Hurray! It's my Birthday and anybody that doesn't wish me a happy one will be sent to their own ring of HELL! wink just kidding. You know, I realized the other day that nobody has brought up any concerns with some of the stuff that happens in this fick. Am I not helping you to suspend reality enough for you to find anything unlikely to happen within the bounds of this fic?
NAh, that can't be it. Everything just makes sense to everybody without my having to explain it. I'm glad to know that everybody can follow my leaps of logic and inconsistant trains of thought, though it doesn't say much for my creativity if everybody thinks like me. Maybe this story is just concidered a carbon copy of someone else's?
Nope, not likely. Fred takes care of that. And so does Hanako. Not to mention Aki and all the little characters in the last chapter.
I'm still laughing that nobody questioned Torafu-Zuku's name. It means (literally) Long-eared Owl. Heehee, I looked it up. that's the name of the animal. And as for the other animals. I couldn't find if there really are chipmunks in Japan, but there are squirrels and the Japanese ecological system naturally supports most of the animals, plants, and climates of almost everywhere else in the world simply because the archepeligo of Japan is so wide spread across Lattitudes. But you don't care about that.
Hey look a distraction! I'm currently working on extending my lease over the Inuyasha characters with Rumiko TAkahashi. It's looking good that I may get to keep them even longer. It helps when you threaten with mild violence and extremely embarassing situations!
Burning Balls of Light
While some problems are easily resolved, others are not quite so uninvolved. Granted most are of the uninvolved type. Any problem in math, science, and house keeping are pretty much always uninvolved, they can be delegated to someone else or there is but a single solution so the path is clear. When dealing with or leading sentient beings this is never the case. There is no straightforward resolution and a multitude of possible routes to the desired goal. A wise and lucky leader will strive to take the most efficient path whilst stepping on as few toes as possible.
Most leaders are seldom ever that lucky, and not all are wise. Some are ruthless and, while they do succeed to some extent, always die young as their past slighted followers come back to bite them in the ass. Other leaders cater too much to the egos of the followers and seldom, if ever, accomplish anything worth the effort that went into it. Every leader, whether they are wise and lucky or Ruthless or ineffectual, will one day feel a somewhat desperate need to hand over the reins, if only temporarily, so that they can become involved in the problem rather than try to fix it.
Today was Torafu-zuku's day, and Aki was the poor slum that got stuck with the job.
"Now that all that is dealt with, the community must decide what to do with the Shikon no Kakera," Aki steered the discussion.
"Hey, what about Toga and the sick youngling?" the elder badger called. "You said you would address their recovery needs."
"Mom, I'm fine!" Toga growled under his breath.
"Oh I will, but I wanted the community to discuss what they wanted to do with the Shikon shards," Aki reassured the worried badger. "We can decide what to do about Toga and our sick friend now instead, if you'd prefer."
"I would!" The badger declared. "Young are more important than any pieces of glass!"
"Normally I would agree with you," the bear said gently. "But these aren't just any pieces of glass and their existence here has already threatened the well-being of two young ones."
"I must agree with Yama-sama," the buck from before spoke quietly. "Those two have always been ornery, but it wasn't until recently that they moved to pit themselves physically at another creature. We are lucky we have this chance to remove the shards now before much more damage could be wrought."
"What's so special about those stupid shards anyway?" Toga asked loudly as the side discussions began to grow in volume.
"The Shikon no Tama was said to be able to grant great power to whomever held it," Torafu-zuku informed the youth. "Many of the more greedy youkai fought to possess it and many died for it." The old owl sighed sadly. "We lost a good number to the wars that developed over that little bauble and the cruelty the possession of it engendered, let just say that the torture Yuuji and Kado meted out on that hapless fawn doesn't even compare."
"But I thought it disappeared fifty years ago," an anonymous mouse called from his camouflaged vantage point.
"It did, but a young friend of mine was born with it embedded in her side," Aki informed the crowd.
"She was born with it, did you say?" an elder rabbit youkai asked. "Did she know that?"
"No," Aki shook her head. "She, like our friend Toga, didn't even know what the Shikon no Tama was until it was ripped from her body." Aki took a drink of water from her bottle. "Then it was broken by accident in an otherwise desperate situation."
