Sesshomaru nodded and walked with her, letting her dictate their wanderings. He'd been to multiple festivals like this, and they were usually enjoyable. This time, however, was especially pleasant.

Kris found a few shiny baubles to distract herself with before she moved on, still looking around and trying to enjoy herself. Fortunately the rest of the festival brought her mood up.

Soon enough, Aura got distracted by a display of beta fish. Each fish was in its own little glass bubble, and she got particularly distracted by one that was almost the exact shade of magenta as Sesshoumaru's stripes.

Hisoka made mental notes about the shiny odds and ends that Kris looked at.

"Do you want one of them?" he asked her when she paused to look at something again. "My treat."

Sesshomaru noted which fish and passed over some money. Hey, if she didn't want to keep it, he thought his father would get a kick out of leaving it on the kitchen counter.

Kris blinked and looked at him before picking one out in particular. It was a shiny little decoration, orangey-red, almost the same color as Hisoka's eyes. She didn't say anything, turning faintly pink.

Aura looked at him in surprise when he bought the fish she'd been looking at. She hadn't expected him to get her anything, really. She still wasn't used to having money spent on her so easily.

Hisoka raised an eyebrow slightly, but handed over the money for the bauble and tried to ignore the blush on Kris's face. He handed her the little sparkly thing.

"And now this is yours," he said.

Sesshomaru carried the fish easily, waiting for her to find another spot she wanted to stop and look. He didn't mind spending money on her; in fact he liked to. Besides which, it was a sign of favor to her. Win-win for him.

Kris nodded and took it. "Thanks," she said quietly, still embarrassed. She started walking again, taking her time looking around. She paused in front of a decorative weapons vendor, glancing at Hisoka speculatively.

Hisoka followed her, raising an eyebrow when she looked from the weapons to him.

"Find something?" he asked.

As she passed a snack cart, Aura grinned and reached up to nudge Inuyasha.

"Want anything, pup?" she asked.

"Maybe." Kris looked at him again, her eyes narrowed just a little. "You want to go find some noodles? I think Shippou's getting hungry."

Inuyasha studied everything carefully before pointing hopefully to a sweet roll. Sesshomaru nodded his assent of that.

"If you'd like, I can take him with me so you can have time to look at things on your own, or we could all go," Hisoka offered. It was certainly what it sounded like she wanted, at least, although he didn't mind going. He just didn't want to leave her on her own after earlier.

Aura nodded--and promptly bought three of them. She grinned and passed one each to the taiyoukai and the pup.

"One for each of us," she said, even as she glanced at Sesshoumaru. She'd wanted to get him something, for once, since he was always spending money on her. Getting the snack for Inuyasha was just a convenient excuse.

"You take Shippou and go on ahead. I think I see one right up there. I'll be along in a minute." Kris smiled at him, waving a hand at him to shoo him off.

Sesshomaru blinked, clearly surprised. He hadn't had one of those since he was a pup. He took the bun and sniffed it carefully before he started eating it. It wasn't what he was used to, but it was tasty nonetheless. He inclined his head to her, even as Inuyasha ate his as fast as he could.

Aura grinned and blushed a little from behind her own sweet bun even as she started to eat it. She could tell she surprised him, but he hadn't refused it, which was good.

Hisoka nodded and went to collect the kit before taking him to the noodle stand, glancing back every so often to keep an eye on Kris at the same time.

Sesshomaru finished off his bun, keeping hold of Inuyasha for the moment. The pup wasn't worn out yet, but he knew that as soon as things started to quiet down Inuyasha would be out like a light.

Kris managed to snag a decorate but still useful dagger for Hisoka, figuring he could appreciate it for multiple reasons. She hid it under her outermost layer and started walking towards the noddle shop to join up with him and Shippou.

A cat youkai stopped her, moving in front of her deliberately. "What do you think you're doing with a fine thing like that?" the cat asked, her eyes narrowed.

"It's for a friend," Kris growled. "Move."

"I don't think I will." The cat moved to be more in her way, and Kris growled in frustration. "You shouldn't be here, hanyou."

"Yeah, yeah," Kris muttered. "Get outta my way and I'll be on my way."

The cat's eyes narrowed further as she flexed her claws. "You misunderstand. You shouldn't be alive. My clan killed whatever halflings dared survive birth."

