Again with the no reviews. And here I thought I might get somebody to at least respond to the question... But that's OK! You probably forgot about it after you read the chapter. I know, I know. My chapters are just too awesome to allow you any memory of the silly things you read just previous to it.

Seriously though, I can't believe my grammar and spelling haven't received some comment. No matter what I say, I'm pretty sure I'm not perfect. Then Again... It's nice of you all to think so.

The Inuyasha Cast are all so very despondent. They're stuck working with me for another 990 years or so. Don't you feel sorry for them?

Soggy Blue Jeans

Some days never seem to end. They last longer than the time normally allotted to a single day, and it never happens when you want it to. And unfortunately, this was one of those phenomally extended days.

The light misting rain that had heralded Aki's and Inuyasha's return to Kaede's hut had quickly evolved into a pounding deluge that made any necessary journeys from the shelter of the wooden enclosure thoroughly unpleasant. An unpleasantness Aki had deemed inconsequential after the first eight hours of Inuyasha's determined attempts to have her call him "Inu-nii-sama" or older brother as it were.

At first everyone had thought the hanyou was merely trying to be funny, his persistence was ridiculous and the sudden request laughable and out of character. That was yesterday, and now, even Fred agreed it wasn't funny anymore.

Of course Aki's teeth were on edge from the start. The hanyou knew she wouldn't appreciate the reminder of once having brothers or his request to become one. Inuyasha knew better and the whole situation would've been extremely painful, but what was one more small pain compared to the flood that had left her too numb to feel anything else. Nothing anyone said seemed to discourage or dissuade the dogboy from continuing to torture everyone within earshot.

And they'd thought Hanako was bad.

Aki wasn't the only one to seek refuge in the rain. After firmly planting Inuyasha in the floor, Kagome likewise fled into the elements claiming a desperate need for a bath, disregarding the fact she would be soaked to the skin long before she reached the river. The little miko in training tromped through the woods, her mood volatile and dark. "Stupid weed!" she snarled at the hapless plant that happened to get in her way.

The poor defenseless plant very nearly found itself violently uprooted but for a staying hand that came to its rescue. "As annoying as Inuyasha is to you," a tiredly calm voice poured into her ear, "I highly doubt that the local flora deserve such punishment." And all the shrubs and tress and weeds sent up a song of praise and relief that someone finally, finally saw them as more than inexpensive background materials. "I mean really," Aki continued, "if you must tear up something why don't you store your anger until you can do something really impressive like level the place." The song of praise instantly stopped. "Think about it Kagome, what's a Weed or bush here and there in the context of a forest?"

Kagome blinked with surprise and dawning horror, "I could never do something like that! To destroy a forest- that's just…just," tantamount to anathema. Kagome instantly reverted to environmentalist mode. "A forest is a living organism required for the continued life on this planet."

"Ah, but so is that plant you almost uprooted as it is an integral part of the forest required for continued life on this planet," Aki returned gently. The song of praise and relief timidly started up again.

Kagome blinked and color began to flood into her rain-spattered face. "I get your point," the ninth grader sighed.

"What point?" Aki asked almost flippantly.

Kagome grappled with her confusion, "Wasn't there a point?"

"There is if you find one," the other replied evenly as she retreated to the debatable shelter of a nearby tree. "Tell me what point did you find with what I said."

"Well, the most obvious one would be to think before you act," Kagome began as she followed the older woman that doubled as her English tutor.

"Always a good thing to do," Aki encouraged.

"Then there's the slightly less obvious suggestion of conserving your energy for more productive endeavors paired with the even less obvious advice to choose your battles rather than fighting over every little thing," Kagome continued.

"Generally pretty sound advice," the other nodded, pushing her long wet hair behind her ear.

"And the most important of all: That all life is precious regardless of how small or insignificant it seems," Kagome finished.

"I said all that?" Aki asked quietly.

"Well that's what I got from it," the teenager returned.

"Why can't you learn so much from our tutoring sessions?" Aki inquired tiredly.

Kagome flushed scarlet before turning to leave.

"Where're you going now?" Aki asked, voice devoid of even the slightest hint of curiosity.

"To find a rock to beat up on," the little miko-in-training answered distractedly.

"Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I always thought it best to take my anger out on the object that caused it first," Aki stopped her. "Come now, don't make me feel sorry for some poor defenseless piece of dirt."