"And those are the result," Fred pointed to the innocuous looking pieces of glass. "This friend of ours'll be going around to try and collect and purify them."
"Unfortunately, she's just one inexperienced Miko-in-training and there happen to be quite a few shards. So we're trying to help." Fred continued after a pause. Aki raised a sardonic eyebrow at the 'we' bit, he wasn't capable of doing anything except nag her to turn back from this endeavor.
"Or you could just want them for yourself!" Kashi yelled over the crowd.
"I never said I was collecting them," Aki remonstrated the young youkai. "I said I would like for the shards to leave the community, but the community will decide. Whether the shards stay here or go with us, Kagome will be informed of where to look for them." She made a point of letting them all know. "It's Kagome's job to gather and protect them. It's her duty to see that the shards are purified so that they can't cause anymore harm. If you'd rather hang on to those shards in their current impure state, that's your prerogative," she shrugged diffidently.
"Oh, you won't take them huh? What're you gonna have your pet ghost take them then?" Kashi demanded still stuck on the dishonesty of strangers.
Fred gave off a deep and mangled sound of frustration and annoyance before he threw a punch at the little chipmunk. Of course his hand passed right through Kashi, absolutely terrifying both her and her grandfather. "Oh yeah! I'm a real threat! Look at me! I can't touch anything!" he yelled sulkily.
"Fred," Aki yelled sharply, "behave!"
"I thought I was!" he whined petulantly. "I mean really, how can a ghost misbehave?"
Aki coughed to hide a smile, as Torafu-zuku didn't bother. "How young was he when he died?" the old owl chuckled.
"A lot younger than he'd have you think," Aki replied evenly. "But we were discussing, or rather you were discussing the Shikon shards.'
"We did get a bit off topic didn't we," Yama-sama commented.
"Wouldn't have happened if Kashi could keep her rampant paranoia to herself!" Toga teased the chipmunk.
"I am not paranoid!" shouted Kashi defensively.
"We're getting off topic again," the elder badger grumbled in annoyance.
"Quite right, where were we?" Torafu-zuku asked slightly confused.
"We were deciding whether to start with the shards or the young ones," the buck answered gently.
"Ah yes," Torafu-zuku began.
"Take care of the shards," Toga said firmly, "me and the little bunny'll keep. I'm fine and he just needed some food. He's gotten some. Get on with it!"
"Both should be fairly quick decisions no matter which goes first," Aki pointed out.
"Why don't we just have you decide again?" Yama-sama asked.
"Because this case I'd be slightly biased about," Aki replied truthfully.
"What would you do if you could make the decision without consulting the community?" the old badger asked curiously.
"I would first decide to send Toga and the little rabbit youkai to a neighboring community or village. I just happen to have one in mind," Aki alluded to Kaede's village without giving it away. "Of course I would offer something in trade for the necessary care and greens, something like the wood of fallen trees or something that I happen to have an abundance of that would be of value to them. If all else fails, being that this is a youkai community, I would offer protection or aid, something of that nature.
"With that having been decided I would then try to get the shards into safe hands, preferably outside of the community." Aki paused and took a deep breath. "Given that a rather large problem of the community has just been dealt with by a passing stranger who's treatment of the situation seems to have received some small amount of praise for the decency and honor conveyed by it, I might be tempted to ask this stranger, who has already confessed to wanting the shards merely to return them to their rightful place, to take the shards."
Fred smirked, "Basically, just ask for outside help for the kiddies and find the most expedient, seemingly safe way to get rid of the shards."
Aki shrugged and nodded, "I told you I was biased," she said to the badger.
"And terribly long winded!" Fred teased.
"At least I have to stop to breathe," Aki retorted.
"I suggest we follow the human's advice," Yama-sama spoke over the crowd.
"Anyone against?" Torafu-zuku asked.
"I ob-" Kashi's objection was cut off by a sharp poke in the ribs from her grandfather.
"Enough! Your fears are unfounded, even I realize that and her judgment was against me," Yuuji hissed at her.
