Still no reviews. Hmm, Either my writing is just so awesome nobody can think of anything to describe its magnificance, or you're all too lazy to hit the review button. I'm betting on the first because nobody's going to review to tell me any different! Nyah!
All the characters of Inuyasha are my play things until my lease runs out sometime in the next millenium. It's good to be delusional. Oh and if you spot somebody you've never seen in the anime, that's mine.
Insanity, Table for Two
Denial is a wonderful thing, too bad Mother Nature made it almost impossible to live under its influence for very long as the small group crowded into Kaede's tiny hut soon discovered. There was no getting around the sudden possessive light in the new demon's bright eyes.
Poor Inuyasha was finding there was no living with Hanako in such cramped quarters, her deranged evaluation of all things male left him totally deprived of just sitting sulkily in his own little corner. The Rabbit refused to accept him or his characteristic behavior as anything innocent or mundane. And she was annoyingly vocal about her opinion of what was the only possible reason for him to be sulking in the corner of a hut that also housed three females. The poor boy hadn't realized there were so many different stages of annoyance, anger, confusion, and chagrin. Hell, he didn't even know one could blush so many different shades of red based solely on the mixture of all the aforementioned feelings. It was enough to make a person wish he were once again pinned to a certain tree, blissfully unconscious of the world around him.
"Hanako, leave him alone will you?" Aki requested softly. Since She had finally been bandaged, stitched, examined, and re-clothed in something dry, they had discovered she was rather adept at curbing the long-eared chibi's wrath. Hanako would do just about anything for Aki. Sadly for Inuyasha, the effects were usually short-lived.
Kagome smiled widely as she quietly pretended to pay attention to the aged miko. She didn't mean to be rude, truly, but what the others were doing was just so much more interesting. After all, it wasn't everyday you saw a boy who normally gave you a hard time turn so many impossible shades of crimson. Despite the amusement she got out of watching Inuyasha squirm uncomfortably under Hanako's ridiculously unfair accusations, she had to admit it was getting old. She sighed before redirecting her attention to where it should have been to begin with, Kaede.
"I'm not sure why the well didn't send you back when Inuyasha jumped in," the old Miko was thinking out loud.
"Perhaps it was because Kagome and I were already in the bottom of it," Aki suggested during a brief respite from calming the wrath of Hanako.
"Maybe," Kaede nodded.
"Either that, or the well's just plain sealed up and won't let us go home," Kagome mumbled quietly.
"If that's true, then that's our lot," Aki turned towards Kagome and the elderly miko. "In which case, the best we can do is continue to move forward and make a place for ourselves here."
"Don't worry, lovely Aki, I will always be there to take care of you!" Hanako interjected and was ignored.
"I suppose so," Kagome nodded with determination in her eyes.
"This is all speculation, nothing's been determined as yet," Aki reminded the high school candidate. "Besides, who's to say that it won't work for you? Right now, all we know for sure is that it normally wouldn't have worked for me to come here. It's more likely the well won't send me back to our customary time without similar circumstances being used here." Aki paused and sighed, "In which case, I'd be just as happy not to be flung into the well and have Kagome land on me."
"I doubt the well requires all that for you to travel through it," Kaede reasoned.
"Well, I wouldn't mind the trip so much if that were true," Aki laughed dryly.
"I hope the well is Broken!" Inuyasha growled from his corner that was receiving more and more of Hanako's misguided attention.
Kagome's sharp "Inuyasha" was drowned out by Hanako's more volatile outburst. "I knew it. You want to keep my Aki here against her will so that you can do perverted things to her," and then the demon bunny took a deep breath to begin a tirade that had Kagome's ears burning, Inuyasha cowering in the corner, and Aki alternating between being unable to imagine the logistics of the acts that Hanako mentioned and knowing full well how they were accomplished. Fred, who'd been silently observing in the background, found the whole tirade fairly amusing and didn't bother stifling his laughter.
After Aki had decided everybody had heard quite enough, she decided to silence their new…acquaintance. "Hanako, that is quite enough! None of us really want to know what you think Inuyasha wants to do to me," Aki went on. "And who's to say I wouldn't be able to take care of myself if the problem ever arose?"
"Besides I have Inuyasha taken care of should he ever decide to get out of hand," Kagome calmly told the near hysterical youkai rabbit.
"So? I already know you're on his side! Besides you're both only human. What could you possibly do to ward off a perverted hanyou?" Hanako retorted incredulously. "Hanyou may be weaker than the weakest of youkai, but they are still stronger than any human!"
