Kristine waited for Sesshomaru to back down before she reigned in her own youki. "Sorry, Aura," she muttered, glaring at the two youki. She was even more sensitive than most youkai, or hanyou even, about what territory she claimed as hers.

Sesshomaru looked at Aurellia for a few moments before his gaze shifted away. He continued moving, heading into the kitchen, where he paused.

The kitchen was spotless. Everything was put away, the sink and counters were clean, and the fridge had reminders on it for things like doctors visits and appointments and such. The cookies from the night before still sat in their ziploc bag on the counter.

Kris surprised him even more by wedging herself in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring fiercely at him. "Why don't you go find someone else to terrorize and bully into submission?" she asked, a growl lacing her voice.

The glaring contests were getting them nowhere.

"Ladies, if one of you would kindly allow me upstairs, I am sure I can finish the appraisal quickly," Hisoka broke in calmly. He left the statement hang there, carefully implying that doing so would get them out of the girls' hair. "I believe we have seen enough of the ground floor for the time being." Or not enough of it, depending on the perspective one looked at it from. He glanced between the two girls, carefully not taking sides for the moment. There would be time enough for that later on.

Aura hung back, not wanting to get in the middle of the dominance dispute anymore. At least they weren't throwing youki around anymore. It made her feel slightly less small and insignificant now that the energy wasn't buzzing across her skin anymore. She glanced at Kris.

With a small snarl, Kris pushed past Sesshomaru and started up the staircase, not even looking back at Hisoka. She stopped at the top of the stairs, turning to look at him and forcing him to stay one stair below her.

"Our rooms and bathroom," she said, still rather hostile. "Anything else you need to know before you go?"

Sesshomaru looked over at Aura. She was still cleary uneasy, so he decided to see what he could do to put her a little more at ease.

"I did not realize your... friend would be quite so territorial," he murmured. "I also did not realize you were sensitive to youki." It was as close to an apology as she would get from him.

"Are there any other rooms that we have yet to see?" Hisoka asked. If there were, there couldn't be too many more of them, the house wasn't THAT big. And if there weren't, then they would head out for the day and come back tomorrow to start working.

"Most people don't," Aura replied, more to the second comment than to the first. There wasn't really anything else she could say about it. She didn't have enough spiritual energy to be more than sensitive, which meant it wasn't even enough for anyone else to sense. "Kris... is like that, though." She didn't offer any apologies for her roommate. It was their home being invaded, after all. Kris had a right to be upset about it.

Kris shook her head. "Well. The library. But that's it." She eyed him, clearly wanting him to go away, for a little while at least. She was not comfortable having two more powerful male youkai in her house.

Sesshomaru nodded. "So I see." He looked her over for a few moments before his attention returned briefly to Hisoka. "I believe we will be ready to leave soon for the day." He didn't yet mention that they'd be back at the same time tomorrow, or that the actual cleaning and organizing would begin then.

"You don't have to go into the library," Aura said when she heard Kris mention it. "My library isn't a problem at all." She paused. Had she just admitted that maybe the rest of the house was a problem? She thought for a moment before mentally shaking her head. No, she hadn't. She was just trying to get the youkai out of the house.

Hisoka glanced at Sesshoumaru and nodded.

"I agree," he said. He went back down the stairs again. He had more than enough information now to be able to say that yes, these two girls desperately needed organizational help. He could always take a look in the library later on, once they had established a sort of base of operations.

Sesshomaru nodded as well, moving back to the front door. "We've seen enough for today," he agreed mildly. "We'll see you tomorrow morning at 9."

Kris's eyes narrowed but she didn't say anything. She was too busy coming up with ways to try and force them to give up and leave. She didn't have as much power as a full-blooded kitsune, but she had enough. She'd figure out a way to make them give up and leave.

Hisoka followed Sesshoumaru out the door. There wasn't anything else he needed to say to the girls for the moment, so it was best to leave and let them get used to what was about to happen.

"This might end up being a very challenging contract," he commented once they had left the house. What he didn't comment on, however, was the quiet conversation he'd over heard between Sesshoumaru and Aurellia at the bottom of the stairs. He heard it, though, and filed it away for potential use later on.

Aura didn't relax even after the youkai left. They were going to come back? That didn't bode well. She rubbed her arms a bit and glanced at Kris.