"I'll ask again, does anyone oppose this suggestion?" There wasn't even a cricket chirping this time, the silence wasn't nervous. "Alright, where's this village you had in mind?"
"Two days leisurely walk due east of here. And by leisurely I meant really slow with lots of stops for rest because air head here nagged me the whole way and I refuse to walk through him," Aki pointed east while glaring at Fred. "I'm not sure if Kagome or Inuyasha'll still be there, but Kaede, the village miko, assuredly will be. And Hanako, a hyper rabbit youkai, should be there too."
"Hanako?" the rabbit witness gasped.
"Know her?" Fred asked a bit sarcastically.
"Hanako was banished from the community as soon as she reached adulthood," the old owl informed them.
"I always thought she was hilarious, but the rabbits… well, the males most certainly couldn't wait to be rid of her and the females' enthusiasm was only slightly less," Yama-sama grinned at them.
"Sounds like her alright," Fred nodded with his own grin plastered on his face.
Aki sighed. "Just because she was banished from here does not mean you can't go there. And the females probably won't have as much to worry about anymore."
"Oh?" the rather talkative rabbit youkai spoke again.
"She's become rather fixated on Aki," Fred beamed at them.
"Oh I'm terribly sorry," the same rabbit apologized.
Aki just shrugged, "What for? She hasn't hurt anyone."
"Unless you count Inuyasha's Ego as a separate entity!" Fred laughed.
"I feel kind of responsible," the little rabbit sighed.
"Why?" The ghost asked still slightly lost in his mirth.
"Hanako-nee-san is my big sister," she replied.
"You don't say," Fred sobered a bit, a little intrigued by the utter opposite characteristics between the two. Where Hanako was brazen her younger sister was timid. Where Hanako was aggressive, this one was passive. Fred just realized he didn't know the younger sister's name. "Excuse me for not catching it sooner, what's your name?"
"Oh me," she gasped, totally startled to realize that proper introductions had never been made. "I'm Sakura."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Aki nodded. "I'll be sure to tell Hanako that we met and you appear to be doing well."
"Don't tell me you're like that too-tall rabbit abomination!" Kado yelled in disgust.
"I'll admit that Hanako's annoying, but abomination's a bit strong," Aki puzzled. "And how exactly are you comparing me to Hanako? That I'm too tall? I'll agree I am too tall to be a rabbit youkai, but I assure you I am rather short for a human."
The old squirrel sputtered in disgusted outrage. "What my demented feather duster colleague was trying to ask was if you shared the banished bunny's taste in pairings of a more adult nature," Yuuji translated with some small amusement.
"That – that thing! She's so terribly perverse to go against what nature intended! That freak of nature!" Kado managed to snarl.
Aki's eyes flashed, but she reeled in whatever emotion it was. "Nature itself goes against nature. One would think that in your long life you would've come to realize that it takes all kinds to make a world. And pardon me if I refuse to find your opinion anything but unworthy of my consideration," She barely refrained from growling the words. "As to the question you didn't exactly ask, I am not like Hanako in her choice of romantic partners. This is, of course, totally irrelevant and none of your business. Currently I refuse to form any kind of attachment, Romantic, platonic or anything else."
"Aki," Fred said softly.
"Shut up, Fred," she sighed and turned to the unoccupied forest beyond the crowd.
Sakura shot a lethal glare at the old squirrel before skipping forward to lay a gentle hand on one of Aki's shoulders in an attempt to soothe her. Instead, Aki tensed and stood up.
"If you've decided what to do about the shards, I'll be leaving," Aki spoke evenly.
"Right," Yama-sama said carefully. "The shards go with her. Collect them for her."
Aki fished out a clear empty film container and tossed it to Kashi. "Put them in that, please." The little chipmunk hurriedly packed them into the plastic cylinder and tossed it back to the human.
Aki's brow creased in slight confusion. "You missed one," she commented and carefully stepped over to the rock. Bending over as the little youkai scurried away from her, she brushed her hand through the tufts of grass around the base of the stone.
Aki's eyes widened as a sharp pain raced through her body unexpectedly. She tensed her body to keep from falling and sucked in her breath unevenly. The shard was gone and the painful tingle of its disappearance burned through her body as she stood up. "Got it," she managed to say without any hint of the agony she was feeling.