"I am not weak!" two voices cried in unison.
Aki joined Kaede in a tired sigh.
"Well you can't hope to be as powerful as I," Hanako returned smugly.
"Yeah, yeah," Inuyasha growled mockingly, "'I am the Great Hanako!' Pah!"
Aki had to hide a smile at that; it was a rather lame line, especially coming from a chibi looking demon.
"You dare insult me! After I was kind enough to spare your Life!" Hanako's eyes lit up with fury.
"You didn't spare anybody's life you mad Long-eared rat!" Inuyasha growled back, all of his prior annoyance spilling over in his rage.
"Hanako! Simmer down or get out!" Aki yelled over both as she stood on her bad ankle, planted her hands on her hips and glared at the newest addition to their strange company. "There will be no fighting in Kaede's hut! She deserves better treatment for her kindness to us!"
Hanako underwent a complete and total transformation. Where flames had been in her eyes, were now stars gleaming. Where fumes had been emanating from her ears there now hovered hearts, shining and sparkling. From the frightening darkness of an enraged Hanako came the overwhelming brightness of the demon rabbit overjoyed. "You said us," Hanako cuddled up to Aki's chest and started twirling her finger in circles on the female's stomach.
Aki made a long suffering sigh and took a step back only to find herself pursued by the amorous intentions of her new female companion.
"Um," Fred began watching his friend. "I don't think that was the reaction you were going for."
Aki would've glared at him, but was too busy evading Hanako and trying not to wind up trapped against a wall.
"Be careful," Kaede began, "you don't want to jar that ankle and make it-" here Aki tripped and fell and Hanako landed on top of her, "worse."
Hanako giggled happily sprawled on top of her chosen woman. "Really Aki," the rabbit youkai pretended to blush," I didn't think you'd want to do this in front of others, but if you do I have no objections!" Hanako reached up to plant a firm kiss on Aki's mouth only to find a firm hand shoving her away by the face.
Aki had jarred her ankle and landed hard sending sparks exploding across her vision. The only clear thought in her mind was the strong desire to curl up in a ball and not move again, ever. When she found her inability to do so was caused by something on top of her, she shoved the weight of it away blindly and turned the opposite direction.
"Oh dear," Kaede breathed as she went to check on the poor time traveler. The girl ducked her head away from the old miko's searching touch. "Shh, child," the old woman cooed softly, "shh. Let me see what you've done to yourself." Gently Kaede coaxed her in to looking up at her and sitting up. It appeared the fall had caused the female to bite her tongue rather badly and knocked her head pretty hard. "I imagine you're wishing you had stared home this morning."
Aki shook her head carefully, afraid to set the boulders in her head to rolling around in her skull. "No," she said around her slightly swelling tongue.
Kaede blinked in surprise, "but…"
"No, Kaede," Fred explained for his friend, "Aki gave up wishing to change the past years ago. Such wishing would've only driven her crazy." The ghost gave a ghostly sigh, "besides, if she'd stayed home, her landlord would've bugged her about not tutoring Kagome and that she needs to get out more and so on and so forth." Fred shrugged, "Actually, at this point, the physical pain might be more comforting than you think."
The ghost looked away from the old miko's questioning look, it wasn't his place to explain that part of Aki.
"Oi, wench, what was that for!" Inuyasha bellowed, barely recovered from his latest face plant.
"Osuwari!" Kagome glowered. "My name is Kagome! Use it!"
Aki raised an eyebrow in confusion as Hanako started ribbing the hanyou about his current pose.
"That's the handle Kagome has on the boy," Kaede explained quietly. "It's to keep her safe from him."
"She just tells him 'Osuwari'?" Aki asked carefully around her pained tongue and was shocked when Inuyasha slammed into the ground once more.
"KAGOME!" the frustrated dogboy hollered.
"I didn't say it that time!" the girl cried in confusion.
"Indeed she didn't," Kaede called to the rest. "But," she added more quietly in thought, "she is the only one it should work for."
"What's that you're mumbling, old hag?" Inuyasha demanded.
"I said Kagome didn't subdue you that time," Kaede reiterated, "Aki said it."
"What! Oh hell no!" Inuyasha roared. "I'm not going to put up with this if just anybody can do it!"
"That's just it," Kaede replied calmly. "Aki should not have been able to use the spell."
"But she did," Fred stated. "She said 'Osuwari' and Inuyasha plummeted to the ground."
