Chapter 59

Sesshomaru's problem



Mai sighed, rolling from one side to another. She was fed up with doing nothing for the past two days. Since the most unfortunate and embarrassing trip to get the damn pads and painkillers from Kagome, Sesshomaru was acting oddly. Instead of heading off in the search for Naraku, as usual, he ordered Jaken to set up a camp, although it was early afternoon. When Mai tried to do anything useful, the dog demon would glare at her, command her to sit still and in the end made Jaken slave for two. The silver-haired youkai didn't even let her play with Rin – when the kid wanted to play, he ordered Jaken to entertain the little girl. Mai tried to explain, that she wasn't bleeding to death, but Sesshomaru wasn't convinced. As a result, all her activities amounted to sleeping, laying or sitting, he even glared at the girl, when she wanted to take a stroll around the meadow. This overprotective attitude of his really annoyed her.

"Jaken, where is Sesshomaru?" she asked this question again. The dog demon was vanishing for some time, but then he always appeared in the most inconvenient moments, especially when Mai wanted to do a laundry or sew the clothes.

"Nearby." The imp replied, pointing towards the trees. Mai sighed. It seemed, that her boss was staying close to them. The girl's hopes for a brief moment of freedom shattered again. If this repeats every month, it would be a pain in the ass. Having decided, she stood up and started walking.

"Mai, where are you going?" Jaken asked, suddenly alerted. "You know, that Sesshomaru-sama ordered you to rest here!"
Mai rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to talk some sense into his thick skull!" the girl hissed. The whole situation started getting on her nerves. Hopefully another attempt would bring some positive effects.
She ignored Jaken's protests and stalked in the direction of the trees. She hiked the hem of her kimono, not to tear the pretty clothes and carefully made her way between the trees. Mai saw some movement ahead of her and a flash of white. That must be Sesshomaru. The girl was about to call his name, but reconsidered. She wondered what he was doing here. Maybe something, that he didn't want Mai and the rest to see? Curious, she slowly approached the demon, careful not to snap any twig. Unknowingly she held her breath – Mai felt like a spy. Hiding behind a tree, she took a peek.

Sesshomaru was practicing swordsmanship – he was swinging Tokijin, as if fighting some imaginary opponent. The silver hair swirled around him, as he switched the poses and Mai noticed something, that made her face turn red. Under the nearby tree were lying his possessions – the armor, Tenseiga, along with haori. The demon was half naked – he was dressed only in his white hakama, even his feet were bare. Suddenly Mai felt like some stalking pervert. It was damn difficult not to notice, that he was a devilishly handsome man, especially when the drops of sweat were streaming over his firm muscles…

Mai turned around, pressing her back against the tree and shut her eyes, trying to calm the racing heart. Why the hell she had to give in to her curiosity? If her heart wouldn't stop pounding the way it did, Sesshomaru would definitely hear it and discover her hideout. The girl was angry at her own reaction at the sight of him. Come on – it was Sesshomaru! Who in their right mind would react like that?!

The girl slowly let out a breath, she was holding and opened her eyes.

"Gah!" Mai shrieked, plastering herself against the tree. In front of her stood Sesshomaru, slightly irritated and very bare-chested. He narrowed his golden eyes and glared at her.

"Why are you not resting?" he demanded. Mai stayed silent, sure that she would be stuttering if she spoke now. She did her best to divert her attention from Sesshomaru's hips, visible through the hakama's cuts, and to focus it on his eyes. His intimidating glare wasn't helping. "Answer me, woman."

"Umm… I…" Mai began. "I wanted to talk to you." She managed to utter at last. The demon grew annoyed.

"Then talk." He nearly hissed. Mai stared at him with wide-opened eyes, her face flushed.
"Okay. It's about this resting…" she started, finding it difficult to concentrate. "Can you put something on first?"

Sesshomaru arched his eyebrow, his annoyance disappeared to be replaced with amusement.
"Are you bothered?" he asked, a mischievous glint in his eye. Mai gulped. Somehow she preferred him to be intimidating – she knew at least what to expect.

"No, of course not." She said quickly, maybe too quickly. The girl observed as the demon thrust Tokijin into the ground and with his unnatural speed closed the distance between them, finding himself much too close to Mai. The girl stiffened at the sight of a self-satisfied smirk plastered across his face. What did the sadistic bastard plan?

