It's Wednesday again and we all know what that means... Time to go for a walk. Just kidding!
Today we learn how wonderful condensed soup is and just how tiresome buttons can be... or rather, just how much certain youkai would prefer that they not exist!
Aki manages to get herself in trouble again. Seriously, how on earth does she manage it all the time? Not even Fred could pull it off as often as she seems to. Then again, Fred is dead and not likely to piss off a taiyoukai by getting himself into various scrapes and whatnot. Aki on the other hand. Well lets just say it's hard to keep track of how many of Rumiko Takahashi's characters manage to get angry with her over things that aren't necessarily her fault.
Read and Review and ask questions and whatnot. you know you want to!
Of Buttons and Chicken NoodleSoup
Outside of a very unusual shrine, one popular dog boy was pealing himself out of a crater once again. His hanyou body was beginning to ache from the amount of time he'd spent kissing the ground lately. Not so long ago he would've blamed everything on Kagome and the enchanted beads encircling his neck, but the little time he'd spent with Aki over the past few moon cycles had made it apparent that he brought a lot of it on himself.
Aki had a different way of looking at things that had astounded him at first. She never assigned blame for anything wholly upon any one person. She weighed a situation carefully, trying to see things from every possible angle before passing judgment. Instead of pushing a potential problem aside she analyzed it, in most cases circumventing all the possible ill effects that might have developed otherwise.
Aki also didn't seem to take anything personally. She didn't care what strangers thought of her. Actually she didn't seem to care what anyone but Fred thought of her, and sometimes she didn't seem to particularly care what he thought either. Inuyasha suspected this was the reason Aki seldom ever got angry.
Despite her disregard for the opinion of others, she was extremely polite. It was probably the reason why everyone got along with her so well. There were fewer violent altercations when Aki was around, and with the exception of Naraku, people seldom offered violence after meeting her the first time. She could ally herself with some of the most withdrawn and hate filled people. Take Kikyou for example.
So Inuyasha had begun to try to emulate her "technique". Of course his mouth often got in the way, and his thought processes weren't quite sharp enough to successfully traverse the narrow meanderings of the analytical mind. The dog boy found that he failed in this endeavor often but refused to give up. Like any other skill, practice makes proficient, and he was progressing. Very slowly.
For example, the fight he'd picked with Sesshoumaru earlier, while not unusual in and of itself, had unusual reasons behind it. Miroku had made the mistake of pursuing his usual behavior whenever females happened to be using a hot spring for the traditional use. In fact, the monk had tried to convince the inu youkai that they should "check" on the girls. He soon learned that whilst the demon lord currently wasn't thinking particularly clearly, he wasn't stupid either.
Though Sesshoumaru had seemed utterly indifferent and altogether put upon by Shppou's parting shots, he had taken the kit's warnings to heart. No male was to see his mate the way he did. It was a privileged vision of paradise meant only for him. Shippou didn't count. So of course, he'd protected his property with all the force he could muster. Hence Miroku would've very probably have died, a gooey mess on the youkai lord's claws.
Inuyasha had realized this, had known his lecherous friend would never survive the sole attention of a full-blooded youkai protecting his mate. The hanyou analyzed the pros and cons of getting involved with the situation and with a pained sigh of resolve moved to save the monk. Of course that's where his mouth screwed things up.
In all honesty, he had meant to diffuse the volatile situation with words. This is the part where an analytical mind and a silver tongue would've come in handy. Two things he didn't exactly have.
He was at least partially successful. He managed to divert Sesshoumaru's attention from Miroku before a fatal blow could be dealt. Unfortunately, he hadn't succeeded in cooling the older demon's temper and had essentially taken the monk's place on the pounding block.
And that's how the girls found them. He was rather surprised that Kagome and Sango were capable of diffusing the situation he'd botched. Perhaps it was a skill inherent in females to varying degrees. Or perhaps it was something learned by all the people in the future and Kagome had simply taught Sango. Course neither Sango nor Kagome could claim the mastery of this ability that Aki so easily displayed. He dismissed the subject without another thought.
Now where had everybody gone? The hanyou glanced around the area in search of his friends. The wonderful smell of cooked poultry met his nose and drew him to the cooking fire inside the shrine building. Who knew it would be so easy to locate everybody he was looking for?
Kagome had kindly allowed everyone a small taste of the aromatic soup before sending the majority of the broth out to Aki to sup on. There were mixed reviews from the board of taste testers. The kids were unanimously for it. Though they were most likely more impressed by the strange packaging than the taste of it.