Inuyasha cringed at the word, but nothing happened.
"Maybe you have to be female and alive," Hanako suggested licking her lips at the delicious possibility that she could use the spell. "Here let me try, Osuwari!"
Again, Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief when nothing happened.
"Well perhaps you have to have miko powers to do it," Fred thought out loud. "Why don't you try it Kaede?"
"That would make sense since she's the one who put the necklace on him in the first place," Kagome nodded. "And both her and Aki have miko powers. Go ahead and try it Kaede."
"Don't you even," Inuyasha began, their logic making too much sense in his mind.
"Osuwari," the old miko said without feeling and took a sip from her tea.
Again nothing happened, "Maybe it was just a fluke," Fred began and glanced at Aki, "or perhaps it only works for time travelers?"
Aki sighed and rolled her eyes. Did it really matter at this point?
Inuyasha exploded, "It had better be a fluke!" He then proceeded to crack his knuckles threateningly at Kaede.
"Osuwari," Aki mumbled in annoyance.
Hanako and Kagome scrambled to get out of the felled Inuyasha's way to the ground. "So it wasn't a fluke," Fred concluded just as calmly as if Inuyasha hadn't been plastered to the floor in front of him.
"Guess not," Kagome mumbled.
"Then I guess you really do have a handle on the pervert," Hanako smirked as she stepped on the back of Inuyasha's Head with malicious intent. "How pathetic! A hanyou bested by a single word, and from a human no less!"
Inuyasha was slowly winning back the right to move. As he patiently awaited his release from the spell, his stream of invectives increased both in number and intensity.
"It would appear that Aki has somehow subverted the spell," Kaede said.
"But how?" Kagome asked. "How could Aki do anything like that without knowing how?"
"How indeed," the old miko voiced pensively. As far as she knew there was no way to subvert the spell. The elderly woman hunkered down for some serious thought.
Meanwhile Fred managed to drag Hanako into an argument about her favorite hot topic, the debauchery of males. And Kagome just had to watch because none of Hanako's threats made Fred batt an eyelash. After all, you can't hurt the dead.
Inuyasha continued to fume in his forgotten crater on the floor until he sensed Aki quietly sit next to him. She reached over timidly and skipped the ears he'd suspected she would molest. Girls had this funny thing about his ears, but Aki didn't even pause over them. Instead she ran a hand over his silver hair.
He was about to yell at her, he wasn't a dog! Petting just didn't sit well with him, but she spoke before he could.
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha," he could hear her swallow with difficulty. "I didn't realize what would happen when I said that." He could clearly sense her pain as she spoke around the abused muscle in her mouth. Her language was drawn out and slow as she forced her mouth to form the words clearly and correctly.
If this had been Kagome, she'd have been crying. If this had been Kagome, she wouldn't have bothered and he wouldn't have expected it. But this was Aki, who was turning out to be an entirely different breed all together.
"Keh," Inuyasha said as he was finally allowed to sit up. He moved slowly, enjoying her caresses on his hair despite himself. "That was nothing compared to when Kagome says it," he offered. It was as close as he would get to saying 'apology accepted'. "Nothing worth wasting your breath over." He'd never been so close to offering unsolicited concern.
She smiled gently and withdrew her hand.
He was sorry at the loss of her touch, but refrained from following Aki's retreating hand. He was Inuyasha! He didn't like to be touched! Even less so by humans!
"Eh!" Hanako hollered. "I saw that!" the little demon declared in the aftermath of her outburst.
Fred blinked futilely in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Kagome was also confused at the abrupt change of focus Hanako had performed. At least she was until she spotted who the youkai bunny was now bellowing at. "Not again," Kagome grumbled with a sigh.
"You were looking at Aki weird again!" the diminutive female yelled at the hanyou. "Whatever perverted things you were thinking had better just stop RIGHT NOW! Aki's mine! Didn't you hear her say 'us'?" the rabbit continued rather incorrigibly. "You don't even have a chance, so you might as well forget whatever it was you were thinking!"
Inuyasha had quite truly had enough; his fuse and his patience could only last so long. The hanyou leapt to his feet with a growl. "Now listen here you, Long-eared rat!" Inuyasha began in anger. "I have not now nor ever thought perverted things about your precious Aki! Even if I had, it's none of your business as my thoughts belong to me! Aki is not yours nor has she consented to share any kind of relationship with you! Damnit! And when she said 'us' she was including Kagome and me, not just you, you stupid red eyed freak of nature!"
