Ah Wednesday, sweet Wednesday. Guess what! I'm not working today! Such joy, now I get to really enjoy the fact my whole family is either associated with the school or sleeps during the day so the house is mine! ah, quiet and peace. Let's just say after working this weekend, I deserve some downtime. Too bad I won't really get it.
I love how I can work 6 days in a row and still not get two days off together. But that is exactly what I did last week. I worked Tuesday through Sunday. I'm just happy one of the department managers fixed the bosses wagon and made my shift on Saturday longer than four hours. Four hour shifts have got to be the bane of all rational thinking people. They interrupt your whole day for chump change just because the manager in charge of the schedule doesn't want to take the time to look over the schedule and be smart about it. Even when you ask them about it, twice. Anyways, the department manager is my hero because she went directly over the head of our boss to fix this little problem so when the boss tried to yell at me about it, I could say it wasn't really my idea. I was planning to call in. With gas prices being what they've been, a four hour shift doesn't pay for the gas to get there.
But you don't care about that. You want to know what the hell is wrong with Aki and when is Sesshoumaru going to REALLY catch up with her and start in on ... well unreasonable behavior comes to mind.
Well guess what! You won't find out in this chapter! I am so evil. Though Sesshoumaru does finally get a moment alone with Aki, in her apartment, she's asleep! But you do find out where the crazy blood smell came from and why Aki is soo annoyed by Kaoru's matchmaking designs.
And if you think Sesshoumaru acts out of character in any of this, I defend myself by saying Rumiko Takahashi never foresaw Sesshoumaru in the kind of situations he's going to be getting into because I'm demented and she isn't!
Enjoy!
Silent Night, Yeah Right!
The ride to Aki's apartment was filled with the first uncomfortable silence ever experienced between Tuck and Aki. The reason being, on Aki's side, her growing frustration at everyone's deranged need to look after her. She was a grown woman, Damnit! She could walk to the store by herself just like everyone else did. She was no more special or important than anybody else. Genetics meant squat in the real world of today.
Normally, Aki could just push it aside and ignore all the coddling. But tonight, tonight she was tired of it. So, if only for the rest of the night, she was going to see to it that no one was around to baby her.
Tuck moved to turn the engine off out front of Aki's apartment. He seemed nervously certain of an outbreak of World War VI inside his car.
"Don't bother turning the car off," Aki stalled his hand. "You're not getting out, you're not coming up, and you're not staying."
"Now, Aki," he began quietly.
She sighed, "Don't 'now Aki' me, Tuck. I'm a big girl and I'm not leaving my apartment for the rest of the night. I think I can take care of myself." She undid her seat belt to vacate the car.
"But those two said they smelled your blood," he argued. Aki paused, needing to think about what he said.
There was no need to ask who 'those two' were. 'Those two' were obviously Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, as Tuck would not have referred to anyone else as such. No, the part she needed to think over was how to explain her blood without causing any alarm to Tuck thereby immediately losing the argument. She rolled her eyes, "It's just a scratch Tuck, I think I can handle one little cut. Or are you convinced that after spending so much time in the warring states period of this country I need you to patch up every bruise and scrape I manage to pick up?" and with that she closed the car door firmly and went inside without looking back. If she looked back Tuck would use it as a veiled invitation to come inside…He'd done it before.
She resisted the urge to look out the window in the stairwell too. She knew he was still there, sill watching. Mentally Aki shook her head, she should be glad of their worry. She should be happy that somebody still cared for her. Unfortunately caring and feeling was never a one-way street with her. If somebody cared for you, it was only fair that you should care for them back. And caring was something Aki couldn't afford to focus on any specific individual.
She shook her head and let herself into her apartment. Her coat and bag were thrown over the arm of a chair as she locked the door behind her. Aki quickly crossed the living room, headed straight for the bathroom through her bedroom. She quietly switched on the unforgiving lights all bathrooms seemed to have and stared at herself in the mirror.
Aki gave a dry laugh; she looked like hell. She turned on the faucet and proceeded to wash off the faded make up that had been her token disguise. She straightened back up and gazed into the mirror at her freshly scrubbed face. She didn't think she looked any better.