"Well you just told me that all life is precious and no matter what I would like to say about Inuyasha, he is alive, so what else am I supposed to do?" Kagome huffed in her frustration. "I can't just take a bunch of arrows to practice my archery every time I get angry because it takes so much to make them here. And if I sat Inuyasha as many times as I felt the need, he wouldn't survive a week! So I ask you, what else am I supposed to do?"

"You could always try talking about it with someone," Aki suggested gently.

"I…It…He…" Kagome stuttered, starting and changing her mind repeatedly.

"Okay," Aki intoned carefully, "obviously there's an awful lot that's bothering you. Why don't you prioritize them? Start with the most recent or whatever's the easiest to talk about." Again Kagome's frustrations failed to organize themselves into words until the girl was forced to resort to inarticulate growls. "So that didn't work. Let's see," Aki thought for a moment. "Did I ever tell you about what Fred was like when he was alive?"

Kagome huffed as her companion seemingly changed the subject. "No," she answered sullenly. How was knowing about Fred supposed to help anyone right now?

"When Fred was alive, we were fairly good friends," Aki began, "him and I and some other people we used to hang out with would go out to dinner about once a month. It didn't matter where we went, Fred would always order the same thing. It was something of a running joke with us. Anyways, when he would finish with his meal, he would always, always lick his fingers very noisily."

"Ew!" Kagome squealed.

"Absolutely disgusting. There's no telling how often or not he washed his hands and even if he was as clean as sterilized plastic, it was damned annoying," Aki continued. "Once I made the mistake of telling him how much it bothered me."

"What'd he do?" Kagome asked, absolutely certain he didn't just refrain from licking his fingers.

"He said 'oh!' then did it again with deliberately exaggerated gestures and louder noises all the while making everybody else laugh," Aki related.

"That Jerk!" Kagome pronounced him. "What did you do?"

"I tipped him out of his chair in the restaurant while he was checking out the waitress at the next table," Aki informed the younger girl. "He knocked his head, bruised his ego, and a good number of other tables had a good laugh at his expense."

"And he let you get away with that?" Kagome asked incredulously.

"Of course not," Aki smiled, "but that wasn't the point. The point was that even the people that mean a lot to us can be terribly irksome."

"Don't I know it!" Kagome began, easily slipping into rant mode. "Have you seen Inuyasha eat! Ugh, it just turns my stomach! And he smells! Does he not know what soap and water are? Just water would make a huge improvement! And he complains about how I smell! And that attitude of his! Does he really think I need to be reminded of my species and gender every fifteen minutes?" Kagome rolled her eyes at the thought, her wildly gesturing arms flinging water in all directions. "And what's with him suddenly deciding to bother you with calling him 'Inu-nii-sama'? Is he that desperate for family? But then why ask you? I've known him longer! And what kind of jerk makes such a request by demanding the formalness of –sama? He's no better than any of the rest of us! And what makes him think he should be the elder? He should be calling you 'Aki-nee-san' at the very least! The nerve of that guy trying to make you call him 'Inu-nii-sama'!"

Aki chuckled, " And what would I call him, then? 'Inuki-chan'?" she asked gently.

"No! You should call him 'koinu' because that's how he acts!" Kagome gleefully declared.

"Oh is that so!" a gruff voice demanded from above them.

"Osuwari!" Kagome hollered. Inuyasha's red and silver figured planted itself in the knarred roots at their feet. "You shouldn't eavesdrop!"

Aki snorted, "Well, he certainly dropped something, Kagome."

The ninth grader blinked at the older woman as understanding seeped into her brain and she began to crack up.

Inuyasha sat up slightly confused. He'd been sat which meant Kagome was angry…and yet, she was laughing. The hanyou turned to the quiet woman next to him. "What's so funny, Aki-nee-sama?" Inuyasha slyly slipped the familial reference in.

"Just a rather poor play on words, and it wasn't that funny. No, I will not call you 'Inuki-chan' and I would ask you to stop calling me that if I thought you'd listen," Aki answered slightly annoyed with the hanyou.

"So what's wrong with her then? And you said you'd call me that if I called you 'Aki-nee-sama'," Inuyasha pressed determinedly forward.

"I think she's just releasing tension and I never said I would call you anything," Aki argued back and rubbed her temple.

"Yes you did," he disagreed.

"Leave Aki alone, Inuyasha," Kagome ordered firmly.

"You stay out of this," Inuyasha growled. "Don't forget whose stupidity it was broke the Shikon."

"What's that got to do with this!" Kagome asked in exasperation.

"You don't get a say until you've gotten smarter and put the damn thing back together," the hanyou hollered back. "So shut up and stay out of this!"

"I will not so quit harassing Aki!"