Hanako exploded, it seemed Inuyasha had hit a nerve. "How dare you call me a freak of nature!" Hanako's body shook in her fury. "What would you know of nature, hanyou? And how dare you even assume to know what Aki was thinking or meant? Don't even think that your pitiful male brain could possibly begin to understand Aki or myself!"
"Stop it!" Aki whispered painfully. She was tired of their fighting, frustrated with the subject of it. She was developing quite a headache and all the noise certainly wasn't helping.
"Don't talk down to me just because you have more demon blood than I do! There ain't a damn thing you can do that I can't do better," Inuyasha bellowed.
"Oh yeah? Then how come I got the drop on you back in the forest, hmm?" Hanako retorted.
Fred began to sing under his breath, "Anything you can do I can do better, I can do anything better than you…"
Aki rolled her eyes at the apparition; really his humor could get awfully tiresome.
Suddenly, blessed silence descended upon the hut. Kagome and Kaede stepped quietly out from behind the two youkai that now stood frozen mid argument.
"As pressing as I'm sure this argument is," Kaede began gruffly, "the rains have only stopped for a short respite. I feel we should use this time to gather supplies before they start up again."
"What've you done to the 'Moron Twins' over there?" Fred asked slightly curious.
"Beads of stasis," the old miko replied holding one up for the ghost to see. "They'll both be able to fume and think to their heart's content, but they will not be moving unless we move them or remove the bead from their person."
"You did all that with just one bead?" Fred asked in wonder.
"Mmm, one bead a piece," Kagome corrected.
The old miko nodded, "A full necklace would turn them in to statues permanently." The ghost stared in fascination.
"What needs doing, Kaede?" Aki asked quietly.
"You," the old woman began, "need to stay put. Your wounds need rest, not more strain." The old miko held up a hand to stave off the part-time tutor's protest. "Kagome and I can handle the tasks just fine."
"She won't just sit still you know," Fred informed the miko. "And I'm incapable of doing anything about it." The ghost apologized for being completely intangible.
"So you may as well let me help," Aki happily declared.
"May I make a suggestion," Fred offered and pointed at the frozen demons.
"We just silenced that noisy duo!" Kagome objected.
"Well, think about it seriously," Fred continued seriously. "An argument can't be won if no one's arguing back and Aki can control one or the other before they get too out of hand, but not to the point where they won't make her sit still," the ghost explained. "Just release one of them to baby-sit trouble here and we're all good."
"It does seem to be a sound plan," the miko started slowly.
"But which to set loose?" Kagome asked thoughtfully.
"Well," Fred broke in, "my vote's on Inuyasha. He has yet to cause Aki any harm, and she does have control over the rosary on his neck."
"True," Kagome nodded. "We also know him a little better," the girl looked to Kaede.
"Inuyasha it is then," Kaede nodded.
"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Aki's pained voice broke in.
"You get a say when you've gone another 24 hours without hurting yourself some more," Fred replied smugly and Aki hmphed in annoyance.
"Kagome," the miko called and motioned toward the hanyou.
The ninth grader took a deep breath and stepped behind Inuyasha. She took another steadying breath before reaching up and removing the little bead from the back of his collar.
The change was immediate. Inuyasha quickly turned to lay into the girl something fierce when the dreaded word popped out of her mouth.
"We need you to watch out for Aki while Kaede and I run some errands," Kagome informed him while he was still down. "Don't try anything funny! Aki can say 'osuwari' just as quickly as I can." Kagome turned to exit the hut, "oh and leave Hanako alone or I'll have Kaede make that necklace of stasis beads."
Kaede glanced at Kagome. The girl obviously had no idea what kind of an undertaking making such a necklace would be. The miko held her tongue; it would appear the hanyou didn't either. Kaede maneuvered the youkai rabbit against the back wall before heading out of the hut herself.
Aki kicked petulantly at the floor with her good foot. She didn't want people worrying over her, didn't want them to be nice! It was too easy to care about nice people and she didn't want to care. Caring lead to pain. It was an inevitable conclusion in her case. Fred was haunting proof of it.
He was also evilly encouraging the kindness of others. Spiteful ghost! She got up to go find the Casper wanna-be and give him a piece of her mind. A clawed hand planted itself firmly on her shoulder and pressed her back into her previously seated position.
Aki didn't bother to glance behind her, she knew who it was. Nobody else was in the hut that could move.