Kris growled, instantly shifting, getting defensive. The crowd parted to give them some space, a few other youkai watching to see what Kris would do. If she started running there was enough tension that at least one or two youkai would give chase, if not more. And she couldn't properly fight in confined spaces like this.

In short, she was well and truly screwed.

Hisoka had noticed the crowd forming and got up to investigate. When he realized what was going on, he growled and stepped in. Reaching out, he grabbed the other cat's shoulder, letting his claws dig into her as he pushed her out of the way.

"Are they bothering you, Kristine?" he asked, his tone deceptively mild as he went over to Kris.

Kris was quiet for a moment before she shook her head. "No. They're not." Kris looked down at the ground briefly. "Let's just go." Her shoulders slumped a little.

Gently, Hisoka wrapped an arm around her waist, ignoring everyone else around them.

"Come on, then," he said softly. "Shippou is waiting for you at the noodle stand."

Kris nodded and moved away from the crowd with him, the various people melting away again to leave no trace of what had almost happened.

Shippou bounced over to Kris, looking up at her worriedly. "Kris?" he asked quietly.

"Don't worry about it, Shippou," she said quietly. "Come on, those smell good. What do you want tonight?"

Shippou eyed her for a few more moments before he looked at the noodle selection. He could tell something was wrong with Kris but he didn't say anything.

Hisoka didn't make any sort of comment, but he stayed close to Kris. She was upset, and he knew she was, but he also knew she was too stubborn to accept any sort of help. He could, however, drop a few words to Aura later and let the girl fuss over Kris. The hanyou always tended to indulge her friend, and maybe Aura would be able to help.

After eating, the other three met up with Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Aura again. Kris was still not quite normal, but she was faking it well enough.

"I see you've had fun," she said, raising an eyebrow at the fish.

Sesshomaru glanced at Hisoka, his eyes narrowing very faintly when he smelled traces of blood on Hisoka's claws, silently demanding an explanation.

Kris might have been faking it well, but Aura lived with her. She could tell when Kris wasn't happy. Kris tended to fizz when she was unhappy. She nodded anyways.

"Yeah," she said. "What about you?"

Hisoka shook his head slightly. He would explain later, once they dropped the girls off at home.

"Got a new shiny thing, had dinner..." Kris shrugged. "It's been an interesting evening." She glanced at Sesshomaru.

"So have you two seen everything?"

"Not quite." Sesshomaru answered only after giving Hisoka another look, and he looked at Kris and Shippou both. "There's one other thing."

Aura was about to tease Kris about wanting more shiny things, but paused when Sesshoumaru mentioned that there was something else to see.

"What other thing?" she asked, turning to him. Now she was intrigued.

"Come." Sesshomaru managed to hold everyone in one hand, shifting Inuyasha to sit up on his shoulder. He figured Hisoka would take care of the kit as he led the way to a little clearing.

A few kitsune stood in the center of the clearing, foxfire of various colors blooming around them as a few fireworks went off on the ground, clearly kitsune creations.

Kris hung back a little, mindful of the children near the front, but she watched with wide eyes. Sure, she'd met other kitsune, but not very many, and she'd never seen anything like this before.

"Come on, kit," Hisoka said, gathering up Shippou and putting the kit on his shoulders, much like Sesshoumaru did with Inuyasha. It would be easier for the youngsters to see that way.

Aura watched in awe. She'd never seen fireworks quite like that before, and she found them to be absolutely beautiful.

"Oh wow," she breathed. She didn't notice that she started to lean against Sesshoumaru a little, cuddling into his side.

Sesshomaru shifted his arms to make it easier for her, watching the performance calmly. He'd seen such things before, but by their looks the girls had not. He was rather proud of himself and Hisoka for both thinking of it.

Kris watched with awe, her eyes wide. This was really amazing, and she had an almost instantaneous desire to learn how to do do that herself. If she could.

Hisoka noticed Kris's expression and realized that he'd never seen her use foxfire before. She probably didn't know how.

"I'm sure I know someone who would be willing to instruct you," he offered softly. He had to have met someone over the years who wouldn't mind a hanyou student, he just needed to find them. "You and Shippou both, I'm sure."

Aura realized after a moment that she was snuggled up to Sesshoumaru, and blushed. She didn't make any move to get away, though.

Kris nodded after a moment, still in awe. She shifted closer to him without thinking about it, watching as the kitsunes performed simple tricks for the kids.

Sesshomaru slid his arm sound her in an almost proprietary way, watching with her. He'd have to show her some other things later on.