So, after holding out for as long as I can in hopes of more reviews…..(sigh) seeing as how I got only one! XO I can't wait any longer to write up my chapter.

X3 Hopefully its not as bad as I think it is ne?….no….it probably is….Ban seems to think so and Skye cries at the end….but whatever. I have a few more chapters to go before it really starts getting good unfortunately. I'm keeping Lord Sesshomaru in character as much as I can…..I happen to prefer the thought of him having a sadistic sense of humor thanks. It's better than him having none at all besides.

In case your wondering why its taken me so long to start this again, a major virus crashed my whole computer at the beginning of the summer and I had to have a techie from my mom's job come and clean it up. This is the only thing out of the next 8 chapters that I was able to recover and that's just because I sent it in an e-mail to my cousin to see what she thought of it. Even then it was only half of this chapter.(cry!)

Don't forget/-/ means a thought. (nods)

Disclaimer: Don't Own (Now, imagine that in bold letters 14 feet tall and surrounded by blinking neon lights that cause epileptic seizures to some viewers). Now, I do own Michiko, this story, and a few other OC creations, but other than that…I have a boot…..do you want a boot?

Chapter 9

The sun filtered into the room silently as Michiko slumbered, slowly but surely reaching her eyes. "Numph!" She growled, wrinkling her nose and turning over in bed. Suddenly she shot up, the covers flying off of her. "Oh My God!" she quickly looked to the door of the pavilion, a breeze playing across her face and the mid-morning sun causing her to squint. "Its morning!…..I'M LATE!" She quickly jumped up out of the bed and started throwing on her clothes.

"DAMMIT!" She cursed as she fell to the ground hard, struggling with the lower half of her outfit. In her haste she had thrown on her boots before her lower garments and in an effort to save time, was trying very hard to get them on over her shoes. Hopping around the door, she finally managed to get her left foot in and bolt out of her tent, only to hit something very hard….and short. She barely caught herself as she stumbled backward, looking for the item blocking her path…..there was nothing there.

"UMPHUHMP!"

She looked down. A very short child with fiery red hair was glaring up at her, his hand at his mouth.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't see you there!" Michiko bent down to apologize to the kid before he threw a fit. Ruffling his hair, she looked at him and smiled. "Listen kid, this is no place for children to play, so run back home, I'm sure your mothers worried about you." She smiled sunnily, only to be met with a cold glare.

"Who are you calling a child?" He cried out, his face growing red. "I'm old enough to be your grandfather's great-grandfather! I'm by no means a child and I'm insulted by the mere thought! Why I'm old enough to-"

"Old enough to know that yelling will get you no where, especially with a woman. Honestly old man, you ought to know better." Gengi said walking around the corner of the tent. There you are Michiko. We were just coming to look for you." Gengi said, smiling sunnily.

"Gengi, you idiot, how dare you talk down to a higher officer!"

"Well, everything considered, how else am I supposed to talk to you? Oh! Michiko, this is Akitoki, the weapons master."

"He….Hello." she said, bowing her head, sorry about the mix-up…." She said blushing furiously.

/….that's a weapon master….he's so….short./

"Mix up? This is an outrage! I outta-" "Oh, give her a break Aki. She didn't know."

"You know I despise that name." Akitoki grumbled. "I will be watching you Michiko and reporting back to Lord Sesshomaru every evening. Obviously I have nothing good to report as of yet. You are needed at the training fields with the new recruits, Gengi will lead you and I will be along shortly. I expect to see some semblance of order by the time I get there." He said, his nose thrust in the air before he turned sharply and began walking off in the direction of the village.

"….I don't suppose there's any way to apologize to him without insulting him is there?" Michiko asked, still blushing and turning to Gengi.

"Nope, none at all." He said smiling brightly, "now, hurry up, we're late." Gengi turned and walked around the corner of the tent, Michiko following close behind. "You know, he's not that bad all in all."

"….who?"

"Akitoki." He said laughing. "He's just….gruff in the way he shows affection."

"Then I suppose he already likes me a lot." Michiko said giggling.

They rounded another corner and stepped onto an already worn down path and began walking uphill. Michiko caught a brief glimpse of Sesshomaru out of the corner of her eye, he was walking with another well dressed demon. She watched him closely as he disappeared into a tent.

"Got your eye on Sesshomaru, do you?" Gengi asked laughingly, snapping her out of her reverie. "He's another one whose not that bad, all in all."