The girl tried to escape, but the demon slammed his clawed hand against the tree right next to her head – as a hint not to try anything. Mai felt her breathing hitch. She was getting really scared of him. Since she was rescued from the burning castle, Sesshomaru didn't show his violent nature even once. Why was he doing it now? The girl quickly placed her hands on his damp chest, trying to shove him away, but the youkai didn't budge. He glared at her viciously and growled. She closed her eyes, as the demon leaned down and felt his breath on her forehead.

"Why do you keep disobeying me?" Sesshomaru asked. Mai felt his clawed fingers lifting her chin and heard an irritated growl. "Look at me when I speak to you." The demon said with slight annoyance in his voice. Mai opened her eyes, as he said, and stared back at him. She noticed, that the expression on his face changed suddenly. All the annoyance fled and reflected a strange emotion – the mix between surprise and something else, she couldn't put a finger on. Then, as though it burnt, he released her chin and abruptly pulled back from her, turning away.

Mai let out a ragged breath, she was holding. Her heart pounded like crazy and she was shivering. She looked at the demon, who stalked to where his armor and the rest of his things were. What the hell was that about? She observed, as Sesshomaru put on his haori and armor, surprisingly fast and with ease, considering that he had only one arm. He tied swiftly his obi and slid Tenseiga beneath it. Then, he made its way to retrieve Tokijin, that was stuck in ground right in front of Mai. The youkai violently ripped it out of the soil and placed next to Tenseiga. As he did it, his eyes met hers and the girl flinched at the sight of cold fury on his face. Sesshomaru reached to her and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to him. The girl gritted her teeth, not to make a sound, terrified by the demon.
Sesshomaru angrily stalked towards the camp, dragging Mai after himself without saying a word. The girl was confused. Why was he so pissed? She didn't give him a reason, did she? Normally Mai would have asked him, but she had a hunch, that it would be suicide today.

The demon dragged her back to the camp and ordered the group to set off. The girl ran to climb on Ah-Un's back, as soon as the dog demon released her. She should be accustomed to his displays of domination and bad temper, but today he completely freaked her out. And that strange face he made… What was that about?




For the next three days the group was continuing the search for Naraku. Mai thought, that the atmosphere was becoming unbearable. Since their fight, if even it could be called so, Sesshomaru didn't say a word to her. The demon treated her, as though she didn't exist – if he wanted something of her, he was telling Jaken to pass the order. Mai tried to talk to him, she even wanted to apologize – not that she had any reason to do it – but she was being ignored. The girl was thankful, that they stopped and set up the camp today – previously she spent the night on Ah-Un's back and was now tired as hell. She grabbed some of her old kimonos and wrapped Rin in one and covered herself with the other. She observed the fire for a while, before she drifted off to the sleep.




Sesshomaru was gazing at the flames. It was the dead of the night and all his companions were asleep, allowing the demon to consider some issues. He lifted his eyes and looked over the fire. The source of all his problems just rolled onto the other side, so that Sesshomaru could see her peaceful face. Mai. The mere sound of her name unsettled him and triggered his anger. The inu-youkai would have abandoned the troublesome human in the woods long ago, but he was stupid enough to save her life. His father had inculcated into young Sesshomaru, that if you save a life, you become responsible for it. And so he had to keep the woman close, protecting her from any harm, that may befall her. The demon reluctantly admitted, that he had some feelings of fondness towards her. At first he did not let that bother him, as it was the same with Rin – but it turned out to be different. The bond he had with the child was more like the one between parent and his pup. His feelings for the older female were dangerously close to those between a man and a woman. The inu-youkai denied it at first, but since few days he had a proof of it. That time, when he caught the insolent woman watching him practice and wanted to make her finally understand his superiority over her… When she looked at her with those eyes, brown with a touch of green, all his anger fled. He felt stab of guilt as he saw the fear in those eyes of hers, guilt and something entirely different and unexpected – nearly uncontrollable urge to crush her sweet trembling lips with his in a kiss.