Inuyasha walked in just after the samples were finished off. He was left out of the taste testing for reasons that do not need explaining. Though he was interested in the informative conversation that followed afterwards.
"Why do they put the food in that weird container?" Shippou asked, as curious as ever.
"It's a special way to preserve the food," Kagome informed him gently. "This way it won't go bad for quite a few years."
Miroku blinked, "Truly your country is full of amazing things."
"Is this the only kind of food they put in," Azusa wrinkled her nose at the strange word, "cans?"
Kagome smiled, "No, they put all sorts of things in them. Fruits, vegetables, soups, certain kinds of meat, juices, even milk!"
"What kinds of fruit?" Rin asked. Fruit was a rare treat.
"Peaches, pears, pineapple, mandarin oranges, cherries," Kagome trailed off.
"And they're good for a long time like that? A year even?" Shippou asked, eyes wide and shiny when Kagome nodded. "Wow! Why don't you ever bring some of that with you?"
"They tend to be a lot heavier to carry around than what I normally bring and you have to remember the can opener," Kagome explained.
"You wouldn't believe how easy it is to forget it," Fred rolled his eyes. "It's easier than forgetting your tooth brush."
"Then why does Aki-sama carry these around with her?" Azusa inquired.
"It reminds her of home," Fred replied. "Wasn't there something people would make for you to eat or do to make you feel better when you were feeling sad or ill? It's a comfort thing. You associate that food or action with a sense of contentment or a feeling of being loved. There's something that makes everyone feel better," the ghost said. "It's one of the few things we all have in common."
"So it won't make Aki-sama better?" Azusa asked.
"Sometimes feeling better makes it easier to get better, Azusa-chan," Kagome explained. "And just getting Aki to eat will help her get better."
"Well, she certainly seemed happy to see that cup of broth, though she was slightly upset we took all the meat and stuff out," Sango began as she walked in the door of the shrine. "She said we took all the good stuff out."
"Heheh," Fred chuckled. "Aki never was one to slurp broth. Give her something to chew!"
"I didn't want to make her sick by giving her too much too fast!" Kagome protested.
"And you were right to be cautious, child," Tama declared. "In a few hours we can try feeding her more. Cases of prolonged hunger are difficult to deal with."
"Aki's tough, she could handle a little meat," Inuyasha asserted. "Especially if it reminds her of happier times and places."
"And why would you care Inuyasha?" Tama asked slyly. If the younger brother liked this female as well, there could be serious trouble.
"Because I'm the only brother she's got!" he answered.
"Aki never agreed with that!" Fred grumbled.
"Yeah, but now that she's got no family, someone was bound to try and take care of her else she be taken advantage of by unscrupulous bastards," Inuyasha declared. "Lucky for her I decided to fill the position."
"I'm not so sure that was lucky for her," Kagome muttered.
"What was that?" Inuyasha prodded her with an accusing tone.
"Nothing," Kagome smiled innocently.
"What do you mean Aki has no family?" Tama demanded.
"Aki's family was wiped out by a curse," Shippou answered. "So now she's my big sister, or my aunt. What do you think Kagome?"
"I think you shouldn't jump and just decide to start calling her that by yourself," Kagome answered.
"Well I don't think it matters as she is now the mate of lord Sesshoumaru," Tama dismissed the topic. "He'll take care of her."
"Are you crazy? He's one of those unscrupulous bastards I was talking about!" Inuyasha yelled.
"You question my judgment, Inu-chan?" Tama grit out mockingly.
Inuyasha flushed scarlet, thoroughly embarrassed by Tama's old pet name for him, especially in front of Kag-in front of his friends. Of course this only made him angrier with Tama. "Hell yes I question it!"
Amazingly enough the world did not end right then. In fact not far away, a body shivered in the peaceful quiet of a passing breeze.
Sesshoumaru gazed contentedly down on his slumbering mate. Sure life wasn't perfect, Aki was almost certainly going to attempt to run off again. He was finding it damn near impossible to persuade her that all other promises were superseded by a mating contract. She just wouldn't see reason.
She likewise just suddenly smelled of blood. Sesshoumaru stirred with slightly growing concern. He examined his claws to make certain that the telltale smell of blood was not snagged on their sharp points. It wasn't, thereby proving that this blood wound was not caused by him.
So if he hadn't caused her injury and she hadn't been so injured before, where did the smell of blood come from? He raised himself up to check Aki over for the wound he was sure to find somewhere.
His mate stirred restlessly in her sleep, unconsciously reacting to the greater exposure to the cool air. Her movement likewise exposed the correct expanse of skin so that he finally managed to find the reason for his worry.