She sighed and rolled her shoulders. The immediate ripple of pain caused her brow to crease in confusion as she turned in the mirror. The so-called 'scratch' had bled through the entire back of her shirt. "Great!" Aki grumbled to the image opposite her, "Just great!" The near youkai pulled out the first aid kit in the drawer next to the sink and a pair of metal shears.
Quickly realizing the impossibility of saving the shirt, she set to work cutting it to pieces slowly exposing the bloody cause of her current woes. The wound itself wasn't much to look at; in fact it had seemed to heal just fine when she came out of the well just a few hours ago. She studied it in the mirror trying to detect if perhaps it had become infected or something equally distressing. Nothing, the wound seemed healthy enough. Aki sighed again. "Well whatever the problem is, it probably needs to be cleaned out," she again addressed the reflection and nodded. Right, a shower would do her good.
She pushed away from the sink to remove the rest of her clothing when her knees threatened to give out. "Okay, I'll take a bath then," she said pointlessly.
The hot water felt so good. She hadn't even realized how much she ached until the water helped to soothe the pain. Despite a very strong urge to just sit there and let the water work its magic, Aki quickly cleaned every inch of her skin and hair before launching herself out of the tub and into a big fluffy towel.
Carefully, she laid out the medical tape, antiseptic and clean bandages beside the sink before turning to look at it in the mirror. The bleeding had slowed significantly and she could clearly make out the jagged edges of a four-inch gash in her shoulder. Aki efficiently bandaged the scratch despite the awkwardness of not being able to look directly at it.
"You know," she told her reflection conversationally, "if I were really honest with myself, the reason I'm so annoyed by Kaoru's matchmaking is because I'm tempted. I'm tired of being alone and not caring."
She stared at herself for a long moment. She held her breath and let it out slowly before rolling her eyes at the mirror. "I'm the only person I know that can depress myself so completely in less than fifteen minutes." She gave a half smile. "I know just the teddy bear to fix this along with a good night's sleep." She nodded her head and pushed away from the counter.
Aki resolutely turned off the bathroom light and padded into her bedroom. She slipped into a tank top and pajama pants before tucking herself in with an old fuzzy stuffed bear. Who was to care, in the silent, empty darkness of her apartment if the old cotton fur was a little more damp than usual?
One person who might have cared a great deal was still stuck somewhere across town and wasn't exactly finding his night something worth continuing.
Sesshoumaru found his night quite unsalvageable after Loki's little geography lesson. Part of his problem was that he didn't exactly have a clue as to what he could do. There was dancing, but the primal gyrations out on the floor somewhat disgusted and alarmed him. The music was too loud and the crowd too dense.
If somebody had bothered to stay behind in the secluded office/dining room area he might have had the opportunity to converse. Not that he would have been particularly inclined to speak to any of these people anyway. He wasn't a big drinker and refused to eat anything he couldn't identify, which was most of the items on the club's menu because the cuisine was foreign.
Quite frankly, Sesshoumaru didn't know or understand the customs of this world and its people well enough to be comfortable with his environment, let alone enjoy himself. Not that Inuyasha let it stop him.
Then again, Inuyasha had Kagome to encourage him. Sesshoumaru sat watching his little brother and Kagome through the special glass, bitterly envious of their comfort with each other.
Eventually the taiyoukai grew weary of the feeling and forced himself to watch someone else. After a few hours he realized he wasn't really watching anything. His numbed mind had merely been staring at the glass. He'd had enough of his soundproofed voluntary prison.
The youkai lord purposefully strode through the club and out the door to the busy street outside.
Like all major cities at night, the streets around the dance clubs were busy with all sorts of life. Traffic moved sluggishly past filled parking spaces and crosswalks loaded with pedestrians out for a good time. Bouncers were plagued by girls and women of varying degrees of intoxication. Artificial perfumes, liquor, and body odor permeated the exhaust filled air. Men laughed and yelled, catcalling giggly females dressed to garner just such attention.
It was noisy. And crowded. One couldn't take two steps without either bumping into someone or accidentally cutting in some line.
For someone who had never seen so much humanity packed into such a small space it was a bit overwhelming.
Sesshoumaru stood, momentarily lost in the throng. He had no idea where he was going or how to get there until a sluggish, moisture filled breeze teased him with a tantalizing breath of fresh air. Just this brief moment when he could breath air devoid of the noxious smells of this time drew him along before he even knew he was moving.
