Sesshomaru shrugged. "She just gained a pack member. That's what we do. We secure the bond with the newest pack member first, for a week or two. Then things go back to normal."

He didn't blame her, since she didn't know how things went. But it seemed they'd both blundered a little.

"Then... what should we do?" Aura asked. She had no idea where Kris went, and wouldn't be able to catch up with her even if she did, but she didn't want her friend to be upset over this.

Sesshomaru shrugged. He wasn't used to dealing with temperamental angry hanyou. "Give her a day or two to calm down. I doubt she would be willing to listen right now, even if I did find her."

Aura bit her lip a little, then nodded. Kris could take care of herself, she knew that, and there had been times when the hanyou had disappeared for days at a time. Still, it didn't stop Aura from worrying.

"I think I should head home," she said after a moment, picking up her guitar and putting it into its case. It felt awkward being there, now, and she wanted to go.

Sesshomaru felt briefly disappointed before he nodded. "If you like," he murmured. He moved aside so she could leave. He would head home as well. No use trying to spend more time with her when she was so obviously worried.

Aura shouldered her guitar case and, with one more glance at Sesshoumaru, went out the door. She and Kris had walked to the coffee shop, since it was within a comfortable walking distance for Aura. It was a compromise, if it was a comfortable distance, then Aura wouldn't insist on the car. It still took her close to half an hour to get back to the house, though. She didn't sense any major sources of youki, which meant that Kris wasn't there, but she could sense Shippou still inside, which was good. She would check on him, and then decide what to do from there.

Hisoka had already come and gone. He had only checked to make sure the kit was alright, and then left again to catch up to Sesshoumaru. He wanted an update on what was going on so far.

Shippou was upstairs in his room going through the things that Kris had given him already. He went over to the top of the stairs when he heard someone come in, though.

"Hi Aura," he called with a bright grin.

Sesshomaru left quietly after Aura had, not saying anything. He knew Hisoka would be back, but now he had to figure out how to make reparations to Kris.

And he was pretty sure throwing the cat at her wasn't going to work. But only pretty sure.

"Hey, Shippou," Aura replied, going up the stairs. She hadn't gotten into the habit of calling him 'kit' like Kris had; it seemed too impersonal, somehow, and Aura wasn't comfortable with it. She set her guitar case just inside the door of her room.

Hisoka caught up to Sesshoumaru quickly, and immediately noticed his mood. Most wouldn't think that the taiyoukai could get any less talkative than he already was, but Hisoka could tell that his lordship was in no mood for talking right now. So he fell into step next to him, ready to just be there and lend an ear if he needed to.

Shippou bounded over to go greet her, a little confused that Kris wasn't there but not worried yet. He just figured she was doing something else.

Sesshomaru walked back to the house silently and then busied himself with work, helping his father with business stuff and then making sure his room was completely meticulous (which it always was anyway).

"I think it's just going to be you and me tonight, buddy," Aura said as she caught the kit. Best to get the difficult-to-explain things out of the way, first. Besides, she knew Shippou would ask where Kris was sooner, rather than later.

Hisoka went about his own duties when they got back, although he stayed within earshot, just in case. He got the feeling that it would be a bad idea to go find Kris, for the moment. He would give her some time to cool down before attempting to talk to her.

Shippou blinked. "What do you mean?" he asked with a little frown. Kris had never been gone overnight before. She'd been gone all day before, but not overnight. Which made him a little wary.

"Kris got upset earlier," Aura said carefully. "She left, so I think she needed some time to think. I'm not sure if she'll be back by tonight. But she knows how to take care of herself, so I think we should just worry about us for tonight. She'll be back." If only she felt as confident about it as she was trying to sound...

Shippou frowned more and his lower lip trembled a little. But he didn't say anything, just clinging to Aura more, quite content to stay there for now. He was not a very happy kit at the moment.

Aura cuddled the kit, running her fingers through his hair gently.

"Everything'll be okay," she said softly. "She'll be back soon." She grinned a bit at him. "Come on, let's go root around in the kitchen for a bit. I'm not the kind of amazing cook she is, but I'm not completely hopeless, either. Maybe we got lucky and there's something I can make for dinner somewhere."

Shippou nodded after a few moments and let her carry him down to the fridge, where he promptly started looking through everything, keeping them both distracted.

Aura watched him going through the fridge, making note of the things she knew she would be able to use without too much trouble and the things that Shippou seemed particularly enthusiastic about. Somehow, she would figure out how to use both kinds of things, and it would sufficiently distract her for a while.

Shippou pulled things out of the fridge when she told him to, eager to help her make dinner. He had nothing else to do, and he hadn't spent as much time with Aura as he'd like. Win-win for him.

Aura had no real problems with letting him help make dinner. It would be a good thing for them both, since they hadn't spent much time together before now. Checking the pantry, she grinned when she found everything she needed. She wasn't a gourmet cook, by any means, but she could totally put together a good fried fish when she wanted to.

Shippou helped her cook, relaxing slowly as time went by, and ended up falling asleep on her when they went to go watch TV after dinner. He was a tired little kit, after all.

Aura didn't mind that he fell asleep on her. She'd ended up dozing off on the couch, herself. She woke up enough to turn off the TV and the light next to the couch, and then she made it so that she and the kit were both comfortable enough on the couch to sleep. She didn't mind letting him snuggle in with her for the night, since Kris hadn't gotten back yet.

Three days had passed and Sesshomaru was getting a little worried. Well. Moreso about Aura than Kris. he knew Kris was fine, but Aura was getting more and more worried. And he did not like that.

So he pulled Hisoka aside. "Would you go fetch Kristine? I believe she would listen to you more than Aura or myself."

Plus he didn't like the fact that Shippou had latched onto Aura the entire time. Clingy kit.

Indeed, Aura was getting more and more worried. It wasn't like Kris to leave for so long and not check in from time to time. She did her best to keep Shippou distracted, but it was getting harder.

Hisoka considered the request.

"I will not be able to take care of this problem for you," he pointed out. "I may be able to talk to her, but I cannot fix it."

"Of course not," Sesshomaru said with a little snort. "But she won't try to kill you on sight. And I would hate to have to injure her." Since that would simply upset Aura even more. Not something he wanted.

"So long as that is clear," Hisoka replied. "I will try to talk to her, although even finding her at this point may prove a challenge." Although, to be fair, he had some idea of where she had gone; the cabin was familiar, a kind of home away from home. He would look there first.

Sesshomaru nodded his assent, already planning to go check on Aura again today. He figured he'd call her and see if she was willing to meet somewhere. Just so his scent wouldn't be fresher than Kris's when she returned.