The demon clenched his fist. How could a mere human woman make him, a powerful Taiyoukai, have such shameful thoughts! This Sesshomaru refused to be infatuated with a lowly human! The inu-youkai stood up, having decided to solve his problems once and for all. He stalked towards the sleeping woman. With ending her pathetic life he would put an end to his trouble. The dog demon lifted his arm and green light appeared on the tips of his fingers, as he prepared to use his poisonous claws to kill the woman. The female stirred and rolled onto her back, letting out a soft moan. The moon cast silvery light on her face – in her sleep she looked so pure and innocent, but also seductive, with her lips slightly parted. Sesshomaru clenched his fist and lowered his arm. He could not do it. He, the demon who never hesitated to slaughter unimaginable amount of humans, could not bring himself to end the life of a single woman. Was this how the downfall of his father began?

Chapter 60

The miserable end of Chokyukai and Rin's plan




On the next day Sesshomaru let his group have a short break during the day. Mai was extremely happy because of that – she slept really well the last night, but she didn't manage to sleep everything off and needed a rest. She sat on the meadow among the flowers with a garland of red weeds on her head, posing for Rin, who was drawing her portrait. Jaken was sitting nearby and Sesshomaru was thankfully out of sight, probably training again. Today he was even more unbearable than yesterday – instead of ignoring her, he kept casting her murderous looks. She sighed. There was surely nothing she could do about his issues, so there was no point in thinking about it.

"Mai, stay still!" Rin told her, furrowing her brows, what made her look cute. Mai was contented to pose for the kid, but her back got stiff from not moving for an hour now. It was quite surprising, that normally lively Rin could focus on something for more than five minutes, but apparently she really liked drawing. And was getting better at it too – the figures she drew looked a lot more like human beings now, or demon beings.

"Rin, don't bother Mai." Jaken sighed. The imp felt a little bit sorry for the human woman, because of the hostile treatment Sesshomaru-sama gave her. Well, probably she was to blame for this herself, anyway. Jaken wondered, what did she do to make the dog demon act this way. Normally, when their master was displeased with something, he would kick Jaken or threaten Mai. Silent treatment was a first for him.

The green youkai lifted his head, when he noticed something strange in the air. He glanced up and saw a dark, ominous cloud, gathering right above them. It can't be anything good. He jumped on his feet and lifted Nintoujou, ready to defend the girls – maybe if he saves them, Sesshomaru-sama would praise him.

"Mai, Rin, get close to me!" he told the females. Mai immediately stood up, pulling Rin close to herself and went behind Jaken. She glanced nervously at the cloud. Surely they would be attacked by some youkai anytime now. Where the hell was Sesshomaru?

An unnatural tornado formed beneath the cloud and struck the ground before them. Mai stared into the whirlwind, anticipating some horrible and powerful youkai. She saw three silhouettes – one big and two smaller - and cursed. She wasn't sure if Jaken would be able to cope with one opponent, not mentioning three. Then, the tornado dissolved, allowing Mai and her companions to see the enemy.

"Is this a joke?" Jaken asked hesitantly.

"I guess so." Mai answered, folding her arms and arching an eyebrow.

"It's a pig!" Rin exclaimed cheerfully, pointing at a pig youkai, who came in company of a kappa and a monkey. From the looks, the newcomers weren't the powerful demons, that Mai feared.
The pig looked insulted.

"I am no pig, I am the great Chokyukai-sama." The pig said.

"You don't look great to me." Mai snorted, looking at him with doubt. The youkai looked at her and grinned lecherously.

"What a beautiful woman! Will you bear my child?" he asked. The girl narrowed her eyes at him. What a jerk! Anyways, she heard that pickup line before.

"Never, you shitty pig! Go somewhere and die!" Mai shouted to him, mad at the insolent behavior. However, the pig didn't look discouraged. Chokyukai chuckled, not averting his eyes from Mai. He reached into his kimono and searched for something. He took out a plain golden circlet.

"I like women with strong personality. I've decided to make you my bride." He said and tossed the circlet into the air. Mai felt the anger welling in her. A bride of a pig? No way!

"Hell would freeze faster than…" she kept screaming at Chokyukai. However, the circlet suddenly flew towards her and landed on her head. In that moment Mai felt her mind going blank.

