Greetings All! Welcome to chapter 8!

This chapter is a little more light hearted than the rest. And it wrote itself faster than the others did. I had fun with it I think. ^_^

Aaaaaaaaaaand go!

"We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations."
— Anaïs Nin

"Don't you understand that we need to be childish in order to understand? Only a child sees things with perfect clarity, because it hasn't developed all those filters which prevent us from seeing things that we don't expect to see."
— Douglas Adams (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Dirk Gently, #1))


CHAPTER START

If anyone had been around the little glade with the hill-on-top-of-a-hill cave house one particular evening in early spring, and happened to have their wits about them, chances are they would have been startled by a sudden break in the calming, steady noises that floated through the trees: the disturbance namely being a loud crash followed by a not-so-loud thump with a rather annoyed sounding "Ouch!" to wrap up the tumult. If that same hypothetical person had run toward the source of the noises and come across their respective culprits, they would have understood the cause of each one fairly immediately. Unless, of course, they were particularly thick and the sort of person that could barely follow their television programs much less extrapolate from incomplete data. In which case, they truly deserve our heartfelt pity and a good hug, for the situation was extremely obvious. Here, I'll show you.

Before us is the scene where the offending noises took place. An open cupboard stands at the scene with several of its usual residents in a messy pile on the floor in front and slightly to the left of it. A bundle of blankets flopped around a still barely folded futon rest rumpled on the bottom of the heap. A stackable drawer with its contents -hair pins, a few very dog-eared books and a small trinkets box- all unceremoniously spilt over the rice mat floor sit half cocked atop the blanket bundle. Next to the right of the blanket bundle and mess of a drawer is an overturned wood stool. And next to the stool is a very flummoxed looking woman, who is currently rubbing her behind and irritably throwing out a few choice words in the direction of the mess. What do you suppose took place only moments ago?

There, I see the light bulb going off above most of your heads. You see, it's really just too simple. But for the sake of those who may not be quite so bright -God bless their little soles- I shall explain.

After having a nice tea with her new house guest -and him excusing himself to take a walk- Aiko observed that this would be an opportune time to continue her role as a proper hostess and prepare a bed for her guest as it was getting to be later in the evening. She had swiftly removed all the dishes from the sitting room -washed, dried and put them all back in their proper places- and then waltzed into her bedroom to the storage cupboard where she kept the spare bedding. She liked to keep a couple around for times when Inuyasha and Kagome came to visit, which happened more often than one might think considering how far apart their homes were. She opened the tapestry door, found what she needed immediately, grabbed a small wooden stool she kept for such occasions and set to work hauling the large bundle out into the open. As you might imagine, the futons weren't the only occupants of the cupboard. There was also a rather well organized set of stackable drawers that held various of her possessions. This set was composed of ten shallow wooden containers stacked in two sets of five above one another on the respective shelves in the cupboard.

What does a neat set of ten stackable drawers have to do with what most of us know is about to happen? Well, I'll tell you. One of these stacks of five–the lower one- held only four units. You see, there was one of these drawers that Aiko used more than the others. She called it her 'current drawer'. It was where she kept things she used on a daily basis or was currently working on that wouldn't fit in the little vanity set against the opposite wall. This drawer was usually kept on the top stack on the lower shelf when it wasn't in use. The problem was that the last time this drawer had been used Aiko had been in a bit of a rush and hadn't had the time to put it back in its proper place. In her haste she had shoved it on top of the pile of blankets she was currently trying to remove from the cupboard. And being the slightly vertically challenged person that she was, she didn't see the drawer until it was too late. The blankets, the drawer, the stuff in the drawer and Aiko succumbed to the force of gravity and it all came tumbling down. The blankets and the drawer hit the ground first –hence the crash. Aiko flailed around for barely a measurable instant trying to catch the objects and then trying to regain her balance. She failed on both accounts and ended up landing on her rump –the source of the thump- beside the, now overturned, stool.

"Ouch!" She stood up, wobbling a little, and rubbed her sore rear-end muttering some rather unladylike things at the drawer. Her eyes stung a little and a sardonic little laugh escaped her lips when she realized she was crying.

"That's rich, put me up against eight hundred rather cross demons with sharp swords and sharper claws and I don't shed a tear. But fall on my tail, and I cry like a wounded five year old." She sniffled for a second, wiped her eyes and cleaned up the mess the drawer made –she was still saying it was all the drawer's fault. After a minute or two everything was placed back in the shallow wooden container and put back in the storage cupboard; in the right place this time.

