Tah-Dah! Another Wednesday another chapter! And I also don't have to work today!
I probably should have said something last week, but I have to take this big GRE thing in a little over a month. I need to study. Study, study, study! Because this exam decides which masters programs I can enroll in. YAY, grad school! unfortunately every free moment I was spending on writing the next parts of this fic... So yeah, once I regain my self-descipline, my fic writing will quite possibly slow down a great deal, but you were warned of a big break coming up anyway. It's too bad though. I finally figured out what I wanted to do with part 5. (part 6 and part 7 were very clear from the start, but this part, while necessary hadn't really been hashed out in my head. Now it is). I'll give you a sneak peek though... STUFF HAPPENS! Isn't that awesome? Bet you can't wait! HAhaha, yeah, that's about all I'm saying. THHHBBBBTTTT!
OH and we can't forget the evils of work getting in the way of my studying and writing. But then again, if I wasn't working, I'd probably put off studying until the last minute. A very bad idea when I have four years of Chemistry to brush up on after a full year's absence from school. I wish I could remember where my text books got stashed in the storage barn... There's at least two branches of chemistry I'd like to reread, but I only have my notes out right now... It'll have to do. I'm going to rewrite them out by hand. It's how I used to study for exams in college. Go back through and rewrite everything.
I bet Rumiko TAkahashi doesn't have this problem, heh, Sesshoumaru probably just curls up in her lap like a big puppy begging for attention everytime she leaves him out of the story for too long. HAh! TAke that embarrassing mental image, Sesshoumaru!
The Stain on the Wall
A loud and painful thump knocked Aki out of dreamland and she sat up blinking in a pool of sunlight on the carpet next to her bed. She struggled to figure out how on earth she had managed to wind up there. She never fell out of bed, not even when she was a kid. Why had she now?
The confused woman turned to look at the bed she should still be on and found the culprit. There in all his slumbering glory was the worst bed hog she had ever encountered. She rolled her eyes in righteous annoyance.
Oh well, when you're up, you're up. Aki yawned hugely before pulling herself up off the floor. Time to wash the salt off her face, but first. Aki picked up the well-loved stuffed animal that had broken her fall and smiled warmly at it. She silently apologized for landing on it before her eyes flicked to sleeping beauty.
His face was still stained with last night's tears and he whimpered slightly at the scarcity of her scent. She sighed quietly and tucked the teddy bear in beside him. The little brown stuffy was immediately seized upon and wrapped in the unconscious demon's bone crushing embrace.
Aki nearly giggled at the sight, where was a camera when you needed one? There was the oh-so-great demon lord of the west clinging to her old teddy bear like it was a lifeline. It was so totally a Kodak moment. She shook her head without making a sound. No need to wake him up now.
Aki padded softly over to the open door of the bathroom. She lifted her arms over her head for a good stretch of her lethargic muscles and winced as the wound on her shoulder protested wetly. A crease marred her face as she contemplated the sensation. Surely the bleeding had stopped by now.
She promptly moved to the sink, leaving the door open to avoid having to use the bathroom lights. Aki grabbed a washcloth and turned on the tap to wet it. She refused to look in the mirror until she had washed the evidence of her tears from her face. She already knew she looked like hell, no need to confirm it.
Aki scrubbed lightly at her face, wanting to remove evidence of last nights bought of tears, but not really caring to remove a layer of skin with them. She felt something too warm and thick for water trickle down the back of her arm.
She lifted her arm and watched as one crimson drop fell from her elbow into the previously clean sink. "Huh," she expelled all her breath at once as she frowned in confusion. What the hell?
Aki turned in the mirror and stretched her neck to look at the bandaged wound. It appeared that she had bled all night going based on the blood filled gauze on her shoulder. It didn't make sense the wound was shallow. She reached up and began prying the totally gross bandage from her shoulder. "Damn medical tape!" she muttered under her breath as her body settled into a more comfortable position.
It shouldn't still be bleeding. That's what bugged her. It was shallow and small, hardly worth the bandage. Even if she were human it should've stopped bleeding long before now. Hell, she'd gotten worse riding her bike as a kid. She growled softly as the bottom corner closest to her spine decided to be difficult.
Suddenly a warm hand gripped her shoulder and Aki jumped in surprise. She closed her eyes and placed a hand over her painfully palpitating heart. "Jesus Sess! You scared the crud out of me!" She huffed through her startled panting.