"Why don't you try and make me, stupid wench!"

"Don't tempt me, Inuyasha, you won't like what I'll do," Kagome threatened darkly standing toe-to-toe with the brash male.

"Keh! What can you do? You're just a puny human!"

"Puny human! I'll give you puny human!" Kagome fairly growled herself.

"Would you two knock it off?" Aki grumbled loudly over the two.

"I will when he does," Kagome announced.

"Keh! I will if you call me 'Inuki-chan' like you said you would!" Inuyasha declared smugly. Granted, it wasn't exactly what he'd like to be called, but a pet name was something, right? Right.

Aki knocked her head back against the trunk of the tree. "Oh fine! Inuki-chan. Are you happy now, fuzz head!" Aki growled pretty convincingly. "Fate save me from the cruelties of the immature and stupid!" She glared back at the two as she strove to distance herself from them.

"Are you happy now?" Kagome asked angrily and smacked Inuyasha on the back of the head before following after Aki and yelling 'osuwari' for good measure. "Stupid, Inuyasha!" she grumbled under her breathe as she trudged after her English tutor.

"I can't believe you gave in to that!" Fred's voice broke through Kagome's continued grumbling as he teased his friend.

"Shut up," Aki ordered evenly. "I have a headache, Fred. Either keep quiet or go away unless you have something of importance to impart. Can you handle that?" She asked with a sigh as Kagome came into view.

Kagome thought it was strange that Aki looked so normal, so…unlike how she had looked when Inuyasha had forced her to concede to his demand. Aki had looked ready to do something drastic. Now, now she looked as if nothing had happened at all. "Aki," Kagome called cautiously, it never hurt to be careful.

"Yes Kagome," Aki answered tiredly.

"Are you alright?" Kagome asked with leftover concern.

"I'm fine," Aki answered absently.

The ghost looked ready to explode at that statement. "You most certainly-"

"Fred," Aki cut him off with a warning tone. The apparition glowered at her but did not make any further noise. Aki shifted against the new tree she leaned on. "Would you care to inform me of what that was about back there, Kagome?"

The girl thought hard for a moment, "Which part?"

"The part that had Inuyasha so mad," Aki clarified mildly.

And so Kagome began the sordid tale of overgrown insects, half demon tree ornaments, crow infested cadavers, and demented hair care equipment. The tale made Kagome's time traveling ability seem like more of a footnote than a momentous discovery and Aki was sure she would never look at pieces of glass the same way again. Thankfully, the tale was short but no less eventful for its brevity.

"So let me get this straight," Aki began, "the Shikon no tama is a little glass ball that grants untold powers to the holder. You broke it and the pieces scattered far and wide. Each tiny sliver in the wrong hands is just as bad as the whole thing would be so you and Inuyasha are going to hunt up all the pieces. Just the two of you against the unknown with the added trouble of our dog-eared friend trying to steal it all from you at every turn."

Kagome nodded, "That's about the sum of it."

Aki passed a speaking glance at her hovering companion who looked just as incredulous as she felt. "How do you plan to go about searching for these shards of glass again?"

"Well, I can kind of sense them and Inuyasha can fight demons, so that's basically how we intend to get started," the girl beamed.

"Do you have any idea just what your 'sensing' range is?" Fred asked clearly stunned at their half-baked plan.

"No," Kagome frowned.

"How 'bout a direction to start in?" Fred asked again.

"No."

"Any idea how long this endeavor will take?"

"No."

"Supplies?"

"Nope."

"No?"

"No."

"What about-"

"Enough Fred," Aki interrupted their confrontation with a sigh. "Kagome would you like some advice?"

"No-I mean, sure Aki-chan, seeing as it's coming from you," Kagome answered. "Just keep in mind that I have to fix this, it's my fault."

"I wasn't going to tell you not to," Aki returned evenly. "I was only going to suggest you go home to get some decent supplies. Things like a first aid kit, portable nonperishable foods, spare clothing, and soap, that is, if you can go home," the older female advised calmly.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Kagome nodded thoughtfully.

"Don't forget a water bottle and flashlight," Fred suggested in a brief moment of helpfulness.

"And I could bring my books to help me keep up with school!" Kagome gasped with inspiration.

"Er, I wouldn't-"

"Fred," Aki cut him off.

"You're probably right," he murmured back.

"I should probably go try it now since we're not really doing anything else at the moment," Kagome suggested.

"True that," Aki agreed, "And if you did manage to get through, you could get yourself some dry clothes and a hot bath, right?"