She futilely kicked the floor again with her frustration.
"Knock that off," the gruff voice of the hanyou spilled over her shoulder, his hand still on her shoulder.
Aki rolled her shoulder to rid herself of the unwanted restraint. Inuyasha merely growled in response. "I'm not going anywhere so let go," she demanded darkly.
The dogboy just narrowed his eyes at the back of her head and tightened his grip. This female had a penchant for getting him in trouble.
Aki really didn't like being told what to do; she hated even more being put on a leash. There was only so much a grown woman would stand for. So she did what any woman in her place would do. Aki latched onto Inuyasha's clawed pinky finger and hauled back towards his wrist. After his grip on her shoulder inevitably loosened, she turned her back away from him and glared.
"What was that for wench!" Inuyasha grumbled and cracked his fingers, much too proud to rub the offended digit. Then he blinked and realized something, this wench had managed to break his hold. How could a mere human do that? "Oi! How'd you do that?"
"Do what?" Aki asked carefully. She was hoping he wasn't asking for some drawn out conversation, her tongue kind of hurt.
"Break my grip, no human should be able to do that," Inuyasha growled, he hated explaining himself. The world should just know what he meant.
"It's a matter of leverage," Aki replied shortly. At Inuyasha's confused look she sighed and continued, "Based on the structure of the hand there are two ways to break a person's grip. One is to knock the thumb out of the way, fairly difficult to achieve with the way your grip was situated on my shoulder. This leaves the pinky finger, the most vulnerable and weak of the fingers. Yank the pinky towards the wrist and the rest of the fingers will follow. On a human you can easily break the finger, the pain of which will blind the would-be captor giving the victim time to flee."
Inuyasha's mouth hung open. "Does everybody know that in your home?"
Damn, he was asking for a conversation. Aki looked away and swallowed carefully, "No, everybody doesn't know, but every girl that lives in a big city should."
"Does Kagome know?" the hanyou had to know. It would be bad if he went to steal the Shikon no tama when it was put back together only to find out that Kagome knew human ways to circumvent his efforts effectively.
"I hope so," Aki answered mildly, "there is no truly safe place in the world, no matter which one it is. Monsters will always lie in wait, hiding in the most innocuous of places."
Inuyasha really didn't understand what she was talking about so he didn't say anything. The hanyou's eyes chanced to wander upon the frozen rabbit youkai. He just couldn't resist the smirk that parked on his face. The miniscule movement from Aki's direction drew his wandering attention back to the face of the woman he was supposed to be watching. A heated glare emanated from the wench in his direction and the hanyou shifted uncomfortably under it.
If you were to ask him, this movement was aggressive in nature, not defensive. He had not just remembered that Aki could bloody well slam him through the center of the earth. Inuyasha had not just remembered Kagome's threat of turning him into a dogboy statue. Nope, the threats had no affect on him what so ever. Keep telling yourself that Inu…
Aki's glare lost some of its heat as she watched the boy squirm. She didn't like for people to feel threatened by her ability to speak. She could understand his anger and fear of someone else being able to use the spelled beads at his throat. "Sorry," she said softly.
"Eh? What are you going on about now?" Inuyasha asked in confusion.
"I apologize for being able to use the spell," Aki clarified gently.
"Keh! Are you still stuck on that?" secretly the hanyou was surprised. It wasn't that often Inuyasha met someone willing to help others without gaining anything for it. Especially when it came to youkai and partial youkai. What's more, she apologized to him for something she had no prior knowledge of and no control over. "I'm not some weak human, so don't worry about it!"
Aki raised an eyebrow; pain was pain no matter how much. "Still, it must bother you some," she didn't mind talking so much now that she'd decided to ignore the pain. Pain? What pain? She didn't feel no stinkin'-ow! Better not over do it.
"Keh," was all the hanyou would say.
"Tell you what, I'll promise not to say the 'word' unless it is to save your life and all other options have been eliminated," Aki suggested earnestly, "and you won't have to worry about it."
Inuyasha almost said 'keh' again but stopped himself. Aki could invoke the spell, did that mean she could remove it? Hot Damn! This just might be the best piece of luck to ever fall into his lap! "Like I would actually trust the promise of some human! Hah! Do I look stupid to you?" the hanyou was too focused on implementing his plan to notice the flash in the woman's eyes. "I'll tell you what, if you feel that badly about it, why don't you just take this damn necklace off, then we both won't have anything to worry about."
