DISCLAIMER: I don't own any characters in this story that are recognizable.

Bachiatari Hogosha

Akuma sat on her father's lap as he used his claws to comb her silky silver hair, carefully and patiently undoing knots. The four year old girl just relaxed, although she wanted to run around the castle and tease the imp, Jaken, like she always did in the afternoon. However, this day would be different than any other, even though Akuma had no idea why. She knew that there was going to be some sort of special occasion, by the way that her father was acting. Usually, Inutaisho was laid-back, but today, there was something different about him since his expression didn't have the usual warm and care-free smile.

"Otou?" Akuma turned her head to the side to look at her father's face. "Otou? Where's Okaa?"

Inutaisho just kept staring into space as he gently petted his daughter's head, letting the shiny hair run through his fingers. "She'll be home soon, don't worry. She's having a child. A little brother or sister for you."

Akuma just nodded and rested her head against her father's chest while looking around the room they were sitting in. A little brother or sister? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing? She didn't know, all she now knew was that the baby was coming no matter what. She thought about what it might look like, and if he or she would like her. At least having a sibling would give her someone to play with besides 'playing' with Jaken, which was more like playing to her, and abusing to Jaken. Akuma and Inutaisho waited for another fifteen minutes before her mother came home, holding a bundle in her arms.

"Ryoku, are you feeling okay?" Inutaisho asked his wife as he picked up Akuma and stood up.

"Of course I'm okay," was the woman's reply. "Akuma, meet your little brother."

Akuma practically jumped out of her father's arms and ran over to her mother. Ryoku let her daughter look at the baby who was wrapped in a blanket. The boy was sleeping peacefully. On each of his cheeks were two magenta stripes and on his forehead was a purple crescent moon that was slightly hidden because of his silver hair.

"Can you take him back? I don't like the way he looks. Can you trade him for another baby, Okaa?" Akuma asked.

"No," Ryoku said. "It doesn't work that way."

Akuma wasn't going to give up so easily. "Why not?"

"Because it just doesn't," she replied.

"Why?"

"Because it doesn't,"

"It does,"

"It doesn't,"

"It does,"

"Akuma, it doesn't work that way,"

"Fine. Whatever." Was the girl's reply. When it came to winning an argument with Akuma, you would have to wear her out until she says, 'fine, whatever', or something like that. However, neither Inutaisho nor Ryoku would be able to convince the witty dog-demon that she was wrong.

Ryoku smiled and kissed her daughter on the forehead.

"Okaa, why does he have a moon and I have a lightning bolt?" Akuma asked curiously. "And why does he have marks on his cheeks and I don't?"

Ryoku shrugged. "That's just the way it goes,"

"Okay, I don't mind!" she chirped. Akuma started thinking of any other questions to ask her mother about the baby. "What's his name?"

"Sesshomaru," Ryoku replied.

Inutaisho walked over to them with a slightly irritated look on his face. "I thought we were going to name him Inuyasha,"

Ryoku sighed. "Inutaisho, you wanted to name him Inuyasha. It wasn't both of us who agreed to it. We didn't decide on a name, and I needed to get one for him. I just picked Sesshomaru. It was the same situation that happened with Akuma. You wanted her name to be Chi. I wanted Akuma. We didn't decide, and I needed a name. Sorry, but that was just the way that it worked out."

Akuma smiled. She knew the situation with her name and found it funny. She now thought that it was funnier since the same thing happened with her brother.

Throughout the day, Ryoku and Inutaisho were busy with things. These things were kept private to everyone besides the two of them, and whenever Akuma asked them what they were doing, she was only told that it was none of her business and that she should find something to do. That day, on the birth of her little brother, she had received that same reply when her parents went to do these things. Akuma knew that she couldn't leave Sesshomaru alone, since he was only a newborn baby, so she stayed with him, who was now asleep in a basket in her room. Akuma was drawing pictures on some of the scrolls that her mother had gotten her for her birthday the last year. She was a very good artist for her age, and loved drawing pictures that came from dreams that she had, or anything that her vivid imagination was coming up with. Sometimes the drawings would be very intense and even terrifying to see, for her and even her parents. Sometimes when she was drawing, Akuma would just let her hand guide her to whatever she would draw. At times, she wouldn't even remember drawing some of the pictures, and whenever that happened, the drawings would end up to have scary scenes that often had something to do with a giant, ugly monkey.