"Mai!" Jaken turned to the girl. His companion had the golden circlet on her head and was behaving at least oddly. Something was definitely wrong with her. Mai's eyes were gazing lovely at the pig, slight blush appeared on her cheeks. She sighed in a way, that was supposed to be cute and alluring.

"Chokyukai-sama!" she exclaimed. Jaken's lid twitched. What was going on? The girl looked, as though she was infatuated with the pig. Was she under some kind of spell?
Mai pushed Rin from herself and made her way to the pig youkai.

"Mai, wait!" Jaken called to her and gripped the hem of her kimono, trying to stop her, but she kicked him off her and went to the pig youkai.

"Come, my dear!" Chokyukai called to her with a lecherous grin, opening his arms.

"Yes, my love!" Mai exclaimed and fell into them, embracing the pig with love in her eyes. Jaken frowned with disgust. Suddenly, he turned his head, as he noticed a flash of light with the corner of his eye.

The ball of light appeared next to Jaken and Rin, announcing the arrival of Sesshomaru. The dog demon narrowed his eyes, taking in the scene. The pig youkai was standing with the idiot woman in his arms.

"Release her." The inu-youkai said calmly. Chokyukai only chucked at the demand.

"Release her? She wants to be my bride from my own will, you see?" the pig demon laughed. Sesshomaru glanced at Mai. He felt his anger welling, as he saw her embracing the other youkai, looking at him with infatuated eyes and a dreamy smile on the pretty lips of hers. Unknowingly, his eyes turned scarlet and the magenta stripes on his cheeks jagged.

"Bride, huh?" the dog demon repeated slowly, gritting his teeth at the sight of the woman touching another man like this. This Sesshomaru will not forgive this! The inu-youkai lifted his arm, the poison gathering around his hand. "You will die now."

The dog demon prepared to attack, but Mai shielded Chokyukai with his own body, throwing her arms around his neck.

"I will protect you, my beloved!" she exclaimed. The woman turned her head to Sesshomaru. "Leave us alone! I'm his bride now!" she called.

The pig smiled smugly, when he saw Sesshomaru clenching his fist, withdrawing from using his poisonous claws. The inu-youkai barely controlled the urge to transform into his true form and rip off the head of the pig, who made the woman say such things. He felt the stab of jealousy at her words.

"You belong to me, and me alone." He hissed.

"You can't kill me now!" the arrogant Chokyukai laughed. Sesshomaru tried to control his wrath in order not to harm Mai.

"Hn." The dog demon smirked. "Who do you have me for?"

With his amazing speed he darted forward, only a blurred shape could be seen. Surprised pig youkai looked around frantically, wondering where did the silver haired demon go. Suddenly he coughed blood, as a clawed hand pierced his chest from behind.

Mai shrieked, when the Sesshomaru pulled his hand out of Chokyukai's chest and the pig demon fell limply to the ground. The girl wanted to kneel beside him, but the dog demon swiftly caught her arm and yanked her upwards to face him. The woman screamed from terror and tried to pull out, but Sesshomaru held her firmly.

"Sesshomaru-sama, the circlet!" Jaken shouted. The inu-youkai released the woman to take the golden circlet of her head. Once he did, the disturbing look in her eyes vanished and she glanced around, confused. She flinched, when she noticed the dead pig youkai and the blood on Sesshomaru's hand.

She stared at Sesshomaru. The demon instantly averted his gaze, as their eyes met. The dog demon was angry at his own stupidity and the lack of control. In his anger he said what he should not have said – he almost made his claim on the human woman.

"What happened?" Mai asked, still looking confused. Sesshomaru glanced at her.

"Do not you remember?" he asked. Mai shook her head.

"Nope, not a thing." She said and looked at the dead youkai. "Geez, what did he do to you to end so miserably?"

"Hn." Sesshomaru turned away. So the woman does not know of his improper behavior. The dog demon felt relief. It should stay this way, till he finds a solution of this problem. He glanced at his companions. "We are going."