Aki's mouth tugged up on one side. This guy wasn't too bright if he actually thought she would help him after he insulted her word and species. And since he hadn't accepted her promise, she wasn't bound by it. "Osuwari," she said calmly. "I really think you should talk to Kagome about that as it is her spell and I'm not necessarily sure I could remove it. Osuwari. Even if I could, I don't want to even try after you managed to insult me twice in one breath. For your information, I'm living proof that I keep my promises," she said cryptically, "and generalizing my trustworthiness based solely on my species is very narrow-minded and stupid of you as now – osuwari- I will not be nice about my treatment of you in the future." Aki paused for breath, really enjoying the effect of the spell on the hanyou. "And if you are wondering why I am saying 'osuwari' without restraint, the opposite of what I said I would do a moment ago, it is because you did not deign to accept the offered promise thereby leaving me perfectly free to withdraw the offer and say 'osuwari' as much as I like." She finished rather smugly, "Now don't you feel dumb."
Inuyasha really did feel rather stupid. Not only had his attempt at freedom failed; it backfired rather painfully. But he couldn't feel angry about it. He could perfectly understand her reasoning as he had heard her full explanation. By the time she was done his ears were flattened to his head and his body ached.
On the plus side, he was in nowhere near as much pain as he would be if Kagome had delivered the same speech. Aki hadn't been truly angry with him. Insulted, yes. Annoyed, yes. But there was no anger, no hate. Inuyasha realized that if he'd said something similar to just about anyone else, he would now be faced with a new enemy.
Inuyasha heaved a dejected sigh when he was allowed to sit up. Man he hated thinking he was in the wrong!
"You know, you really should apologize," Aki's voice broke the silence.
"Like I would ever apologize to a mere human that sat me!" he would've gone on at length but she cut him off.
"Not to me stupid! To Hanako," she said evenly.
"What? To that crazy rabbit? Are you out of your mind!" Inuyasha all but exploded.
"Everybody has buttons to push and lines you don't cross," Aki continued ignoring his outburst coolly. "You said something that greatly upset her."
"She had it coming!"
"Just like you deserved to be called hanyou and weak?" Aki asked. Dogboy snapped his mouth shut on what he was going to say, both in anger and frustration. "Some levels of teasing are fine, but don't get carried away. You shouldn't have called her a freak of nature."
"But she is a freak of nature!" the male defended.
"How so?"
He sputtered and realized that 'freak of nature' may have been a bit strong. "Well you've got to admit she's not normal."
"What is normal?" Aki sighed tiredly. "Up until yesterday I would've said time travel by well wasn't possible, and yet Kagome does it often, it's normal for her. Up until today Kagome would've said ghosts and curses weren't real, yet for you they are a normal occurrence. I ask you again, what is normal?"
Inuyasha paused and thought about what she just said. She did have a point. Then he thought about how he felt when someone called him hanyou like that and grit his teeth. "Alright, so she's not a freak of nature, and I won't call her one again, but if she starts calling me hanyou again all bets are off! You hear that you long-eared pain-in-the-ass!" he yelled at the stationary Hanako. "Happy now?" he sulkily grumbled at Aki.
Aki simply nodded and leaned her head against the wall beside her. It had been a strange and hectic day and she was exhausted. She shifted her tightly bound ankle to a more comfortable position and closed her tired eyes. Shutting down all connections to the rest of her body so it could rest, she began to analyze her day behind her closed eyelids.
When Kagome and Kaede made it back into the hut just as the rain began they found quiet. Aki was leaning against a wall in silent cogitation, Inuyasha was fuming quietly in a corner and Hanako was just as they left her. The quiet was a wonderful thing.
"Do we have to release, Hanako?" Kagome asked half-heartedly. The old miko merely chuckled as she lay her burdens down.
"Go ahead, let the fuzz bunny free," Inuyasha gruffly called from across the hut. He had spent his quiet angry time thinking up new insults for Hanako. His remedy for not being allowed to call the insane bunny a freak of nature was to have more insulting ammunition handy.
The old miko removed the bead and went on with her chores.
Hanako glowered at the occupants of the hut before turning to face the corner not occupied by a certain hanyou. She was overly fatigued, the left over strain from attempting to break free of the spell for hours on end. She was just too tired for an angry outburst worthy of her so she simply wouldn't waste the effort.
Aki had roused enough to notice both Inuyasha's and Hanako's behavior. With a smug half smile she sank back into her thoughts. Blessed quiet…