He handed her the now completely removed soiled bandage. She quickly threw it away and grabbed up the damp washcloth to scrub away the excess blood on her shoulder. Sesshoumaru took the rag from her firmly and gently washed her shoulder.
Aki huffed and rolled her eyes again. She hadn't even left her apartment yet and already she wasn't allowed to be tougher than glass.
The inu youkai behind her was silently assessing the wound on her should while he secretly stole relaxing breaths of her scent. "How did you get this?" he asked quietly.
She rolled her eyes again. "You know me, can't seem to stay," and she hissed as Sesshoumaru cleaned and especially painful spot, "out of trouble."
"I didn't ask why, I asked how," he returned quietly, beginning to clean the wound itself.
She closed her eyes as he watched her facial expression in the mirror. "Lets just say Naraku had a new toy for me to play with." His grip tightened visibly on the rag in his hand.
He felt like yelling at her, reprimanding her for allowing it to happen, for not waiting for him. "It should not have happened."
Aki grinned opening her eyes knowing what he really meant. "Even if you locked me up in your family's home, I'd still pick up a few bumps and bruises. Besides," she tilted her head to look at him, consideringly in the mirror, "It's too late to protect me from the world." She watched as he tried to sneak a glance at her in the mirror out of the corner of his eye. She sighed, "What are you doing here Sesshoumaru?"
"I'm cleaning this wound," was his cagey response.
Aki rolled her eye, "no, Sesshoumaru. What are you doing here on this side of the well, in my apartment? I'm not your mate. I'm not the mother of your children. I'm not even your friend. So why are you here?"
Sesshoumaru snarled and his fingers gripped her shoulder tightly. He felt like digging his claws into the wound he had been inspecting. "Damn it, Woman! The only reason you are not my marked mate is because of the accident of some spell and your refusal to see reason and allow me to mark you again."
"What is it with the male half of any species! You don't want me; you want a powerful mate. Here's a news flash for you stupid! There are more powerful females waiting out there, go find one!"
"I don't need to find one, I've found one," he stated with finality.
"Stubbornness must run in your family," Aki grumbled and rolled her eyes. The almost demon attempted to step away to retrieve some bandages, but the dog demon wasn't having any of that. "Would you kindly release me!" she spat out through gritted teeth.
"I'm trying to see something," Sesshoumaru informed her without letting go.
"What is there to see? It's a four-inch cut on the back of my shoulder. It's not something to worry about!"
"Except that it will not stop bleeding," he reminded her sniffing the wound.
"Well, yeah there is that," she admitted, "but it hasn't killed me yet."
"It is my goal to negate the possibility that it might," he informed her without pausing his examination. He continued to sniff the wound, checking for anything that might be the cause of this wound not closing properly.
"Are you done yet?" Aki fidgeted, getting impatient with the youkai lord behind her. "I really do have stuff to do today."
"You're not doing anything until we get this taken care of," Sesshoumaru stated firmly.
"You do not want to attempt to stop me, Sesshoumaru. I have a horrible tendency to exert myself whenever I come to an obstacle in my way. I'm sure Loki's already told you what would happen if I were to exert myself wearing these," she lifted up one arm fingering the bracelet where Sesshoumaru could see. She locked eyes with his reflection and he growled. "Don't push me Sesshoumaru, my time here is short. This isn't a vacation for me. I'm working, mind you it is mostly mental, but it is work all the same."
Sesshoumaru broke from her reflected gaze. He'd suddenly remembered a possible reason her wound wouldn't close. There was a special anti-coagulant imbedded in the claws of a very rare species of youkai. In actuality the species was considered extinct, had been since before his time. The only reason he knew about it was because he'd been an avid reader when he was younger. If it was written, legible and hadn't been assigned by his tutor, he read it, much to the annoyance of his tutor.
He narrowed his eyes as he sniffed the wound. Now what did the text say about the scent of it? That it smelled like…wet silk! Lucky for him Aki wasn't wearing silk, so it would be relatively easy to detect the chemical, if in fact it was the reason behind her still bleeding wound.
"You look like you've had an epiphany," Aki commented dryly, watching him in the mirror.
"It isn't infected or poisoned and you're not physically ill," the youkai lord stated. She simply nodded having already known that much. "Which drastically narrows down what it could be. If I were anyone else, there likely would not be any other known alternative to those three to create symptoms such as this."
"But you're not someone else and you have an idea as to what it could possibly be," Aki remarked baldly.
Sesshoumaru nodded, "There is a specific species of youkai that could produce a fluid in their claws that would prevent a wound from closing. They are extremely rare and have been considered extinct for several centuries. The only reason I even know of them is due to the extensive library my father owned when I was young."