Rin was looking at Sesshomaru-sama's back, as the dog demon walked in front of the rest of his group. The child furrowed her brows, as she was intensely considering something. She was almost sure, that her guardian liked Mai and she liked him back, but both of them were too stubborn to admit it. The older girl probably didn't even have a clue that she liked Sesshomaru-sama. Rin sighed heavily, wondering how the adults could be so dumb sometimes. The child thought also, that the dog demon didn't know how to get Mai to like him back. She didn't blame him for it though – she admired him, but he was a demon after all and the older girl was a human, so the misunderstandings could happen. Rin clenched her little fists, as she decided, that she would help her guardian win Mai's heart.

She had somehow get the two of them together and she needed a good plan. Remembering, what the older girl always said to her, Rin knew that she had to get some info.. inforo… information. Once she has it, she'll be able to think of the other details. Nodding with determination, she skipped to Sesshomaru sama. She walked beside him for a while, gazing up at his calm face. She tugged his sleeve and the demon looked down at her.

"Sesshomaru-sama, will we stop for a night today?" The child asked.

"No." her guardian answered shortly. Rin heard Mai's disappointed moan behind them.

"And tomorrow?"

"Yes." Sesshomaru replied. Rin smiled and inquired further.

"Will you stay with us tomorrow, Sesshomaru-sama?"

"No, Rin."

"But you will be back for the night?" Rin nagged further. The demon cast her an annoyed look.

"Yes. Be silent now." He told her. The child nodded happily, glad that she managed to get Sesshomaru-sama to tell her of his plans. So she will have the whole day to prepare something. But what? The child thought intensely of things, that the adults did together, when they liked each other very much. Rin's face brightened, as an idea popped into her mind.

"Sesshomaru-sama," the child asked again. "Will we stop by the hot springs tomorrow?"

"No. Stop talking."

Rin's smile fell from her face at the answer. She was hoping, that there would be the hot springs. Once, when she and Mai were bathing, she asked the older girl why Sesshomaru-sama and Jaken-sama don't bathe with them, she was told, that the adults, a man and a woman, can be in the bath together only, when they like each other very much. So if Rin managed to get Sesshomaru-sama and Mai to get into the hot springs together, they would surely like each other more. The problem was, that there were no hot springs to begin with. Rin started thinking again.
The child glanced over her shoulder at Jaken as she remembered something. He could make hot springs with the Nintoujou! Rin grinned to herself. The rest will be easy. She'll make Sesshomaru-sama and Mai fall in love.

Chapter 61

The hot-spring horror



Mai looked at Rin with worry. The child was behaving weird today. Sesshomaru left them again and flew off somewhere, taking Jaken with him and leaving the girls with Ah-Un. She took an opportunity to finally do a laundry, taking the advantage of the fact, that her demonic boss wasn't around to make her wash his clothes.

"Tch! He should make Jaken do those kinds of things, not me." She muttered to herself, as she was hanging her wet kimonos. The girl looked with longing at the direction, where the hot springs were. In the morning Rin went to Jaken and negotiated with him making them. The imp stuck a talisman on the bare stones and touched it with Nintoujou, creating a pond filled with hot water. At first Mai scolded both Jaken and the kid for not telling her before, that the imp could do something like that – she just couldn't get over so many wasted chances to take a relaxing hot bath.

When she finished hanging the last kimono, she fished the soap out of the travelling bag and cheerfully made her way to the hot springs, humming under her nose.

"Mai!" The girl turned around at the sound of the kid's voice. "Mai, can you help me with those characters?"

Mai squinted her eyes to see, what was on the piece of paper, Rin was holding. It seemed, that the child was practicing writing. It surprised her a little, that the kid was doing it of her own will – usually Mai had to coax the child, using some advanced methods of persuasion.

"Of course, snips. We'll handle this together after I get my bath, okay?" the girl flashed a smile and set off to the pond. However, she managed to make only one step, before the little hands firmly gripped her kimono. She turned around and looked down, to see Rin staring at her with unusual determination.

"I want now. Please, Mai. Please, please, please…" child kept whining.

"All right." Mai said quickly, stopping Rin. "We'll do that right now."