"You look like you need to go run," she said softly. "You're still a bit tingly. It's still early yet if you want to go burn off some energy."

Sesshomaru hummed his agreement. "Indeed," he murmured. "Perhaps it would be best if you dealt with the hanyou. You are, after all, better suited to diplomacy than I am."

The hanyou was possibly going to be the hadest part of this. He got the feeling she was going to protest the entire time. The human was more interesting, and should be easier to reach. Not easy, but easier. Hopefully.

Kris looked over at her. "You'll be okay without me?" she asked quietly. She knew her friend was self-sufficient, but she was worried, after those two youkai. After all, she had adopted Aura into her pack... what there was of it.

"I'll be fine," Aura replied, waving a hand. "Go. I'm going to head upstairs and take a bath. I swear I won't touch your shampoo again or anything." She knew better than to do that. Whatever stuff Kris used, it completely fried Aura's hair once. It had taken her months to grow it back out properly. "I'll be able to tell if they come back and I'll stay in the library or something."

Hisoka held back a sigh. What his lord really meant was that he didn't want to have to fight with the hanyou the entire time.

"Perhaps you are right," he replied instead. "I will see how much progress I can make with her. Though I would advise you to try and refrain from scaring the human girl too much. I doubt either of the girls would take it well if you did." He knew Sesshoumaru had a tendency to be cold and harsh by turns, and he knew humans didn't take well to such treatment.

Kris nodded and headed out the back, taking off at a run. She ignored the two youkai, running away from them and towards the nearest park. It didn't take long to get a ways away from everything else.

Sesshomaru nodded to show he understood. "Agreed," he murmured. He would rather not have to fight her at every turn, so a little push here and there might be necessary, but not too much.

"As soon as we get her mother to sign the contract, we can figure out what we wish to do."

Hisoka nodded.

"We should go there now," he suggested. "Her mother wanted to know as soon as the appraisal was complete. She was more than ready to sign the contract before." It didn't surprise him, really. Most of their clients were either parents trying to get their lives together after their children moved out, or parents trying to help their children get started on their own. It wasn't an unfamiliar situation, although the addition of the hanyou client made things tricky.

Once Kris was gone, Aura went upstairs and immediately started to run the faucet in the tub. A hot bath was definitely in order after all of that. She absently checked her arms to make sure she didn't actually break out in hives or anything. While she was used to Kris and her constant low-level buzz of youki, high levels made her itchy and tingly, and she was never sure if she would actually have a reaction or not.

Sesshomaru nodded, heading towards the mother's house. He wasn't looking forward to dealing with a hanyou, but hopefully Hisoka would deal with that part. Hopefully.

Kris was gone for a few hours, running and burning off the extra energy and agression built up from the other two youkai. She had the feeling she was going to be running a lot if they were insistent on this task of theirs.

Hisoka followed him, letting Sesshoumaru take the lead like always. It was as much habit by now as it was respect.

---

Much to Aura's annoyance, she ended up opening her eyes at about ten till nine the next morning. After a moment's contemplation, she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. She almost managed it, too, until she felt the same fizzy tingling of youki as the day before. She sighed, and prayed that if she ignored them, they would go away, but she got the distinct feeling that there was going to be no such luck.

Hisoka looked around the yard absently as he followed Sesshoumaru up the front walk. The yard was sparse, with only a pair of trees and a few bushes around the house to call 'landscaping.' From the outside, one couldn't even tell that the inside was such a disaster. Oh well... the disaster would be corrected soon enough.

Kris opened the door before they'd even gotten there, standing in the doorway belligerently, looking them over. She hadn't slept again, and it was starting to show. She had faint circles under her eyes, and her jeans were slightly wrinkled, as was her baby blue shirt. She curled her upper lip slightly, as if daring them to try to enter the house.

Sesshomaru hung back a little, deciding to let Hisoka deal with this particular problem. He could tell she was tired, but he didn't say anything. It was too early to keep pushing her.

Once Aura realized that Kris was already downstairs, she got out of bed and put on a pair of decent pants before going to see what was happening. When she saw the staredown, she sighed.

"Kris," she said softly. "Why don't you go and start the coffee maker? Caffeine will do you some good." And hopefully, that would give Aura enough time to try to convince the youkai to leave again. At least nobody was as tingly as they were the day before, that was a plus.