The wound stuck out like red flag against her skin. How could he have not noticed it before? He worriedly moved to probe the wound in disbelief and growing anger. The wound had obviously not been cared for properly and could have become infected. Luckily it hadn't, but it could have.
Aki opened her eyes at the sudden pain when Sesshoumaru probed a little too forcefully. It was quite strange to see the inu youkai hovering over her stomach while poking a rather large wound in her side with his claws. "Wonderful," she groaned as she realized just what it was. "Bought time the damn thing surfaced." She went to remove the demon lord's strong fingers from her side and he growled at her. The woman sighed in exasperation. "What are you pissed at me for now?"
He raised an eyebrow at her and poked the wound firmly in reply. "This has not been cared for properly."
"Kind of hard to doctor something that isn't there yet," she muttered.
"What are you talking about?" He demanded angrily.
"Ah that's right! You and everybody else got to forget about him," she shoved herself into a sitting position, consequently forcing him to move out of her way. "I guess I'll just have to fill you in on a few minor details. One, I may have left you, but if all I was trying to get away from was you I would've had the time to eat and sleep and still stay out of your reach. Two, it turns out you aren't the only bastard that wants to make demands on me." He growled at her with displeasure, jealousy and rage getting the better of him. She ignored his outburst and plowed straight ahead. "Three, some wounds dealt in dreamland will make an appearance in reality, they just tend to take their time." She hauled herself from the ground, letting her frustrated anger fuel the action.
Aki was quickly getting dressed when the next wound manifested. She hissed in pain and the next thing she knew the ground was again her best friend. "Damnit, Sesshoumaru, get off!" He'd pinned her to the ground again in his hurry to inspect the new wound.
She looked down to see the first wound's twin running parallel to the first. "How many more of these are likely to show up, woman?" Sesshoumaru demanded. Her explanation had been cryptic at best.
Aki winced as he tugged the waist of her pants down to inspect the wounds completely. "I don't know," she said softly, dimly wishing he'd let her finish dressing. "I stopped keeping track after the third dream."
"Dream?"
"Naraku's-" she hissed as another wound joined the others, "stupid detachment. The painted one, remember?" She gasped as the last of the set appeared. Sesshoumaru inspected the wounds, which could only be claw marks.
Somehow she found the energy to brush him away from the ugly gouges so she could finish dressing. She found her bra, or at least the remains of it. "Do you have to destroy my clothing all the time?"
"It was in my way," the demon lord said, discarding the issue.
Aki's anger flared enough to cover the pain of another minor wound's manifestation. She hated when people destroyed her things. It showed a distinct lack of respect that would be a major relationship killer that is if this was a real relationship, which it wasn't. Her anger deflated into a kind of depression when she found the buttons missing from her shirt.
She sighed, suddenly very tired of the whole absurd situation. She made a face as she bent to find the little pieces of plastic. She felt very much like crying. This shirt was something special to her, as all homemade clothing is special. Most especially since it reminded her of the family she no longer had.
"What are you doing?" the inu youkai demanded.
"Looking for the buttons," she replied absently.
"The what?" That was certainly a word he wasn't familiar with.
"Buttons. The things that fasten my shirt closed."
"I don't like buttons. An obi is much more convenient."
Aki snorted, she would just bet it made things "convenient". "Well, I like buttons. I don't have to worry about my shirt coming loose because buttons don't come undone on their own. They're better than snaps, though not as good as zippers when it comes to keeping things closed."
"Then I like snaps better than buttons and zippers less so," the lord stated quietly.
Aki tiredly shook her head at him as she found the last of her buttons. Now how to get back to the shrine without provoking an episode of Miroku's wandering hands? Safety pins would have been nice. The former English tutor made a mental note to invest in t-shirts and other garments that didn't fasten up the front or back. One-piece shirts should be more of a deterrent to Sesshoumaru's need for haste, right?
Deciding she'd just have to cross her arms and bear the uncertainty of maintaining decency, she sighed. Might as well get this over with. Aki set off towards the smell of Inuyasha and company.
Now, any male youkai worth his salt will tell you, one does not allow an exhausted, wounded, and possibly breeding female walk anywhere. Period. No ifs, ands, and definitely no buts. Aki was not aware of this rule, but did she ever find.
Sesshoumaru never was one to talk about anything when an action could prove sufficient. So he didn't exactly warn Aki that he wasn't going to let her walk. Nor did he explain his reasons for coming up behind her and hauling her off her feet and into his arms. To say she was startled would be an understatement.