He hadn't realized how noisome the smell had been until he'd received the respite. There was no way in hell he was going to willingly resubject himself to the imposing scents of strong perfumes, scented soaps, deodorant and after shave that reached out to strangle him through his sinuses. And that was without the added help of the hints of smoked narcotics and general pollution in the air.
As he chased the escaping breeze he slowly came to realize that it wasn't that this rare fresh air was moving away from him, but that the noxious air was closing in on the space that no longer contained it. Which meant a person with powerful powers of purification had recently passed this way. In Sesshoumaru's mind, that could only mean one person. Aki had been through here. Suddenly all of his attention was devoted to following this disappearing path of purified air.
It's a good thing he was so focused on what he was doing as it is not likely he would have appreciated the catcalling thrown in his direction from both females and males. Nor would he have appreciated the suggestive looks or gestures. What he did appreciate, though not consciously, was the strange parting of the crowd just ahead of him. It would seem that being incredibly tall and regal in appearance inspires total strangers to subconsciously get out of the way.
The phantom trail finally led him out of the entertainment district. Here, away from the crowds and traffic, the air could move more freely and the 'scent' was completely obliterated.
Sesshoumaru slammed his fist into a nearby wall in frustration, causing it to crack and crumble a little.
"Well what do we have here?" a snotty voice asked snidely. The inu youkai looked up to see a dark haired youth perched atop the wall he'd struck.
"It looks like one of the well-to-do bumpkins stumbled out of the playground," another voice answered from behind him. "And he's one of Loki's little friends from the smell of it."
"Kaoru's all the time getting perfume all over people," the first grinned toothily at him. "Too bad though, you looked like a nice guy."
"Yeah, too bad you didn't stay on Loki's turf," the second mock lamented.
"Ah, but suppose he didn't know?"
"Suppose you could be right. We could let him off easy."
"Yes, lets."
"Right, so hand over all your money and we'll let you leave with all your attributes intact."
Sesshoumaru blinked at them as they both now looked down at him from the top of the wall. They were threatening him. It was laughable. It was ridiculous. It was really happening.
Oh this was unforgivable! He glared up at them coolly as it started to rain.
The dark haired guy leapt down from the wall to stand in front of him. "Lord, but you are pretty. Why do you think he's not doing nothing?"
"Perhaps he doesn't quite understand his predicament," the other replied from the wall.
"Uh, Cro," the first began; noticing the stripes on Sesshoumaru's weren't made from any synthetic method. "I think we have a problem."
"What is it?" Cro leapt down from the wall finally getting a good look at their victim. "Oh I see."
"Didn't Loki's gang send word 'round of a new full youkai in town? What was the description again?" the first squeaked.
Cro cringed, "It matches this guy to perfection, Raven."
"I thought you'd say that," Raven winced. "Uh, sorry for the misunderstanding. I hear you're one of Lady Aki's guests. Heheh…" he swallowed nervously.
"We thought you were one of Loki's gang. They're not allowed in our territory unless they're trailing Aki. We usually assign one of our own to follow her as well," Cro berated himself, he was babbling.
"So uh, what brings you to our part of town?" Raven asked with false brightness. He didn't do near death situations very well.
Sesshoumaru blinked at them again. They knew of Aki, his Aki, which likely meant they knew where she lived or at least which direction he should go to find it. He wanted that information.
Sesshoumaru wasn't one to ask for things. Normally he just demanded information and it poured forth in waves. But this wasn't his world filled with people that knew who he was and what he was due. This was Aki's world and power worked differently here.
He'd seen it in the interactions of Loki and Juno, his subordinate. There was mutual respect and nearly equal status between the weaker and stronger. Aki had shown that from the beginning and he'd thought her strange and ignorant in the structures of power. Here in her world, it seemed he was the ignorant one.
"Hey guy, you in there?" Raven waved his hand in front of Sesshoumaru's eyes. He really didn't like being ignored and his youth made him bold.
"Knock it off Raven, it's rude," Cro admonished him watching the demon lord carefully. He looked back the way Sesshoumaru had come and looked further in the way he might have kept going before realizing the likely destination. The youkai statue had been taking the most direct route to Aki's apartment from the club Loki's people tended to frequent. Problem is, the most direct route was cut off by large buildings in a couple blocks, buildings that had to be gone around or leapt over. This guy most likely would've leapt over them, which is against the rules in Youkai society. Nobody wanted to wind up a science experiment.