Hisoka waited to see what the hanyou would do. He would step in if he had to, but it would be better if the girls worked it out on their own first. It would be easier if they came to the decision on their own to let the two youkai in, rather than pretty much being moved aside.

Kris didn't look away from the two of them while she thought over Aura's request. She knew she was already established as alpha, so she didn't have to worry about that. So after a few moments she nodded, slipping away from the door and padding into the kitchen silently, her claws clicking against the counter as she waited for the coffeemaker to finish.

Sesshomaru looked at Aura and inclined his head. "May we enter?" he asked politely. It was better to ask first, especially with a woman. Even if he and Hisoka did sometimes have the idea of better to ask forgiveness than permission, in certain instances it was better to ask permission.

Aura hesitated for a moment, glancing back at the kitchen. Then she looked back at the two standing at the door.

"And there's absolutely no way I could possibly convince you to leave?" she asked, a bit desperately. She knew she would never be able to talk her mother into ending this lunacy, so her next best bet would be getting the youkai to leave on their own.

"I'm afraid not," Hisoka replied calmly. "Your mother signed the contract last night. I'm afraid we are here for the duration."

Aura bit her lip, then sighed. Kris wasn't going to like this...

"Yeah," she said finally. "Come on in."

Sesshomaru nodded and moved into the house quietly, glancing around again. Then he looked back at Aura.

"Do either of you have day jobs?" he asked quietly. It might make it easier to do some of the necessary cleaning if they were out of the house.

Kris poured herself a cup of straight black coffee, drinking it slowly while she listened to them. She'd heard the conversation thus far, and she wasn't pleased with it.

"I do," Aura admitted after a moment. She wasn't volunteering any information on Kris, though. She would let them try to wring that from the hanyou themselves. "Four days a week, mid-morning to late-afternoon." She couldn't get any more specific than that, though... She worked at a daycare, and hours tended to get a little screwy sometimes.

While Sesshoumaru tried to get the information he needed out of Aura, Hisoka made his way towards the kitchen. He was still surprised at how clean it was, especially considering the state of the rest of the house. He made a mental note to ask about the library later on.

"May I come into the kitchen?" he asked, stopping at the doorway. He got the distinct feeling that the kitchen was the kitsune's domain, rather than the human's, and it was always best to ask when trying to go into such a place.

Sesshomaru nodded. "I see," he murmured. He glanced around. "Well, we will clear a space for ourselves. You may or may not want to stick around." He looked at her before he slipped into the living room, already looking to find a place to have cleared off first. He had the feeling this would be a lead by example project.

Kristine glanced over at him before she nodded, still holding her coffee. She was not very pleased with any of this.

"As you can see, the kitchen is clean, so you don't have to do any organizing in here." She eyed him, as if daring him to say or do otherwise.

"Duly noted," Hisoka replied, stepping into the kitchen. "Am I correct in assuming that this is the space you've claimed for yourself in the house?"

As soon as the taiyoukai disappeared into the living room, Aura went and holed herself up in the library. She felt better in there, and it was quieter. She still felt the tingle of youki on her skin, but she would just have to deal with that somehow. For now, hiding out in the library seemed like an excellent idea.

"Along with my bedroom, yes." Kris looked at him for a few moments, still very mistrustful. "Why?"

Sesshomaru brought out some garbage bags, starting to clear everything off the table in the center of the living room. Clothes went into one bag, knick knacks into another, and trash into the third and fourth bags. Receipts and mail were placed in neat stacks, and soon he had the table and the floor around it cleared.

"Curious," Hisoka replied simply. And to a degree, it was just curiosity. But he was also trying to figure out what made her keep the kitchen so neat, while her bedroom was such a mess. Clearly, both places belonged to her, but they weren't kept in the same condition. If one room were more important than the other, then he would almost understand, but why would the kitchen be more important to her than her own bedroom? "Is there a place your friend claimed as her own, or does she defer to you on such matters?"

Kris eyed him, her natural protective instincts kicking in. "Why?" she asked, a little suspicious this time. "Why don't you ask her?" She didn't know how much Aura wanted to tell these two, so she wouldn't say anything. One of them knew about Aura's job, but nothing else was her information to divulge.