"Sesshoumaru," she cooed softly after her shock had worn off a small amount. She smiled disarmingly up at him before delivering a fierce sucker punch to get his attention. "Don't you EVER PULL SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN!"
Some might suppose that this little fit might have angered the stoic taiyoukai, but it didn't. Aki had made no move to get away from him; she was still settled into his embrace, producing no real struggle beyond the somewhat light sucker punch. There was no real need for him to waste the energy getting angry.
For her part, Aki didn't really mind him carrying her. She was completely exhausted and perfectly content to let someone else do the walking. It also made it easier to keep her shirtfront closed because all the material had bunched up in the front, allowing for more of an overlap. Plus Sesshoumaru's smooth stride was making her mildly drowsy.
Sesshoumaru was sneakily allowing his pace to gradually decrease as he went. The longer it took to get back to the village and the shrine, the more time he had her all to himself. It was a cause worthy enough for minor subterfuge. Especially since she'd been out of reach for such a long while.
Mates weren't supposed to separate like that. True, mating contracts weren't permanent, but there was a very specific protocol to follow in order to end them. And each level contract had its own built in termination date, excepting the last one meant for permanent mates. Wolves were one of the few species he knew of that progressed to that level on a regular basis.
The contract he'd initiated with Aki made her Sesshoumaru's until she had produced an heir. It meant that he would be around to protect her and provide his energies to her for the healthy development of his offspring. Her end of the contract involved carrying that offspring and foreswearing any other males until it had been terminated.
Given the choice, he would probably mark her again and again, until she couldn't escape him ever. But he couldn't do that. In fact, if some outside party stumbled upon Aki now and discovered she was ignorant of the basic mating contracts youkai's used, they could nullify the contract he had set up. It was the only time an outside party could break a mating contract.
Sesshoumaru's pace had continually degraded until he had all but stopped moving as he delved into the deeper darker realms of thought.
Aki shifted, causing him to pick up his pace. She had dropped off to sleep shortly after he'd begun walking and he'd prefer to let her sleep a bit longer. Her face was lined with fatigue and the obvious signs of her exhaustion.
Once he broke free of the trees, two very eager sentries in the form of Rin and Shippou accosted the inu youkai. The two children had been keeping a look out for the return of Sesshoumaru and Aki so that they could claim the great accomplish of "I saw them first!" For children this is an especially marvelous thing to be able to say because the world is so new to them, but so many things have been seen by others first. It is very exciting to be able to see something before everyone else.
Thus their little voices were less than muted when they assailed the youkai lord carrying his mate. Sesshoumaru nearly felt like pounding the two children when he felt Aki jump into surprised consciousness.
"Aki-sama! Are you all better now?"
"You missed it! Tama beat the crud out of Inuyasha!"
"Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin was worried!"
"He still can't stand up straight!"
"Can Aki play with Rin now?"
"Didn't know a bowl could be so effective!"
Aki smiled at their energetic chatter before something occurred to her. There were only two children standing in front of her. She narrowed her eyes, "Where is Azusa?"
Sesshoumaru tensed at that question. If the little girl wasn't somewhere completely harmless he just knew there would be trouble.
"She and Kagome went to put flowers on the graves," Rin told her and Shippou backed her up with a nod while he crossed his arms.
"Where -exactly- are they?"
"Last I saw they were in the circle you made," Shippou began.
Suddenly Sesshoumaru found himself on the ground. The dog demon had been pushed back when Aki launched herself forward using the taiyoukai as a springboard.
Aki pushed herself for speed. There were two people inside that circle and the sun was nearly set.
She burst into sight of the circle in front of the shrine, instantly noting the location of Azusa and Kagome. She barely had time to whisper soundless thanks at finding them near the edge closest to the shrine.
"Aki!" a childish voice cried over Sesshoumaru's frustrated growl. The shout caused Kagome and Azusa to turn and walk closer to her, closer towards the center of the circle.
Aki all but screamed to herself in frustration as she somehow managed to pour on more speed. The sun slipped ever unstoppably past the horizon. The air in her lungs burned its passage in her chest. The water streamed out of her eyes, muscled aside by the false wind of her run.
An almost indiscernible sliver of light was visible when Aki finally reached the girls only to send them flying off their feet out of the circle ahead of her.
"Kyaa!"
"AAAaaahhh!" they screamed, not liking the sensation of flying through the air.
SLAM! THUD! THUMP! The ominous closure of the day found Kagome and Azusa safely, if a little bruised outside of the circle. Aki on the other hand had slammed into the barrier as it snapped into place when the light slipped out of view. The force of the impact knocked her back into the circle and flat on her back. Blood trickled down her chin from where she bit her tongue in reflex.