"Hey, stranger," Cro broke into some of Raven's more embarrassing efforts to gain the youkai's attention. "I can show you the way to Aki's apartment if you want." His offer was immediately awarded the undivided attention of the stranger. "Of course if she decides to lock you out at this hour it's not my fault, but I can show you how to get there."
"Then do so," Sesshoumaru spoke evenly. Raven pretended to swoon at the sound.
"Raven knock it off," Cro narrowed his eyes crossly. He was no fool. He could sense just how likely this situation could turn out badly for them should somebody take offense at his partner's antics. "Will you never grow up!" he muttered darkly.
"I am grown up! I'm legally twenty," Raven spouted proudly.
"Yeah, last week," Cro grumbled ignoring the twenty-year old's monosyllabic protest.
"Travel with him often?" Sesshoumaru couldn't help but poke fun at their antics; Aki was loosening him up a bit.
"Travel with him? I live with him!" Cro complained. "Don't know what the hell possessed me to share an apartment with him."
Raven blinked before answering the not-question. "Because I said yes." Cro growled in response. "Oh come off it! You know you didn't want me rooming with anybody else!" the irrepressible youth rolled his eyes. "I don't know which bothered you more. That someone might take advantage of me or that I might find someone else to hang my affection on."
Cro thanked whatever god it was cloudy tonight; no one could see the blush staining his cheeks. Even so he started walking a little faster with his head down. Never trust nature to hide that which embarrasses you, it enjoys a good laugh at your expense just like everyone else.
Sesshoumaru ignored their chatter. All that mattered to him at the moment was finding Aki. It seemed he did nothing but chase her these days.
"Hey mister." Raven called and received no response. "Yo stranger!" he tried again.
"Wake up, Whitey!" This was answered with a fierce growl and the sudden sensation claws at Cro's throat. He coughed nervously, "eh, heheh, I probably shouldn't have said that, but you weren't responding to anything else and we don't know your name."
Sesshoumaru just growled at him in response.
Raven blinked nervously. "Um," he looked at Cro still held in the full-blooded youkai's claws. "We have taken you as far as we're allowed." He backed up at the glare he received.
Cro gurgled as the claws on his throat constricted. "Look! We go any further it'll start a turf war. Maybe that doesn't matter to you, but Aki will be caught up in the middle of it! You're youkai, you should know how protective demons are about their territories, even if they are only part youkai!" Raven hissed.
Sesshoumaru loosened his grip, still reluctant to let go completely. It would be bad for a turf war to break out anywhere near Aki, especially if youkai were involved. Very few individuals survived a youkai turf war, the body count of even the smallest such wars in history was legendary. Youkai spent most of their lives avoiding the outbreak of turf wars, because once started over the smallest piece of land, not even the trees and grass were safe from the slaughter.
He could just see Aki in that situation, running around trying to stop the bloodshed. She would be massacred and he wasn't sure that she would be deterred if he told her that. Sesshoumaru nearly groaned in frustration.
"If you would be so kind as to drop my partner, I will tell you the rest of the way to the apartment," Raven offered.
Sesshoumaru promptly let go and mentally frowned at himself. He was listening to some pup that was younger than Aki? Something to chastise himself for later. He turned on his heel ignoring the Cro heap at his feet and fixed one of his famous glares on Raven. Sometimes it seems annoying conversations would not last so long if everyone could make one look talk as loud as one of his glares.
"Cro are you alright?" Raven asked in concern.
"Peachy," was the croaked response.
Raven nodded to himself before looking back to the forbidding figure before him. "Alright, before you take off, my name is Raven and that is Cro. Remember the names. The air moves more freely here and might blow our scent into Loki's turf without us actually going there. When next you see Loki tell him we lead you here. Even if he doesn't know we came this close. Turf wars have been started for less, so remember Cro and Raven. If you don't say anything I'll be sure Aki hears about it. The three block radius around her apartment is neutral territory during the day, and she knows me."
"Then why bother requesting that I do it?" the youkai lord inquired with ire. He was no messenger.