Anyone in the area that might have noticed and commented on her strange behavior was instantly distracted by the sudden approach and quick departure of a rather large ball of light. "What was that?" Fred asked the seemingly obvious question.
"Something big, bad, and bleeding," Kashi answered, every hair on her body standing on end. Every youkai in attendance was in a similar frozen, wary state, even the big bear – which was a pretty good indication that big and bad would be better said 'Monstrous and terrifying'.
Aki gazed after it in curiosity. It was going the same direction she was headed. It might be interesting to see just what that big ball of light was… "I'll take my leave of you," she said softly as she turned to go.
"Don't go!" Sakura cried, her fright still sending tremors down her body. "I'm sorry what Kado said upset you, he was wrong to say it, but you shouldn't be out there alone while that," she swallowed with difficulty. "While that runs in the forest."
"I thank you for your concern and that apology should not be coming from you, but I said I would go and I will," Aki smiled softly at the little rabbit youkai. "Nothing big, bad and ugly is going to stop me," she finished looking pointedly at Fred.
"I am not ugly!" the ghost howled in mock hurt as he followed after her departing figure.
"Have you ever seen yourself in the morning?" she played for the audience that could still hear them. Aki most certainly didn't feel playful, she was still in pain and terribly curious as to what that light was.
"Everybody looks horrible in the morning!" Fred declared, acting his heart out. He knew Aki well enough to know something was up.
"Yes, but normally after attempts at grooming they look improved, you never do!" she returned, not entirely sure if they were out of hearing range yet.
"Wait!" a screechy voice called after them.
"That last was a bit much," Fred mumbled under his breath.
"Yes, but you can't help your bad hair cut," Aki finished the argument while Fred sputtered. "What is it?" she asked the ridiculously puffed bird that perched above her breathing heavily.
"Elder," the bird gasped. "Torafu-zuku. Warn you. About to rain. Soon."
Aki blinked then smiled at the little helpful bird. She thanked him and continued on her way, her pace wholly unchanged. She was determined to put some distance between her and the forest dwelling community. She was finding that learning their names wasn't such a good thing.
"What's the matter?" Fred asked her quietly.
"I stayed too long," she answered equally as quiet, the note of subtle upset barely discernable, but he knew it was there.
"That's not a bad thing," he tried to argue.
"Yes, it is," she disagreed. "I was almost sucked into caring about what they did, what they thought. I…" her eyes narrowed, hiding the ever present sorrow. She'd gotten so good at hiding it; Fred almost couldn't see it there.
Whether his eyes could detect it or not, he knew it was there. He couldn't in all seriousness continue refuting the cause of his own death and its links to her crippling sadness. And he couldn't even pretend to when her fear of a reoccurrence of those terrible events bubbled to the surface. Fred whispered her name softly.
It was these moments of her profound pain that left him wishing he could still touch her. There was only so much comfort that could be derived from just a familiar voice.
Aki continued to move, resolutely pushing her worries to the back of her mind. She always did think too much and it often served to make her terribly morose, only now it was a great deal worse.
"What happened when you went for that last shard?" Fred asked to change the subject.
"I'm not sure," Aki answered distractedly, "I brushed against it and pain shot through me and it disappeared. I mean it's here, with me, but not," she shrugged.
"Well, that's weird," Fred commented and Aki snorted.
"What in that past week or so hasn't been weird?" she asked tempted to laugh. "Think about it: time travel through well, learn demons are real, have lesbian youkai form firm attachment to me, find out shards of glass can be the source of undefeatable evil and now they seem to really like me in a way that is most painful."
"Good point," Fred nodded. "So now all we need to do is stumble across 'big, bad, and bleeding' to round out the day."
"I love it when we're of one mind about things," Aki smiled sardonically.
"I was being sarcastic!" he whined, definitely not wanting to find the source of an entire youkai community's fear.
"Too bad," Aki teased blandly. "Because I think 'big, bad and ugly' is just up ahead. He's certainly making enough noise."