"Okay!" the kid exclaimed happily, taking her hand. Mai sighed heavily. Rin was a quick learner – she just made the older girl give in to her demands, using the same technique, Mai used on Sesshomaru: keep nagging until he yields.
Rin made Mai help her practice writing characters, then pose for another drawing, next the girl was teaching the kid steps of a dance. The kid kept her occupied all the time till evening, making it impossible to find a free time to soak in the hot springs. Finally, Mai managed to get a moment for herself, making a supper for Rin and herself. She glanced at the child, who was now spending her time with Ah-Un and turned her attention back to chopping the vegetables.



Rin patted Ah-Un and glanced at Mai, who was making the supper. Good, she was busy, so she wouldn't go bathing now. The whole day the little girl did all she could to keep her friend away from the hot springs, so that she could get her and Sesshomaru-sama bathe together. She had a plan in her mind already and carrying it out wouldn't be difficult. Rin looked at the sky and saw, that the sun was already setting. Sesshomaru-sama would return any time now, so she should usher Mai into the pond. Probably the older girl would soak in the water for over an hour, anyway. Determined, Rin stalked to Mai.



Mai lifted her head and saw the kid stalking to her. It looked quite comically, when the child was mimicking adults in this way.

"Something's wrong?" Mai asked, seeing Rin's focused face.

"I don't want the supper anymore." the child stated, pouting.

"But you said earlier, that you're dying of hunger! Which is it?" Mai scolded Rin. First the kid made her do the stew and now she didn't want to eat it? What is with her today anyway? She was behaving kind of strange.

"I'm not hungry." Rin said. "So you don't need to cook anymore. Maybe you could bathe?" the child suggested.

The older girl sighed heavily. It would be a waste if all those food wouldn't be eaten. It was better to cook it first and save it for later. She stirred the stew.
"I'll just finish cooking." Mai said.

Rin felt, that not everything was going as planned. She cast a quick glance at the sky – the sun was setting and Sesshomaru-sama would be here any moment now. She had to get Mai to go to the hot springs now. What to do?

"Ouch!" Rin exclaimed and feigned tripping, knocking the pot out of Mai's hands, so that the stew landed in dirt. The child sprawled herself on the ground and looked at her friend with her puppy eyes.

"I'm sorry! It was an accident!"

"Rin!" Mai glared at the kid. "Oh, really?"
Rin made her most innocent face. The older girl sighed, unable to really scold the child now.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you?" asked confused Mai, as Rin shoved the soap right into her palm. The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Fine, I'll go bathe. Rin, stay here with Ah-Un, okay?"

The child energetically nodded and waved to her. Mai narrowed her eyes, feeling that something suspicious was going on. She wanted to inquire what it was, but on the other hand, she really missed a hot bath. Well, probably she was worrying needlessly. She smiled to herself and made her way through the forest to the pond. The hot springs were quite far away from the camp – it was weird, that Jaken didn't make them somewhere closer. Not sparing it another thought, she continued her stroll till she reached the springs.

Mai took off her kimonos, carefully folded them and placed on a boulder. She took a soap with her and emerged in hot, steaming water. The girl grinned as she felt her muscles relaxing and all the weariness go away. She would definitely stay a longer while here.



Rin was creeping behind Mai, as the girl was walking towards the springs. The child did her best to be silent as a ninja and not noticed. She hid behind a tree and peeked – Mai was just folding her clothes and placing them on a stone. As the older girl slid into the water, Rin began crawling on all fours towards the kimonos. Luckily, the steam was quite dense, so probably Mai won't notice her. The child silently approached the boulder, where the clothes were and grabbed them. Slowly pulled them towards herself, careful not to alert the older girl, who was relaxing in the hot water. When she finally snatched them, Rin backed away, still crawling. She stood up and hid behind a tree, grinning widely. Most of the plan had been carried out already. Now was only one thing left – get Sesshomaru-sama somehow join Mai. The child wasn't particularly worried about that, as she knew her guardian's weak point. Quietly, she made her way back to the camp.



Mai was lying in the water and gazing at the moon and the stars, that shone brightly tonight. Her thoughts were wandering.

"I needed this." She muttered to herself, contented, that she managed to soak in the hot water at last. Now, that she knew the Jaken's secret, she would definitely make the imp do the trick more often. The girl lifted her palm to her eyes and examined it – the fingertips were already wrinkled from staying in the water too long. Mai sighed, knowing, that it was the time to get out. She stood up and made her way to the stone, where she left her clothes. The girl furrowed her brows. The clothes were not there. She looked around quickly, but the kimonos were nowhere to be seen. Did someone stole them? She covered her breasts abruptly, just in the case, that some perverted stalker was around. Mai got out of the hot springs and circled the pond, searching for the lost kimonos, without a positive effect.