"Ow," she whimpered. Aki sat up and looked around her, eyes slowly growing to the size of dinner plates. "Oh no!" she squeaked out in horror. The almost youkai clambered quickly to her feet before the adrenaline could clear from her system.
Aki gathered her power in a glowing ball in front of her, eyes firmly closed in concentration. The power built up, quickly expanding until finally she turned her palms outward and a barrier snapped securely around her. It would hold, not forever, but for now it would hold.
Aki's knees collapsed under her as a wave of exhaustion hit and she fell forward on her hands attempting to hold her up. Shakily she crawled to the edge of the circle to curl up against it. Chest still heaving from her mad dash, she belatedly realized she could take in more air if she leaned her head back against the barrier instead of attempting to tuck it in to her knees.
Sango and Inuyasha were already helping Azusa and Kagome respectively. The hanyou was slowly losing his composure to an angry rumble deep in his chest. Sango was calm enough to realize there had to be a reason of Aki's actions and was willing to wait for an explanation before getting angry.
Aki was the only one who looked the worse for wear despite the other girls' flight and subsequent impact with the ground. The former English tutor's eyes watered fiercely as her muscles trembled in protest of this most recent abuse. Silently she thanked whatever deity truly existed for the one button still attached to her shirtfront. Its placement was impeccable and had saved her from public indecency.
Aki began to laugh and cry at the same time. It was absurd. Here she was, trapped in a life-threatening situation having just saved two others from the same situation and she was thankful she hadn't flashed everyone? She really was exhausted! Either that, or very seriously drunk. She laughed until her sides ached and cried until her eyes burned before a manifesting wound managed to sober her up.
Again she was out of breath and everybody was looking at her, some were even growling. "Growl all you want, there ain't a damn thing any of you can do until morning," she said between gulps of air.
"What do you mean?" Tama glared at her, almost certain nobody was going to like the answer.
"She means," a certain ghost priest spoke for her, "that you can't come in this circle and she can't leave until the sun rises. Oh Aki-sama! This is a very grave situation." Aki chuckled mirthlessly as she leaned tiredly against the barrier.
"How grave?" Sesshoumaru's voice left her wincing inwardly. Was he ever pissed!
"What do you know of the violent deaths of children?" Shoko asked. Aki shook her head. It was a bad idea to deflect an inquiry from the great inu youkai. Sesshoumaru's feral growl had the multiple ghosts inside the circle stepping away from him.
"It means," Aki sighed, "that unless my shield holds until sunrise you may be digging another grave." She paused tiredly, "Mine."
"Aki-sama, what threatens you inside the circle?" Miroku asked slightly confused.
"Refer back to Shoko's question earlier. What do you know of Human children who die violent deaths?" Aki grumbled. Sesshoumaru was definitely going to be pissed, that is, if he wasn't already.
"Humans are born with all the life energy required to live out their lives, which means that when they're children they are literally full of energy," surprisingly it was Haku who answered. "When they die, especially in violent deaths, they have what could be considered the starving man reaction. Having suddenly lost all that life energy, they seek out and feed off what life energies they can find."
The priest nodded in agreement, "Normally this wouldn't be a problem. The ghosts of children don't usually hang around long enough, nor do they siphon off enough energy to be noticed by the living."
"But?" Sango prompted certain it was bad news.
"But they normally don't occur in such large numbers. There's too many of them and I'm not in the condition that would negate this problem." Aki finished and waited for a reaction. She didn't have to wait long.
The circle didn't even crackle under the stress of so many strong bodies crashing into it.
Aki groaned at all the useless noise as she unearthed a handy rock. "Would you knock it off!" she growled as she whipped the rock at the disruption. There was a satisfying cry of pain as the rock connected with somebody's skull. "Breaking down the barrier isn't going to save me you know! If anything it'll make one grave turn into nearly a dozen!"
"What do you mean?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't like problems he couldn't solve simply.
Aki only sighed. "She means that there are enough of us in here to wipe out all of you should the circle be destroyed," Haku answered quietly.
"So we can't break her out?" Kagome asked for clarification.
"Not if you want to live through it," Fred answered evenly.
"So the only possible solution is to hope for me to keep my shield up until day break. Which I should be able to do," Aki muttered. "So long as I manage to stay awake."
And there was the kicker, Aki was completely exhausted and sleep deprived. Staying awake wasn't going to be easy.
Suddenly it seemed as if time wasn't in any hurry to move along.