"Right!" Kagome gushed. The thought of hot running water, dry clothes and her mother's cooking usurping any other thought.

"I'll walk you," Aki offered.

"You're not going to try?" Kagome blinked out of her euphoria.

"I'd rather wait to jump into wells until after I'll have an easier time of climbing out on my own," Aki indicated her still healing hands and arm.

"I guess that makes sense," Kagome thought out loud. "After all, you still have to climb back out again whether or not it works."

"Exactly," Aki nodded gently, barely shifting her sopping wet hair with the move. "Besides, somebody has to tell the others where you went."

Kagome laughed, "True, though I would ask that you hold off on that a while, otherwise Inuyasha'll come storming after me again!"

"I don't know," Fred cut in, "he might hold off awhile this time. There's not somebody out to steal your shards now, is there?"

"I suppose you're right," Kagome agreed. "What do you think Aki?"

"I think we should worry about what's going to happen when it happens," Aki stated quietly, her voice barely discernable over the sound of the rain.

"Don't go borrowing trouble, huh?" Kagome intoned, missing Fred's stricken look in her response. "Good Advice."

"Hmm," Aki hummed briefly in response.

"So what are you going to do about Hanako?" Kagome asked out of twisted curiosity.

"What do you mean?" Aki asked absently.

"I mean, do you intend to hook up with her?" Kagome asked nosily.

"I don't see how there's any reason to ask about that," Aki said baldly in response. "Hanako has made no offers or advances on my person. Even if she had, I absolutely refuse to form a relationship with a person that is wholly incapable of understanding the word no. What's more important than all that and even my predisposition towards male partners is that I do not want or need an attachment to anyone at this time. Period."

"Why? Do you have designs on our long-eared friend?" Fred asked firmly steering the conversation back on Kagome with a little wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Wh-wh-what are you talking about?" the girl stuttered as her face sizzled with heat.

"Well, now that you know Aki's not interested, perhaps you thought you'd save Hanako from her eventual heartbreak by filling the roll of her lover your self," the ghost continued, thoroughly enjoying the escalating color in Kagome's face.

"I thought no such thing!" The ninth grader denied with all the insulted dignity of a crimson queen.

"Stop Fred," Aki cut off her friend's continued teasing. "Hanako's just not Kagome's type." Kagome nodded her agreement. "Inuyasha's more her cup of tea." Kagome very nearly condemned herself by nodding again in reflex.

"Is this true, Kagome?" Fred teased.

"I…" Kagome began flustered and flushed before the well came into view. "Oh! Look! There's the well, see you guys later!" and she immediately sprinted for the well and bounded down the throat of it.

"Saved by the well?" Fred asked the empty air.

Aki groaned, "You just had to say it."

"I'm sorry! It was just too obvious!"

"You never were one for controlling yourself," Aki grumbled.

"So what are you thinking?" the ghost demanded.

"I'm thinking a lot of things, you'll have to be more specific."

Fred grumbled under his breath, she was being difficult. "Something about what Kagome was talking about set your devious brain to working. What new nightmare for the living world have you concocted now?"

"Fred, I don't create nightmare's. They just happen, and I've never truly been all that devious even before I was cursed, why would I start now?" Aki scoffed.

"Just answer the question."

Aki shook her head and turned from the well. "This problem they've got, it's going to take forever to fix with just them working on it."

"I agree and those two saps haven't got a clue as to just how-" Fred was struck by a thought. It was one of those run away stick-wielding thoughts that leave you bashing your head against a wall for your own stupidity in not seeing it coming. "Now wait just a minute, you can't mean to join in on this insanity!"

"But you know it'll take them forever on their own and I don't mean to exactly join them."

"Oh that's just worse," Fred groaned. "So instead of joining Dogboy and Miss priss, you're going to form your own search party?"

Aki nodded, "We'd cover more ground more quickly."

"You cannot be serious!" Fred exclaimed.

"Why not, Fred?" Aki rebuffed him, determined to get her way. "What else have I got to do?"

Fred couldn't believe she was really thinking about doing this. "I don't know," he began reluctantly.

"C'mon Fred, you and I both know there's nothing in particular I need to do," she wheedled gently, "Think of all the people out there being hurt because there are jewel shards being used for evil, right now. Can't we help to hasten their relief from the suffering? You wouldn't want to be the one that decided to prolong their torment, would you?"

Fred had always been terribly susceptible to Aki's well laid guilt traps, being dead hadn't changed that. "I hate you," he reluctantly relented. "Alright, we'll play the hero, but don't expect me to be happy about it."