Aiko, picked up the rumpled pile of blankets and ended up waddling rather than walking to the sitting room because the bulk of her cargo. It was at times like these when she was reminded of how small she actually was. I would like to point out here that Aiko wasn't really unusually small. Really, she was only a couple inches shorter than Kagome: hardly noticeable, even when standing side by side. What made her seem small was really just her bone structure. She was thinly built, which on most days she was thankful for. It made her agile and quick in a fight, something she had become an expert at using to her advantage. But on some days, like today as it was turning out, it just made her feel like a little kid. Walking next to Sesshomaru for several days hadn't really helped that image. There was a time that his height, coupled with his cold demeanor, would have scared her nearly to death. But she was a little more grown up now and, therefore, a little more confident in herself. Even so, there were a few instances during their trip to her home –instances where the silence had stretched on longer than she was comfortable with- when she had to fight the temptation to look up at him and say, with the straightest possible face, "How's the weather up there?".

Aiko giggled like a school girl –an act that was also really not helping with her 'little girl' image- had she actually said that to him, Sesshomaru probably wouldn't even have known she was making a joke and thought she had hit her head on something when he wasn't looking. Sometimes she forgot herself and would say something like that to Inuyasha, forgetting that the joke wouldn't even be invented for another couple hundred years. He would usually say something along the lines of "What in the hell are you talking about, woman?" and then proceed to call her an idiot. Aiko nearly burst into a fit of laughter as she thought about her friend. She couldn't have asked for a better one. Inuyasha was loyal, trustworthy and caring once you got past his rough exterior. And, most importantly, he made Kagome happy. Aiko hadn't made a good first impression on the short fused half demon. She hadn't been happy learning of the fact that he kept putting her best friend in danger and had told him as much. He had, of course, gotten all defensive and they had ended up saying some rather nasty things to each other before Kagome could call a time-out and 'sit' Inuyasha. They had all grown up a lot in the last thirty years, and grown a lot closer. Inuyasha had proven that when he had shown such great confidence in her only days ago.

Aiko sobered at the thought of that meeting. She had received notice from the trees that Inuyasha and Kagome had been victorious in their battle and were now safe and resting. Kouga and his wolves would be attacking the army in the south the day after tomorrow. And the day after that would mark the beginning of Daichi and Kotoko's battle in the North. Aiko was counting on being able to slip into Gogenmaru's western hold on the tail end of Kouga's battle, hopefully unnoticed. She knew Gogenmaru would be distracted by his defeats –because Aiko continued to have faith that Kouga would also be victorious- and his eyes would be cast far away from his main keep allowing her and Sesshomaru to do some much needed recon before the blood bath began. Aiko frowned. There where still so many missing pieces. She still had no idea what it was in the west he need so desperately, nor how it fit into his master scheme. Really, she was still sketchy as to what his master scheme really was. Sure, the takeover of Japan, she knew that. Gogenmaru was a power hungry monster that was probably planning on ruling the world if it would let him. But, why? Because there was always a 'why'. And it was usually an important 'why'.

Aiko finished laying out the bedding on the tatami in the sitting room and shuffled over to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. Her stores were mostly empty except for nuts, dried fruit and jerky she always set aside for trips. When this whole mess blew over she would have to start stock piling again, just like every year. This would do her for now. She usually ate lightly when she first got home anyway –kept her from shocking her system with a sudden wave of too much food and rest- and she knew Sesshomaru would be doing his own hunting and have no need of human food; especially now that there was a battle to be fought. Most demons, she knew indulged in human from time to time; sort of like how humans indulge on candy sometimes. But during times of war or when they were badly injured, it was necessary to avoid such frivolities.

Out of curiosity, Aiko let her senses connect to the ever-present energy of the life around her in search of the stoic youki. Oddly, he wasn't in her territory. She expander her senses further and found him about a quarter mile outside of her barrier. His aura was calm and focused; his energy threads pulled taught. He was hunting. Aiko had to smile. According to the trees he had waited to hunt until he had stepped outside of her territory. That was oddly . . . sweet of him. Truth be told, even Aiko didn't hunt inside the barrier. Every life within its threads was sacred to her: precious. They all trusted her unconditionally. She hadn't asked him to hunt farther out, hadn't even mentioned it once. Yet, somehow he knew. How, was beyond her. If there was one thing she had learned about him over the last few days it was that he knew things, things any other person would have to be informed about directly. Surely it wasn't just something dog demons did to respect other people's territories. Inuyasha certainly had to be told. She decided to file that trait way in the mental folder entitled 'Things I Like About A Certain White-Haired Demon Lord'.