"What makes you so sure it's a he? And nobody said it was ugly," Fred bantered, no need for him to be quiet. Self-preservation flies right out the window when you're dead.
"It doesn't have to be a he, but I don't know of too many things that can pull off looking pretty while bleeding enough for the pool of blood to extend this far," she returned.
It was quite a formidable amount of blood. AS they came in sight of the wounded youkai, they both had to eat their words. It was both male and quite amazingly gorgeous looking despite being short a limb and thrashing feverishly on the ground.
"Oh my," Aki's eyes widened as she stared at the messy demon before her.
The injured youkai snarled at her and the ghost, though most of it was directed at Fred.
Of course, Aki was undeterred. She continued walking towards the male, determined to get the bleeding stopped while it would do some good.
The injured youkai kept up his vocal warning non-stop though it was still directed at Fred. In a corner of Aki's mind, she wondered at that, but it was a very dark and neglected corner. The youkai's wary glare didn't change focus until she was almost touching him.
"Back. Useless Human." The snarl had resolved itself into slightly guttural words.
"There we go again," Aki huffed as she studied the growling creature, "Generalizing based on species. I'm really getting kind of annoyed with the narrow mindedness of these people."
"I don't know how you can keep your 'I'm always lukewarm' attitude around that guy," Fred commented. "If he were in anyway female I would so be hitting on him right now."
Aki blinked, "I'll admit he's good-looking, but then so are flowers. I don't date flowers because that's all they've got going for them. Same goes for people. I won't go for someone just 'cause he's pretty."
The next thing Aki knew she was being pressed into the ground with the bleeding male above her.
"I don't think he liked you comparing him to flowers, especially not in a way that indicated you wouldn't even consider him a male fit for your attention," Fred said like he was commenting on the weather.
"Well he didn't have to bleed on me to let me know that!" Aki grumbled moodily, attempting to shove the youkai off and failing miserably.
Fred came closer to laugh in her face and the youkai growled at him ferally. "Look bud, I'm dead. You can't hurt me and I can't hurt you," he reasoned with the slightly delirious male.
"I don't think he likes you," Aki suggested from the ground as she continued trying to wriggle her way to freedom.
"You might be right," the ghost agreed.
"Perhaps you should get lost for a while," she told him.
"Right," he nodded and faded out of sight.
"Now are you going to let me up so I can help you or are you going to suffocate me for not instantly falling in love with you?" she asked rhetorically as she pushed against his shoulder.
The youkai rose up a few inches and Aki slid out from under him. "Now lets see what's happened to you," she calmly leaned to check the source of the blood. The flow didn't seem to be slowing any and the mess it caused had certainly spread. "How long will it take for you to stop it on your own? A long time? A few breaths?"
"A long time." He spoke in concise broken sentences as if the ability for more complex speech was gone, probably to the blood loss.
"Want me to try to stop it?"
"How?"
She was getting really tired of this medieval paranoia. "Well, either stitching or just bandaging," she answered. Her own sentences becoming somewhat choppy in response to his.
"No stitches."
Aki sighed. Well this was going to be interesting. She cleaned the stub and sterilized it with supplies from her miraculously unsoiled shoulder bag. Then she wrapped the wound tightly in gauze before looking the demon over once again. "Want me to clean your clothes?"
"Clean themselves."
Aki sighed before getting up and starting to walk away. "Well, my clothes don't. I'm going to get cleaned up and set up camp before it rains. I'm thinking somewhere not covered in blood," she thought out loud.
"No," the youkai latched onto her arm, digging in slightly with his claws.
"Yes," she pried his hand off her arm and started to walk away.
His eyes flashed red and she could see his muscles bunch for some quick movement. A movement that never came. Right before he would have lunged to catch her he collapsed, unconscious from the blood loss.
Aki sighed. Now she'd have to watch over him 'til he woke up. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. Still, she had to wonder just why this youkai had been more offended by her dismissing him over her approaching him. And why was he so determined for her to stay? She sighed again, the answers were probably some of those impossible to find kind.
Ah well, time to make camp and get the blood off. Oh and mustn't forget to drag the demon to the clean camp. If that wasn't going to be an impossible undertaking…
Her life just sucked; time to get on with it.