"All right," she nodded again. "So is that what my problem is and how do we combat the effects? Does it affect only the wound area or the entire blood stream? Will it wear off?"
Sesshoumaru blinked. She had marvelously grasped the situation calmly and considered different aspects of it very quickly. "It appears that it is the source of your problem," he stated simply. "As to curing this ailment, I can think of two options."
She nodded for him to continue. "The first is that I could mark you and our combined strength would overcome the problem." She shook her head firmly and he mentally frowned, "Or I could lick the wound clean, most youkai of the canine or feline variety have a coagulant in their saliva."
She rolled her eyes, "Possible side affects?" Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm not stupid Sesshoumaru, I know youkai. There are always strings attached. Even Inuyasha does it, though he probably doesn't realize it."
He grumbled darkly under his breath before locking his eyes with hers in the mirror. "This sort of healing is usually performed on oneself or by one's mate. There is a reason for this." Aki glanced over her should at him. "They don't call it blood lust for nothing. You either kill after the taste of blood or direct these energies down another path."
Aki shook her head again, "Neither sounds like something I wanna do today, and I'd like a second opinion. They might be able to come up with some ideas that don't have to involve sex," she shrugged, reached for the bandages, scissors and tape before turning to face him. "You might want to take a shower, it might make you feel better. Besides, it'll help remove the salt and sweat. I'll see what clothing I can get Loki to scrounge up before he comes over."
She stepped around him to the bathtub and closed the shower curtain. The tap started with a groan of old pipes.
Sesshoumaru grabbed her around the waist and yanked her as far away from whatever it was that made the noise as possible. "What was that?" he growled ignoring the running water for the moment.
Aki sighed. "That was the water moving in the pipes. It's a regular occurrence with indoor plumbing in a building this old. It won't jump out of the wall and get me, I promise. Not let go," she tapped the arm wrapped protectively around her waist.
He didn't want to let go, it seemed every time he did something bad happened to her. Of course the thing he saw last night coupled with the blood on her shoulder this morning greatly increased his paranoia.
She tapped his arm again to catch the youkai's wandering attention. "I really do need you to let go, I have a lot of things to do," she added reasonably. "I have to call Loki pretty quick if we want to catch him before he leaves his place." His arm tightened around her waist. Aki blinked and sighed. "Fine then, can we at least move to the phone so I can call him while you're glued to me like a second skin?" She felt like screaming in exasperation. It was too early for this over protective thing.
Sesshoumaru stiffened at her request. She was dead set on calling the other male. His instincts didn't like it and if he had been the animal counterpart of his demon there would be no way to convince him to allow it. As he was youkai and not animal, he had enough presence of mind to realize she was contacting Loki on his behalf. He still didn't like it. He liked it even less that she was unmarked and constantly slipping through his fingers. That she would concede to let him hold her while she made this call...
He was no fool. He leaned into her, wrapping his other arm around her to bring her closer. Her scent was stronger this way and he got lost in the perfumes wafting off her hair. Sesshoumaru sighed and nodded in answer to her question.
Aki felt more than saw his acquiescence; it would be kind of hard to miss as close as he was to her right this minute. "All right then, come on," she said determinedly, as if the trek to the phone was some expedition littered with many dangers. "The phone is in the living room. Lets go!"
Long before they reached the hall. Aki dissolved into gales of laughter. It would seem that two people stuck together by the arms of one is more difficult to keep upright than contestants of a three-legged race. Despite the minor pains of running into walls and careening into furniture, Aki was able to find an infinite amount of humor in the whole thing.
Sesshoumaru growled in frustration. In his mind it seemed more like Aki was laughing at him, rather than at them. "What is so funny?"
"Can you honestly tell me that you don't find it the least bit amusing that one full demon and one almost full demon can't seem to maintain their footing long enough to get from one room to the next?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled from being so close to the carpet after their last mishap. Now that she mentioned it, it was rather humorous.
Aki managed to turn in his loosened grasp to put her back to the floor. Looking up at the surprised humor in his face, she had to grin. "You need to lighten up, Sesshoumaru. Not everything is personal or a life or death situation."
"Then why does it always seem to be around you?" he asked her gruffly, perfectly content to just hover above her for the moment.
She blinked at him in thought before she dazzled him with a smile. "Maybe it's because I'm cursed and have a severe case of bad luck. Or maybe it's just you."