"Of course not," Aki agreed. "I'll go get my stuff, tell Inuyasha where Kagome went and we'll be on our way."

"What now?"

"Yes now." Aki returned. "I'm already soaking wet and rubbed raw in these wet jeans. Sitting still won't make it feel any better, so lets get a move on while there's still daylight."

"You're terrible," Fred grumbled.

"I really don't understand why you're so worried about this, It's not like you're going to be in mortal peril," Aki thought out loud. "If it really bothers you that much though, I could always just leave you behind."

"You will not!" Fred yelled. "But don't you think you should go get some supplies like you advised Kagome?"

Aki gave Fred a look that had him feeling sheepish. "I packed all that stuff up before I left my apartment."

"Yeah but you don't have all of it with you!" Fred protested.

"I have enough with me to last a little while," Aki informed him.

"You wouldn't if you ate like a normal person," the ghost whined.

"Perhaps not, but that isn't the case now," Aki returned calmly, "is it?"

"Is what?" Inuyasha greeted them at the entrance to Kaede's hut. "Where's Kagome?"

"Kagome went home," Aki informed him.

"What!" the hanyou bellowed before bolting for the well in hot pursuit.

"Guess Kagome was tight," Fred mumbled after him.

"Guess so," Aki agreed as she hauled her bag off the ground.

"Could you not get through?" the old miko asked.

"Didn't try," Aki answered. "Whether I can get through or not, I'd still have a hard time climbing back out."

"Then why do you collect your things?" Kaede inquired.

"She thinks she's going shard hunting," Fred informed the miko.

"You can sense them?"

Aki nodded, "I wasn't sure what it was until Kagome filled me in and I think Kagome and Inuyasha could use some help." The miko nodded with understanding.

"But she's not going to join them," Fred continued, "She's going off on her own."

"We'll cover more ground this way," Aki explained.

Again the old miko nodded, "Would you like a bow for you travels?" Offering her the same as she had offered Kagome previously.

Aki shook her head, "I think I'm better off sticking to things I'm already familiar with."

"If you feel that is wise," Kaede left off. Aki was not as young as Kagome; she wasn't as desperate for advice.

"Of course it's fine!" Hanako energetically jumped in. "I'm going to be with her!"

Aki quietly got up and left, pointedly ignoring the demon's excited gesturing. "Luck be with you, young one," Kaede whispered after the woman as she disappeared into the rain.

"Ah! Aki left without me!" The overly expressive rabbit youkai wailed.

"Aki!" Hanako whined at the back of her beloved. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

Aki paused and glanced back at the rabbit youkai with a sigh. "Hanako, could I ask something of you?"

"Anything," the eager rabbit all but jumped up and down.

Aki gave Fred a silencing look before she turned to Hanako, "I have something most important to ask you-but no, perhaps you wouldn't be able to do it…"

"I can do it!" The little youkai quickly declared.

"But you don't even know what-"

"I can do it, whatever it is!" Hanako continued.

"How can you know that if you don't know what it is? Perhaps you don't even want to do it? It's such an important thing that must be done, not just anyone can do it," Aki mock protested in an overly serious voice.

"I'll know what it is when you tell me and I definitely want to do it, no matter what!" The rabbit youkai stated firmly.

"Are you absolutely sure? I have to be able to trust you to do this no matter what. Even if the sky is no longer blue or all my hair falls out or Kaede creates a love nest for herself. You absolutely have to do this once you say you will," Aki continued gravely.

"You can count on me!" Hanako exclaimed with confidence. "Just tell me what it is!"

"I need you," Aki began and Hanako leaned in closer, "to," and Hanako's little heart began to pound "go back and protect the village."

Hanako blinked. Then blinked again. That was not what she was expecting. The youkai's eyes widened as she realized just what she agreed to. And she couldn't talk her way out of it, she's already agreed to it despite Aki's warnings. And she couldn't complain about it, she'd already declared she wanted to do it. But she could scowl about it, and she did.

"Thanks, Hanako," Aki smiled. "That's a big load off my mind." Aki waved gently as she began to walk away. "Bye Hanako, and remember, no matter what!"

Hanako stared after Aki dumbfounded and kicking herself. With a great, dejected sigh she turned and rejoined Kaede in her hut.

Kaede shook her head after huddling down next to her fire. Perhaps Aki really was fully capable of pulling this off and taking care of herself. After all, She's managed to lose Hanako's company faster than she expected. Kaede lifted her neglected tea to her lips. Only time would tell.