"Because I'll also tell her of your behavior towards us and she'll take you to task for it! If you knew me better, you would also know I have a stellar imagination and fairly accurate character judgment. I could make up more stuff that sounds like something you would do and tell it to her as fact." Raven grinned mischievously. "Aki tends to be really protective of the kids she's helped in the past."
Sesshoumaru realized something, Raven may seem a bit immature and flighty, but when motivated the youth could be a bit scary. Damn. Not that he could do anything but growl about it.
Raven smiled satisfied he got his point across. "Alright then, you are free to leave our company. Aki lives in the building at the end of this street." Raven pointed decisively at the two-story building clearly visible even from here.
Sesshoumaru gazed down the well-lit street and wondered how they could honestly tell the difference between one building and the next. His eyes narrowed slightly, it mattered not. If they were wrong, he could always hunt them down and cause them bodily harm. Strangely enough he really wasn't interested in having to mete out revenge, he wanted them to be right. He wanted to find Aki, inhale her scent, and the soft sound of Aki's gentle voice and even breathing to block out the plethora of noises bombarding his senses. Hell, he wanted himself, and Aki, back down that accursed well NOW.
He nearly sighed but instead Sesshoumaru nodded his arrogant dismissal to the pair of guides and set off down the street.
Sesshoumaru stalked quietly down the street warily watching the shadows cast by the flickering streetlights. This world made him nervous.
It took only a few moments to walk the length of the street to the specified building. It would not have taken so long if he'd given in to the desire to run. The demon lord breathed a gentle sigh of relief when he pushed inside the door and caught a wisp of Aki's subtle scent. He silently padded up the steps to the second floor, found the key Loki had left under the mat and let himself into the only Haven he knew of in this place.
Sesshoumaru breathed deeply of the air, tasting it, savoring it, and found himself slumping back against the front door. He pushed away from the surface slightly disgusted by his temporary weakness. Really now, what was causing this weakness? Was it Aki, or the world around them filled with its poisonous fumes and debilitating noise? He shook his head, momentarily dropping the mask; it was something to worry about later. He padded quietly through the dark apartment headed straight to the open doorway to Aki's room. He could see her curled up on that 'bed' thing from the doorway; the light from the street fell in lines across her like stripes. He watched her softly breathing across that small expanse of carpet, and she never seemed so far away as right now.
Sesshoumaru eventually managed to force himself back down the hall. If he followed what his instincts had urged him to do, he didn't think he would survive her wrath. He found himself cursing her acute senses as he wandered back into the living room.
If Aki didn't have such strong powers of detection, he could have walked across her room, brushed the hair out of her face, and kissed her cheek without her ever being the wiser. Thereby satisfying his need to touch her without offending her strong desire not to be touched. Or more accurately, not to be touched by him.
Sesshoumaru felt sharp jabs in his chest at this recollection. Why did it pain him so? How could such a lowly creature cause him to feel anything? And why did he find himself suddenly wishing she were as human as she appeared? Could it be he was no longer disgusted by Aki's humanity as he was originally, or had he simply discarded his hatred of humans thereby dissolving the issue completely? Argh! He was confused. And Tired.
There was a closed door down the hall from Aki's room and before the living room. No one had as yet shown him what was inside, but Sesshoumaru knew there was a room there. The door moved too much to be just a closet.
Beyond this mysterious door was a small room filled from ceiling to floor with picture frames. The only spaces not filled by shiny darkened glass was the space on the wall behind the over stuffed couch and end table. A breeze stirred the lacey curtains on the single window in the room allowing more light from the street to stain the mostly white room.
The inu youkai caught a glimpse of what stared out of those frames. Nearly every frame housed a picture of two or more humans smiling at the photographer. His eyes widened as he realized the shear volume of different mortals displayed on the walls, a number that was all the larger as almost none of the individuals appeared in more than one picture. The sole exception being the image of one girl at varying ages that seemed to be always on the edges of the picture. Despite that he recognized her, he recognized that little girl in the soul of the female he wanted as mate.
"All dead," he growled softly taking in the magnitude of her loss for the first time. Turning his back on the pain radiating from the walls, he scrutinized his choices for bed. The couch looked comfortable enough, then again so did the carpet. Course the only place he really wanted to sleep was completely off limits at the moment. Couch it is.
He sat on the floral print, over-stuffed piece of furniture immediately distrustful of its exaggerated cushiness. Was it trying to devour him? The demon lord was about to remove himself from the clutches of the evil sofa when he suddenly realized all was not right.
