spoke up. "Perhaps, My Lady, it would be best for us to separate, then we would not be here all day and night."

Sonya paused and looked back at her favorite guard in thought, catching sight of his eyes motioning at Senshi beside him and felt her lips pull up in a small smile. "I see what you mean, Senshi, take Niki and this list, we need every item there so be sure to find every one of them." Sonya tossed a rolled scroll over at Senshi who barely caught it in his surprise.

Turning to Niki, she held out a small coin bag full of jingling coins. "Take this, Senshi will help telling how much everything is. Be careful and make sure it doesn't get pinched alright? I didn't even tell Sesshomaru how much I was taking so I'd like to be able to bring some of it back before he notices half of the money we had in our room is gone."

With that said, she turned around and disappeared into the crowd with Mokuzai. Niki blinked and glanced over at Senshi with a bewildered look on her face. "Do you feel like you were just run over by something large and unstoppable too?"

"Unbelievable, that woman is just like you." Senshi shook his head and gestured for Niki to follow him towards one of the nearby shops. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Niki growled at him, earning a small smile from the guard as he lead her inside, the scent of spices and various other foods surrounding them.

"It would mean you are just as unstoppable as she is." Niki growled at him again, making the guard chuckle as he checked the list once more and moved towards one of the shelves holding powdered spices. "We will need a pound of ginger." He murmured, aware of the shop owner watching them closely.

"Oh, what one is ginger?" Niki muttered back, eyes scanning the small buckets of spice in front of her nervously. Each one was labled perfectly, however she barely understood the alphabet with only a couple lessons under her belt with the scribe.

"The one on the right of you. It looks like red clay." Nodding her head slightly, Niki looked over at the shop owner and waved him over. "A pound of the ginger please." She smiled, pointing at the bucket Senshi mentioned, earning an eager nod from the owner.

"That will be two Koban." The shop owner held out the bag, a small gleam in his eyes as he watched Niki dig around in the purse Sonya gave her. "Hold on, excuse me, I believe that price to be too much." Senshi narrowed his eyes on the owner who shot him a dark look.

"It says clearly one Koban for a pound, you are asking twice the amount for it." He added sharply, making Niki look up with narrowed eyes. "Is that so? Then maybe we should just go to another shop and let the greedy creep try to cheat someone else." She tied the purse shut again, already stuffing it back into the pocket of her hakima when the owner began bowing. "Apologies! My Lady, please forgive an old man for his foolishness!"

Sending a look at Senshi, Niki saw the slight nod he gave her as she fished out one of the oval coins from the purse she held. "Here, don't try to cheat anyone again. It's pointless and you'll end up doing it to the wrong person. We won't hurt you because of it, but someone else might." The owner took the Koban with a grateful look in her direction, his head bowing repeatedly as they left the shop. "Of course, Lady. Of course!"

"Jeez, what the heck is wrong with people?" Snorting in a very unladylike fashion, Niki weighed the bag in her hand idly while they made their way through the crowds. "He seemed to notice you couldn't read." Senshi murmured under his breath, making Niki grimace. "I know, I know. I've had someone teaching me, but I only got about two lessons in before Touga said I could come visit Sonya."

"Perhaps I can teach you while you are here." Nearly kicking himself for the forward offer, Senshi fell silent quickly, already cursing mentally. "You would? That would be awesome!" Niki beamed at the guard, causing him to duck his head shyly. "Of course, My Lady. It would be an honor to teach you."

With a wide grin still pulling at her lips, Niki locked an arm with his, either not caring or knowing about the action as she pulled him over to a small food stand she could smell something delicious coming from. "Come on, I'm starving, Senshi, you want anything to eat?"

"Ah, it would not be-"

"Two orders please." Niki cut him off, already speaking to the stand owner as he scooped up two bowls of the sweet stuff and handed them over for two Koban coins.

"Let's sit down and eat, Sonya wore me out just walking here." Turning around, she offered one of the bowls to Senshi with a grin. The guard, unable to turn down the hopeful smile on her face, sighed softly and took the offered treat then lead her over to a small bench set to the side.