Sesshoumaru stared at her in amazement. "How do you do that?" he wondered aloud. "How do you brush the threat of death aside with a smile?"
She shook her head at him. "I have yet to brush death aside. That shadow lover hasn't come calling." She smiled at him, "Death never scared me, it was just another part of life, whether it be the end, beginning, middle or just a rocky transition, it simply is. It is not evil, nor unusual and I hold no apprehension for it. Though it seems everybody else does for me," she mumbled the last.
"What do you mean?"
"You saw it, just like everyone else and reacted along the same lines as everyone else. Only two people to see it reacted differently."
"What are you referring to?" he narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion.
"You slept in that room didn't you?" she looked at the door down the hall, absently moving to sit up.
His eyes flickered to the door before returning to her face. Others had experienced the same vision? If it was such a recurring event why did she continue to inhabit this place?
"You're wondering why I don't find somewhere else to live," she glanced at him knowingly. "I already told you, two people reacted differently. I was one of them." His glare demanded further explanation. "You saw the bloody death of a person that means something to you. You were upset by it and felt horror and a little bit of fear right?" He nodded. "I didn't. I was comforted by what I saw."
Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in surprise. How could anyone take comfort in a vision of death? Especially a vision of their own death? He was so surprised he didn't get up with Aki as she continued to stand and head towards the phone.
Aki paused with her hand on the phone wondering how long it would take the youkai lord to realize he was sitting in the hallway by himself. Then again, no one could be distracted enough to let a closed door entertain them for long.
The phone rang before she could dial, making Aki jump. She gave a shaky laugh before answering the phone. "Hello," she said softly still wondering about the dog demon in her hallway.
Loki's less than chipper voice greeted her ear, "Morning boss."
"Loki! I was just about to call you," Ai grinned into the phone.
"I guessed as much," her employee grumbled half-heartedly.
"Yeah, I need you to scrounge up some clothes for my stubborn house guest. He's prone to following me around."
"So that's where he went last night. We wondered about that."
"More like Kagome worried about it," Aki corrected dryly. "You were probably too busy trying to cultivate Kaoru's undivided attention to bother."
There was a heavy pause before the other answered with a "You know me too well." Loki took a deep breath to end the subject before continuing, "anyways, the reason I called was to tell you that the twins are busy and can't meet us until tomorrow."
Aki sighed, "All right. I needed to see Mouse today anyway. It'll give me some time to look over the papers you left on the table." She paused in thought, "Just make sure the meeting is set early, I've got the museum of Natural History reserved for the kids tomorrow, they're shutting their doors to the public an hour early for us."
"I got it, I got it!" Loki cried, exasperated. "You'd think I hadn't known for over a month now!" A pregnant silence fell into the conversation, "Why did you need to see Mouse today? You usually wait a day or two."
"Something's com up that I'd like a second opinion on is all," Aki replied cryptically.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with the blood Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru scented yesterday, would it?"
Aki didn't answer.
"Fine keep your secrets, It's too early for intrigue you know," Loki sighed. "So how did Mr. Warm-and-Fuzzy find his way home last night?"
"I haven't asked, and I'm not overly concerned about it."
"Which means something else happened after that to capture your attention."
"He…saw the Warning," Aki told him softly.
Loki gasped, "He did? What happened?"
"I don't discuss how you reacted, why would I discuss how he did?" she answered primly.
Loki blushed on his side of the phone; he'd waken up screaming after his Warning and shaken like a leaf on the wind for three days straight. He'd never stayed conscious for so long in his life, and Kaoru had been forced to knock him out to get him to sleep again. "You didn't have to bring that up."
"I didn't, you did when you asked about him," Aki returned easily. She turned slightly to lean against the little table that the phone rested on. Almost immediately she gasped in surprise. "Really Sesshoumaru, you need to quit sneaking up on people!"
Loki burst out in surprised laughter on the other side of the phone. "You may be all demon prowess on the other side of the well, but here you're about as observant as a newborn kitten."
"Yeah well," Aki growled at the glowering youkai in front of her. "I'm home, I shouldn't have to worry about being super observant."
"You left me in the hallway," Sesshoumaru accused her.
"You let go, finally," Aki returned.
"Huh? Wha-?" Loki inquired suddenly confused. "Aki what's going on?"
"I'm trying to conduct two conversations at once and failing," she grumbled in response.
Loki chuckled, "Alright then, I'll let you concentrate on the more important conversation. Be there in about an hour."
"Loki!" Aki began concentrating on the phone.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" he laughed and hung up.
