He's stalking her.

Kimi crosses the room, her attention on the scroll in her hands, when she feels his eyes on her. She stops, head snapping up as she sniffs the air, and tries to locate him in the room.

There.

The sunlight coming through the window reflects off his gold irises just in time for her to catch the mischievous glint hidden deep within, and she narrows her own.

He is fully grown, he is too old for this, and he is going to pounce on her.

"Don't you dare, Sesshoumaru."

A barely perceptible smirk lifts the corner of his mouth, and Kimi rolls up the scroll and sets it aside for safe keeping.

She sighs. And this was a new uchikake too.

Across the room fangs flash, and he crouches down into an attack stance.

Feeling much too old to be scolding him, Kimi shakes her finger at his coiled form. "No. No."

His grin is feral.

Kimi swears in her head and steps around a low table, seeking to put something between them as she continues to uselessly admonish her son and shake her finger. She is strong and nothing to be trifled with, but that thing across the room was bred for battle, and really, she only has herself to blame for birthing him.

Still, this horrible sense of humor of his is not hers.

"What has gotten into you?" Her silks catch on the corner of the table, and she hears a rip. "Tch. You are replacing this, Pup."

There's only a dark, low chuckle and the sound of claws scraping the floor.

Her eyes widen. Damn it. "Sesshoumaru—"

She doesn't get to finish.

There's a blur. A scream. There's a "thud" as she feels herself hit the floor. Somewhere in the background Touga's disembodied voice shouts what the hell is going on! And then there's nothing but a mess of silver hair surrounding her face and two iron-like knees trapping her arms to her sides.

Oh, and there's also the entirely too-smug look on her son's face.

Kimi glares and tries to wiggle out of his hold. "This One is going to kill her pup."

Said pup laughs. "You may try"—he lazily inspects his claws—"but you will certainly fail."

She growls. Arrogant, big-headed, disrespectful, insolent, overconfident—

A wet, warm tongue swipes across her cheek, and she roars as he throws his head back and laughs again.

Pup kisses stopped being cute once he could walk.

"Well, at least the library has not suffered any great loss."

Kimi's neck cranes back, and Sesshoumaru's head snaps up at the same time to see Touga's tall form darkening the doorway.

There's a wry grin on the Great Dog General's face, and Kimi glowers. His amusement speaks for itself. He won't be much help.

"Touga," she growls, trying to wriggle free again. "Get him off."

"Why? It appears he is playing with you. Do mothers not enjoy it when their pups play?"

Her mate smirks while her son's chuckle rumbles above her, and she scowls at them both. "He is not a pup!" Managing to free her fingers just enough, she latches onto the long hair spilling near her wrists and gives it a yank, smirking when Sesshoumaru hisses. "He is heavy!"

Touga's loud, uproarious laughter fills the room. "Sesshoumaru, get off your mother."

Her son finally listens, and after he pulls her up, Kimi brushes at her silks, trying to dispel any dust and smooth the wrinkled material.

Sesshoumaru reaches out to straighten her uchikake, and she looks up.

A small smile is on his lips, and warm gold looks back at her, and something catches in her throat when she realizes suddenly that the pup days are too far gone.

Tears prick behind her eyes. "Tch."

"Tch," he mimics, flashing a quiet grin.

Touga rolls his eyes. "Now you've done it."

He's not wrong.

The tears break free, and Kimi reaches out and hugs Sesshoumaru, remembering a time when she could just bundle him up into her lap and wrap him up and conceal him from the world.

But things are different now.

Now, it's his arms that circle her with a warmth that's difficult to describe, and she closes her eyes and breathes in, finding her and her mate's scents underneath that which is uniquely his. And it's all suddenly so much heavier than she ever thought it would be.

"Insolent pup," she grumbles, face pressed against the fold of his kimono.

The deep chuckle that rumbles under her ear chases away the memory of squeals and giggles, and she sniffles.

Maybe it's not so bad that he'll still try to sneak up on her from time to time.

A/N: It's hard when they grow up.