"How do you know him?" Michiko asked, curious.

"Well, he's my Lord and commanding officer, I serve him."

"Most people don't know their Lords well enough to know that they're "not that bad, all in all."

"Can't get anything past you, huh?" Gengi said smiling.

"Nope, now tell." Michiko said looking up at him.

"We grew up together, in the castle, I've known him since he was small. I even knew his father a bit."

"His father?"

"Yes, his father, the mighty Inu-No-Taisho, Lord of all the west and one of the greatest leaders that ever lived."

"Wait! His father was Inu-No-Taisho? The giant dog demon so large he encompassed the sky and instilled fear in the hearts of all of his enemies with just a glance, that Inu-No-Tasiho?"

"Yes, that Inu-No-Taisho….though I don't remember him being quite so large, He was more around 6 feet I suppose….my how stories get around….give it a few hundred years and everything gets blown all out of proportion." Gengi said thoughtfully, his hand on his chin.

"I thought he was a myth in all honesty." Michiko mumbled, looking back towards the tent that Lord Sesshomaru had disappeared into.

"No, he was no myth, he was quite real, albeit the intimidating part of the story has stayed in tact at least."

"So, you grew up with Sesshomaru?"

"Well….in a way, yes. My father was a minor lord who lived a little to the south of Inu-No-Taisho's territory and was a long-time friend of the great dog demon. So, when my father died, it was only natural, I suppose, to be taken in by his house. But just because I grew up with him doesn't mean in any way that we are friends. Close acquaintances perhaps, but friends, no."

"Why not?" she asked, now even more curious.

"Well, firstly, there's the age gap. I was already nearly 300 when Lord Sesshomaru was born, and besides that, he was always too quiet for me to ever really talk to or have fun with….he kept to himself mostly."

"So he is that stuck up."

"No, it wasn't pride, it's just that growing up without a mother and a busy father can have a profound effect on how you mature."

"….oh." Michiko said quietly

/Great, now I feel sorry for the bastard./

The pair crested the hill and Michiko got her first glimpse of the new soldiers. They were all either yelling, showing off, fighting, or practicing with their new weapons, some barely missing other soldiers heads or other important body parts by less than an inch. To put it simply, it was pure chaos.

"Great…." Michiko said, her voice flat, as she watched the new recruits. "Why couldn't they all be standing there in nice uniform lines quietly waiting for me to get here?"

"Well then they wouldn't be men." Gengi said giggling. "Looks like you've got your work cut out for you."

"Yeah, it looks that way." She said, sighing.

"AHEM!"

"AHH!" Michiko yelped, turning around quickly. She slowly lowered her gaze towards the ground to Akitoki.

"Well, how are the new soldiers coming?" Akitoki said with a sadistic grin before looking down at them. "Ah….not well I see. That's another point against you then."

"I….what….?"

"Get these soldiers in line!" He said loudly, stalking past her. "Quickly!"

"I….uh….how am I supposed to do that Gengi?" Michiko said turning to look at him. "Huh….Gengi?" she looked around and saw him already walking down the hill, waving to a few people in the crowd.

"….Superb. Some friend." She growled, stalking down the hill after the fox demon.

She skirted her way around the large crowd, almost having her head chopped off by a flying sword that some idiotic recruit couldn't hold on to. She finally made it to the supposed front of the crowd where Akitoki was leaning against a tree and watching gleefully.

"um…." Michiko cleared her throat. "Umm….excuse me….everbody?" Needless to say, she was completely ignored. "Hey….HEY!" She growled before inhaling deeply. "EVERYBODY!SHUT THE HELL UP BEFORE I PERSONALLY CASTRATE ALL OF YOU!" She screamed at the top of her voice. The crowd quickly simmered down, the threat of the loss of important organs was enough to get their attention apparently."

/Wow….well….that worked…..now what/

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Well, not too bad for someone whose mood about computers and writing all together has soured considerably. I'm typing up my next chapter now and should have it up soon. I can't believe that this happened! I was almost done with the story….well not done, but about three quarters of the way through.

XP

Its not fair dammit! XO

I don't know where I got the name Akitoki….Cari maybe?

Oh Cari, if your reading this, call me! I had all numbers stored on my comp., yours included, now its gone. I need to talk to you! (sniffle) Call me!

-Tani