Aiko finished her make-shift dinner and –upon catching her reflection in the mirror placed strategically by the door to bounce extra light into the room- decided that, right then, a bath sounded like the best thing in the world. She made her way to her bedroom to brush out her hair and remembered just in time to grab a sleeping yukata out of the cupboard before making her way to the bathhouse conveniently placed right next to her room.

The bathhouse was probably her favorite thing about her home. As you might have suspected by now, her house wasn't exactly a naturally occurring cave. Aiko's ability to manipulate the very energy of the earth was an extremely versatile ability. It had taken a lot of time, and even more energy to build the structure. Stone, as you would imagine, is very resistant to change even with her knowledge of how to coax it. The bathhouse was made out of the same stone that made up the rest of the house. It was simple and unornamented with high walls and a ceiling that opened up to the late evening air. The thing that made it really remarkable was that it had running water. The stream that they had followed when making their way to the house actually flowed through the bathhouse. Aiko originally had to move the stream's path over about six feet to make it work and it had added another month to her construction time but it was more than worth it because only about six feet from where the stream flowed now was a pool connected to a natural underground spring. For those of you that haven't put two and two together yet, that meant not only was there running water in the bathhouse but there was also hot water: a luxury in the feudal era to be sure.

Aiko placed her soiled clothes and in a basket by the door and, with a spring in her step, headed for the water. Conditioners were another thing she was proud of owning. She would make trips to a nearby trading village a few times a year for things like soap and spices. But conditioner was a tough one. It had taken her longer than she cared to admit to discover that a solution of equal parts water and honey applied to her long hair and then rinsed thoroughly with warm water made for soft and silky locks that she was proud to show off. A strong brew of cooled green tea applied for a few minutes and then rinsed out was a good substitute in the summer months when her hair didn't need so much help in the oil department. Both she and Kagome had been thrilled at these discoveries, more than ready to have smooth, tangle resistant hair again.

Now, clean and smelling faintly of honey, Aiko eased her way into the pool of naturally occurring hot water. She submerged herself up to her neck and let out a low moan of appreciation as her road weary muscles were warmed and the aches in her feet soothed. Sometimes hot water just felt too good for words.

As she allowed her body to be buoyed by the water and her mind wonder in a state teetering on the edge of bliss, she let her mind again wonder back to her tall, stoic and admittedly good looking companion. She had been doing that a lot the past several days: thinking about him. She knew he was interested in her and her in him. But to what end? There was way too much static between them to pretend it wouldn't involve anything sexual. A romp in the sheets maybe? Not her style. No matter how many times people said 'no strings attached' there always were, and things always got complicated. Friends with benefits? No, that was worse. In that scenario you had to maintain emotional distance while still seeing them on a regular basis: talk about complicated. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more Aiko was beginning to suspect it would be all or nothing with Sesshomaru. He didn't seem like the type to do anything half way and, truthfully, neither was she. But was that something she wanted? Was it something he wanted? It was too soon to tell. She was having trouble just being herself around him. Aiko's brows furrowed. She was sort of mad at herself for that. She was acting like a dumb teenager with a crush; walking on eggshells around him, worried about what he might think. That had to stop, regardless of what did or didn't happen between them. It could affect the outcome of their mission, and that was not acceptable.

"Right! No more acting childish, Aiko." She told herself sternly. "From now on I'm just going to act as if he wasn't around." She dove under the water and stayed under for as long as her lungs would allow before she broke the service again with a heaving gasp: a little something her grandmother had taught her to do if she was ever upset.

"Water is the most understanding of the elements, child." The lovely old woman had explained in that all-knowing tone she always used. "If you surround yourself with it, the water will always be willing to take your worries and wash them far away from you. Then, when you rise up again, you can start anew."

Aiko had gotten into the habit of doing just that from the time she was only five years old. And, mysteriously, it had always worked no matter how bad or complicated things seemed and this time was no exception. She was ready to face whatever happened now. Aiko pulled herself out of the water and headed to the basket where she had left her things. She toweled herself off and wrung out her hair. On a normal day, a day when she didn't have a house guest, she would then walk from there to her room in nothing but that towel. She eyed the sleeping yukata she had almost forgotten to grab earlier.

"Well, maybe I'll have to compromise on some of my habits while he's around." She thought as she pulled on the nightwear.

CHAPTER END


Wow, over 3,000 words for this chapter. Definitely the longest one yet. Why is it all these chapters end up being longer than I thought they would? I think I have way too much fun getting inside my characters' heads.

Thanks again for all the support and reviews you guys have been sending me. They make me all warm a fuzzy. Lol

Later All!