Sesshoumaru stilled as he gazed about the room taking in the image before him. Everything was washed with blues and grays, as all night scenes should be – except Sesshoumaru's night vision was normally acute enough to discern more colours than that. Something was definitely not right.
Before he could deliberate further a gust of wind whipped the curtains forcefully away from the wall drawing his attention to the frame directly across from his now standing position in front of the couch. It was empty of glass and contained a rectangular handicraft that looked as though a small child could've made it. It portrayed a short two-lined saying and a cup half full of some dark liquid.
The taiyoukai was surprised he understood what was written there. He even voiced it quietly aloud in his surprise. "My cup runneth over." His eyes widened as the liquid in the cup began to swell slowly filling the cup as if triggered by his words.
Just as the liquid reached the lip of the cup, something upset it and the liquid rushed out of the now fallen cup. The fluid spilled to the bottom edge of the frame before dripping over it to splash on the carpeted floor.
Wait, splash? It shouldn't splash; it should absorb into the carpet unless it was already filled to saturation.
Sesshoumaru's eyes followed the dripping path to the floor to find a puddle there, a growing puddle that was the only color in the room that wasn't blue or gray. It was red, an ominous, foreboding splash of crimson that he couldn't tear his attention from.
The youkai lord was on the move before he even realized it, following the river of what could only be blood. He stepped into the hallway and followed the path of red with his eyes. Fear struck him as he realized it lead to the only bedroom in the apartment. He was through the door before he even realized it was closed. There she was lying peaceful as death in a veritable lake of blood. He fell to his knees in the still warm puddle, causing it to splash soundlessly in all directions. A single crimson droplet fell upon her beautiful face. He reached out to wipe it away and succeeded in only smearing the stain to cover more of her features. He growled and dropped his bloodied hand in the liquid filled with her stolen warmth.
Not quite sure why, Sesshoumaru lifted his scarlet stained hand to his lips and licked the metallic blood from his claws and swallowed. Suddenly his ears were filled with the sounds of her screaming. It staggered him, threw him back so that he fell to the bottomless fathoms of that pool of blood.
And abruptly he was awake; in the room, on the couch. His heart beating wildly from adrenaline. And he was scared.
He didn't remember removing his shirt. He didn't remember lying down. He looked across the room sharply, desperately seeking out that cup and phrase and found it missing. His heart still refused to slow; his fear could not be assuaged.
Sesshoumaru was immediately on his feet and down the hall. To hell with stopping at the door, he wouldn't have been satisfied just watching her breathe even if he had been calm enough to stand there and watch.
He was suddenly wrapping his arms around Aki on her bed. Clutching her tightly as he buried his head against her back desperately inhaling her scent searching for the stain of death.
It took a while for his brain to acknowledge the lively beat of her precious heart, the healthy scent wafting from her hair, in short it took him a while to realize she wasn't dead. By then, he found his eyes leaking from his overwhelming relief and residual fear. If he stopped to think about it, he would have been disgusted by his violent reaction to something that wasn't real. And still his ears refused to cease their constant ringing.
Sesshoumaru shook his head and pressed himself more firmly to Aki's back.
Aki lay there quietly in awe. Was the great Sesshoumaru actually crying? She was stunned. Of course her mental vertigo wasn't helped by the fact the only thing saving her from having the life squeezed from her body was an old teddy bear. She suspected she knew what had affected him in this way, but didn't say anything. There would be time for that later. Now she just had to let him impress upon himself that she wasn't dead.
Aki would have turned around and held him, rocked him as he cried, but he held her too tightly for such movement. Instead she squeezed his arm gently, rubbing it soothingly where it fell across her front.
Aki paused momentarily to question her own motives. Why did she want to comfort him? Then she thought of Azusa and Inuyasha, of Sango and Kagura. She could no sooner turn a cold shoulder to someone's tears and frustrations than she could grow a second head. Satisfied that her actions were because of this and nothing more, she allowed the soothing growl lodged in her chest to reach Sesshoumaru's very sensitive pointed ears.
Eventually the inu youkai's hold was relaxed, allowing Aki to breathe more easily. Not long afterward his even breathing and soothing warmth coaxed her back into the dimensionless world of sweet slumber.