"You know, it smells and looks good. But what the heck is this stuff anyway?" Looking over at Niki, Senshi quirked an eyebrow at her curious expression while she poked at the food in her bowl. "It is called Oshiruko." Senshi shook his head as she tipped her own to the side curiously. "It is made with sweet bean soup and rice flower dumplings. A wonderful choice for this weather, even if you did not know what it was you were paying for."

Sticking her tongue out at him, Niki lifted the bowl to her lips and took a tentative sip. "Oh! That's awesome, how come Kayaku never makes this at the shiro?" Scowling at the bowl in her hands as if she expected it to come up with an explanation, she ignored Senshi's chuckle.

"I suspect it is because he does not know what either you or the headman like to eat. Perhaps you should tell him when you return." Smiling at her, he lifted his bowl to his lips and sipped at the sweet soup with a satisfied look in his eyes. "I must confess, My Lady." Setting the bowl aside, he stared at the people passing in front of them while he spoke. "I did not expect to see you after I had left."

Niki swirled the bowl in her hands, watching the little dumplings swim in the soup idly. "Oh."

"I will confess again, however, I am delighted to see you once more, however wrong it may be for me to be so happy with you by my side." He added, still refusing to look over at her while he continued speaking. "Your present-"

"I got it... And the letter." Niki cut in, finally getting him to look over at her. Now it was her turn to avoid his gaze, nervous fingers tracing the edge of the bowl. "I mean, I don't blame you for running off, Touga is a jerk so I'm not mad at you."

"It is wrong, I should have never-"

"He told me I could choose whoever I wanted, Senshi."

Senshi paused in what he was saying, eyes widening slightly at what Niki had said. Not fully accepting what she said, he forced out a chuckle and finished off his treat. "A dark joke, My Lady. To give this poor guard such hope."

"I'm not joking. He told me before I left that if I wanted someone else, he wouldn't stop me." This time Senshi looked at her, careful eyes scrutinizing her face before coming to the conclusion she was, indeed, telling the truth.

"I see, there are many men that would gladly take you as their wife, despite your age, you are beautiful and intelligent." He murmured, turning away again, completely missing the irritated scowl forming on her lips. "I know you do not care for riches, so I am certain it would not matter how much money they have."

"You idiot." Niki slapped the bowl she had into his hands, splashing the uniform he wore with the soup still inside and stood up. "Shut up and lets go shop. God you're impossible! Does no one around here understand subtle hints?" Throwing her arms up in the air, she stomped off, Senshi scrambling to follow her through the crowds before she got lost.

Grabbing onto her elbow, he stopped her marching and turned Niki around to face him with a scowl of his own. "Do not leave without me! Do you realize how dangerous it is even in the market?"

"What's it to you? Maybe I'll just go find myself a nice suitable male and have him marry me so you don't have to worry about it anymore!" Niki snapped, jabbing a finger in his chest with each word.

"Will you be quiet, woman!" Senshi growled, efficiently shutting Niki up, eyes wide as she stare at him in surprise. "I am trying to tell you I do care!"

"You called me woman."

This time it was Senshi's eyes to widen, more in embarrassment than anything as he dropped her elbow and took a step back, head already lowering in apology. "My Lady-"

"About damn time you got a little spine. I mean, I don't really care about the whole using the word woman as a degrading term, but seriously, how many months of you knowing me before you finally dropped the whole 'I'm your guard' act?" Niki laughed, making Senshi look up at her in confusion. "Lady?"

"Don't do it, no. You dropped it once already, Niki. My name is Niki. If you call me Lady again I'll slap you." She warned, a threatening finger poking him in the nose. "Come on, say it with me now: Niki."

"N.. Niki." Senshi twisted his lips to the side, trying to understand her sudden change in attitude.

"There! Much better, now then, Senshi. Shopping, what's next on the list?" Linking her arm with his again, she tugged on the scroll he had tucked into his haori, already unrolling it when he finally realized what she was doing.

Deciding it was impossible to really understand her, he sighed and traced the next item with a finger. "Paper lanterns. This way." Taking the scroll back from Niki, he lead her towards the other side of the market where he could see the stall selling paper lanterns clearly. For now he would help her finish shopping, later when alone, he would have time to work through his scattered thoughts and figure out just what he was really thinking about.

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