Akuma looked inside the basket to see Sesshomaru's eyes open for the first time. The amber eyes met with her own and for a moment there was only silence. Akuma could swear that she saw her brother smile when he saw her, before he started to softly whimper. He was probably thirsty, especially since this was the first time that he woke up after his 'nap'.

Oh no, Akuma thought. Otou and Okaa aren't home, and Jaken wouldn't know how to feed a baby. Neither do I, but I can't let him go thirsty. I have to get him water!

"Don't cry, Sessho-chan," Akuma whispered. "I'll get you water. Everything will be fine."

Of course, she knew that Sesshomaru wouldn't know what she was saying, but that didn't matter. Akuma ran as fast as she could, room to room throughout the castle so that she could find the leather pouch that she remembered being fed by when she was much younger. She found it in her parents' bedroom, on top of a cabinet. Then, she ran to the bucket of fresh water in the kitchen and filled up the pouch before sprinting back to where Sesshomaru was. When Akuma returned, her brother was crying, desperate for something to drink. She felt a sinking feeling in her heart when she saw that Sesshomaru was upset.

"It's okay, Sessho-chan," Akuma whispered to her brother, trying to get him to stop crying. Ignoring the fact that the baby was heavy, she gently and awkwardly held Sesshomaru before sticking the mouthpiece into his mouth, hoping that he would know what to do just by instinct. Akuma was relieved when she saw that Sesshomaru was sucking on the mouthpiece and calming down. When he was done getting his drink, he moved his mouth away from the mouthpiece and tried to push it away with a small hand. Feeling a great spark of achievement, Akuma put the pouch aside and kissed her brother on his moon mark before putting him back in the basket.

She was just about to put a blanket over him when Sesshomaru reached his hand up and grabbed onto the collar of her flame-colored kimono.

"Huh?"

Sesshomaru pulled and made some sort of whimpering sound. Akuma sighed, she really wanted to get back to drawing, not holding her brother until he fell asleep. On the other hand, she didn't want him to start crying again. With a short sigh, Akuma picked up her brother and held him. Sesshomaru let go of the kimono, put his head against his sister's chest and closed his eyes. Akuma could feel her brother's chest going up and down against her own with every breath he took. It had a nice feeling to it, for a reason that she could not understand. All Akuma knew was that it was nice to see that Sesshomaru was comfortable and safe. After a few minutes, Sesshomaru fell into a deep sleep, which only made it harder to hold him. He was now too heavy for Akuma to hold, so she put him back into the basket as gently and carefully as she could. Luckily, he didn't wake up, which gave her the opportunity to get back to her drawing without being grabbed onto again. However, despite how much she wanted to keep drawing her picture of the tranquil-looking waterfall area, other things were on Akuma's mind. She wasn't thinking about Sesshomaru. Instead, she was wondering about the things that Inutaisho and Ryoku were doing somewhere. The things that were kept secret, the things that were supposedly none of her business.

What could they be doing? Akuma asked herself. What could be so important that Otou and Okaa would leave Sesshomaru at the castle with me on the day that he was born? What's going on? Is it good or bad? Could it … have something to do with … me?

Questions filled Akuma's mind. She was trying to find out the mystery to the things for at least a year now. All she was able to talk out of Jaken was that Inutaisho and Ryoku were doing these things since a few months after she was born. The things could very well have something to do with her. But what? Her safety? Her powers? Her … what? Or could it be something else? Could it just be a coincidence that it was going on since a few months after her own birth? Either assumption could be possible, but whatever it was, Inutaisho and Ryoku definitely didn't want their daughter to know about whatever it was that they were doing. Slapping the 'none of your business' label could very possibly be a shortcut out of explaining what was going on to Akuma.

A/N: I'm trying out different kind of genres on this story, and I hope that you all like it! I will continue on my other fics, but I don't know how to start the next chapters. If you want to make a suggestion for them, then review on the fic that you have a suggestion for, not on this one. For now, I know where this story is going, but if anyone has any suggestions, you can tell me in a review and I might put them in the story in future chapters. I really like where this story is going, and you might understand why if you know what the title means. I also think that this one will be the best one of my fics yet, so I'll be working on this one more than the others, but I will end/continue my other ones! I'm only asking for one review on this chapter, but more will be fine with me!