Aki glared at the innocently beeping phone. "I swear he gets a kick out of teasing me when I can't retaliate," she muttered.
Her discontented tone was drowned out by the deeper growl emanating from the taiyoukai in front of her. Sesshoumaru was now quite angry at the female before him. Not only had she just left him in the hallway, but she had left to speak with another male. And then she ignored him to continue speaking with this other male. It wasn't a rational anger. It was primitive. It didn't care that the conversation was partially for his benefit. It didn't care that they had been moving in this direction for this very reason before he'd been side-tracked and Aki had slipped away. Her behavior was unforgivable and Logic wasn't even trying to reason with the anger.
"Well, that was Loki. He says he'll be here in an hour with clothes for you," Aki nearly squeaked in surprise when she suddenly found herself pinned against the nearest wall some distance above the floor. She snorted to herself, "Men."
"You left me to talk to Loki," his anger accused.
"No, you let me make a phone call to get you some clothes. You were also deep in thought and staring at a closed door. An activity I'm pretty sure did not require my participation," Aki told him smartly. She didn't care how insecure Sesshoumaru was feeling at the moment. She was tired of this behavior already, but then, she might just have been tired of everything to begin with.
His fingers started to dig into the flesh of her arm. "You need ot learn not to run off at the first opportunity." He was tired of feeling like she would disappear the minute he let her out of his sight. It didn't help that every time he did let her out of his sight she almost always took off.
She rolled her eyes, "I haven't even left the apartment yet! Besides nobody has the right to tell me when I can and can't go somewhere!"
Sesshoumaru lifted her up and away from the wall only to slam her back against it painfully. Aki, being the stubborn creature she is, refused to give evidence of any discomfort.
"If you crack the walls or in any other way damage my apartment, you may very well find yourself incapable of siring offspring for a very long time," she growled softly at the youkai before her.
HE snarled back at her. some coldly logical piece of his brain wondered at his own behavior. Why was he so angry? Sure he felt the need to prove his dominance over Aki, but it didn't necessarily require violence. Sesshoumaru knew Aki would not crumble to any threat or punishment involving pain. If she was susceptible to such inducements she never would have lived long enough to meet him, let alone mate him.
The last partial thought struck him like a bucket of cold rational water. AS strong as Aki was, she was still very mortal. She might be tougher than glass as she was wont to point out, but even the toughest of substances can crumble under the proper stress.
Sesshoumaru sighed and leaned into the body he had pressed to the wall. He absently licked at the flawless skin where his mark used to be and felt the strong urge to cry. It hurt so much to have no official claim on the female before him, to have her with in reach and know that she wouldn't have him. His pride had been wounded, but that wasn't what stung the most. If he was truly honest with himself, he was jealous of Fred and all the others Aki had ever cared about. Sesshoumaru imagined having just a tiny piece of her heart was more than worth any horrible death fate could come up with.
"Sesshoumaru?" Aki called quietly as the inu youkai tried to press closer. She could feel him breathing in her scent and fought her own desire to do the same. The warm flick of his tongue on her shoulder did delicious things to her senses. She felt like melting, answering the call he so deftly tapped out on her skin.
Her eyes widened, somewhere, some time in the last month her body had betrayer her. Sesshoumaru had somehow managed to condition her like Pavlov's dog. Her body's response to his ministrations was nothing more than a dog trick commanded by caressing a mark that was no longer there.
Aki silently screamed at herself in frustration. Her body belonged to no one but herself. She would not allow her life to be controlled by anyone least of all a demon lord who was already convinced she belonged to him. She could break the conditioning and she would.
But first she needed to remove the taiyoukai holding her against the wall. "Sesshoumaru, knock it off and put me down!" Aki demanded firmly. She believed in talking before violence. But she was also annoyed enough that when he ignored her she felt no remorse in taking action, and there was one action she could take that she was at a distinct advantage to take being held above the floor as she was.
Sesshoumaru's hand convulsed momentarily on her arms before abruptly letting go as his body instinctively curled around his abused groin. He was definitely not a happy camper.
"Sorry Sesshoumaru, but I did tell you to put me down," Aki informed him, refusing to feel guilty about enforcing her independence. "You need to learn to let me live my life my way. Why won't you find someone else? I obviously don't know the rules, and even if I did I'd be horrible at following them. Besides, I'm not interested."
Sesshoumaru snarled at her, but kept the rest of what he wanted to say to himself. She wasn't going to listen to him, and it was very unlikely he'd be able to say anything without worsening the situation. Not when pain was continually exploding through his body.
Aki sighed and pushed away from him. Time to start the day. She glanced at the wall to find a bright smudge there. "Oh boy, I guess I get o clean that up too," she sighed tiredly, before heading to her bedroom. She groaned at the rather large number of small red stains. "I've got my work cut out for me."
She shut the door and quickly got dressed for the day, wound included. Aki then collected a wet rag and some soap and headed straight for the first crimson stain in her room.
Just as she got to the rather large stain on the carpet in the hallway, there came a pounding at the door. "Inuyasha," she groaned as she pushed off the floor. No person born in this century would continue to pound incessantly unless it was an emergency, Aki ran to the front door before the hanyou could knock it off the hinges.
"You don't have to pound constantly on the door you know," she scolded the dog boy revealed by the open door.
"Feh!" came Inuyasha's witty comeback.
"Ah yes, I'm stayed by the extreme power of the monosyllabic comebacks of one juvenile sword wielder," Aki grumbled.
"Mono-whatsis?" Inuyasha inquired.
"Don't try to figure it out, you'd only hurt yourself," Sesshoumaru stated in a condescending tone. He'd never been so happy to see his annoying younger brother; he now had somebody to direct his anger and frustration at besides Aki.
"What was that?" Inuyasha glared suspiciously at his older sibling. "Did you just imply I'm stupid?"
"If that's what it sounded like.."
"I don't have to put up with this shit from you!"
"What are you going to do about it?"
Inuyasha growled and clenched his fist ready for the first punch.
"Don't even think about fighting in this apartment! If so much as one punch is thrown you'll both find yourselves thrown out that window to the pavement below before you know what hit you! I don't care who throws it! Do you understand?" The last was more of a demand for a response than a question. Her gaze swung from one brother to the other. "Now one of you sit here and one of you sit there and I don't want to hear another peep out of either of you until I say so!"
And with that Sesshoumaru was seated on the couch and Inuyasha sat glowering from the chair by the door. "I swear you two are worse than children," she grumbled under her breath as she returned to the stained carpet in the hallway.
The ever-observant Inuyasha couldn't help but notice the red splotch left on the almost white wall next to the phone at the far end of the couch. He sniffed delicately to confirm his suspicions. Yep, it was blood. And as many times as Inuyasha had come in contact with walls, bodily or otherwise, he knew that walls don't bleed.
Since the wall didn't bleed, that meant someone else did. He knew that Aki had been bleeding the night before and it was conceivable that if she wasn't still bleeding that whatever wound could have been reopened. All he knew for sure was that it wasn't Sesshoumaru's and that it was fresh.
But the blood was too high up for Aki to have left it there simply by leaning against the wall. Which meant Sesshoumaru had been misbehaving and was in need of some serious punishment.
Inuyasha glared at the full demon, began to crack his knuckles and growled absently declaring an intent to wallop the older male.
The dog boy suddenly found his vision full of soapy wet rag. "I said not a peep!" Aki growled at him, retrieving her rag. "That means not a sound!" she clarified for the exceedingly stupid. Wet rag now in hand, she attacked the stain on the wall.
Sesshoumaru decided to take advantage of the opportunity presented by a visible Aki within reach. He reached out with a half formed idea of some minor revenge for his previous pain only to find his hand stinging smartly from the defensive swat of her hand.
Inuyasha broke out in a grin, his eyes shiny with suppressed laughter. Perhaps Aki had the demon Lord situation completely under control all by herself. Said taiyoukai quickly picked up on his younger sibling's mirth at his expense.
Sesshoumaru snarled and leapt to his feet and Inuyasha mirrored him ready to defend himself. "SIT DOWN!" Aki yelled sternly, startling the both of them. Inuyasha laid his ears back and winced. Aki's eyes glittered angrily at the both of them. The boys slowly sat back down, pushed by the shear weight of her glare.
Someone knocked on the door suddenly causing Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha to jump. Aki answered the door panting heavily, hands shaking. "Hello Loki," Aki managed to get out between short breaths.
"Whoa! Boss lady!" Loki's eyes widened in alarm as Aki leaned heavily against the opened door and began to slide down it. He immediately reacted and kneeled to pick her up. "Shh, Aki. Loki's got you. All you have to do is try to breath with me. All right? Just breath with me. In and out. In and out," his voice was soft and soothing, giving Aki something to focus on as he picked her up gently. She closed her eyes and concentrated on controlling her breathing.