Then she linked a few facts in her mind and sighed, slightly annoyed, but also amused in some way.

"Rin." She said loudly. The kid was behaving odd the whole day and now the kimonos were missing. Probably the child thought, that it was a funny prank to make her run around naked. Mai sighed. Well, she didn't really had another choice, than walk to the camp without clothes on her back. It would be embarrassing, but really there was nothing to worry about, since only Rin and herself were in the camp. If Jaken stayed too, that would be a problem. There was also Ah-Un, but Mai wasn't bothered by being seen naked by a grass-eating dragon. Furthermore, Rin told her, that Sesshomaru and Jaken wouldn't be back till morning.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, she made her way to the camp. Anyway, what was to be embarrassed about? The squirrels would see her breasts and butt?



Rin was hiding in the bushes near the camp, waiting for the right moment. The child stirred impatiently, when she finally saw Sesshomaru-sama landing in the middle of the camp. Smiling to herself, she took out an onion, she was hiding in her kimono and brought it close to her eyes, till the tears started flowing. She stretched the muscles on her face and without any delay, ran towards the silver-haired demon. Rin made a scared face and collided with the inu-youkai's leg, desperately gripping his hakama. The child looked up at him, her face all in tears.

"Sesshomaru-sama…" she whimpered, making her bottom lip tremble. The demon looked warily at her.

"What is it Rin?" he demanded harshly. Rin gripped his hakama tighter.

"A demon attacked Mai by the hot-springs. I ran away, but she's in danger!" the child exclaimed, observing Sesshomaru's face and waiting for the reaction. She released his hakama.

Sesshomaru stiffened at the news of the woman in danger. He picked up her scent, but none other except of small animals. However, the demon knew, that certain minions of Naraku could hide their scent and youki. The woman could be killed. Without hesitation, he set off, following the woman's scent. Something he picked up unnerved him. He smelled her blood – she must be wounded!
Rin grabbed Jaken by his clothing, not letting him go with Sesshomaru.

"Jaken-sama, I'm scared!" she exclaimed, as the silver-haired demon rushed with his demonic speed to Mai. Rin smiled – she knew, that her guardian would go to her friend. Now everything was up to the adults. She hoped, that her efforts wouldn't go in vain.
"Rin," Jaken asked her. "Why do you reek of onions?"



Mai cursed, as the branch scratched her shoulder and few drops of blood appeared on her bare skin. She shivered slightly, as she started feeling cold. Why the damn camp had to be so far away? She clenched her fist. Once she gets back, she will talk to Rin about stealing the clothes – it wasn't that funny to Mai.

Suddenly, she saw a rapid movement, no more than a blur, in the dim light of the moon and the stars she couldn't see clearly, what it was, but it was approaching her. She wanted to turn on her heel and flee, but she didn't have enough time – the shape reached her and stopped not a meter from her. She gawked at the awfully familiar silhouette.

"Sesshomaru?" she uttered, seeing the dog demon in front of her, his golden eyes glowing in the dark and the silver hair reflecting the moonlight.

Sesshomaru did not answer. He kept staring at the woman, who was standing before him in her naked glory, nothing hidden from him. The demon could not help, but let his eyes wander over her bare skin, nicely shaped breasts, seductive hips, naked stomach and dark hair over her spot between her legs. He just could not tear his sight of her, he kept devouring the woman's body with his eyes. He knew, that a well-mannered man should have turned away to grant her some privacy and spare shame, but he could not fight the desire to take advantage of the brief moment, when Mai was too shocked, to hide her assets with her hands. The feeling of the desire spiked in Sesshomaru – the barely controllable want to grab the woman, trace over her seductive body with his hands, lips and finally make her his – here and now.

Mai was like paralyzed. She was just standing there like a deer in the headlights and staring at Sesshomaru. What was he doing here anyway? He shouldn't be back yet! Slowly, she began to grasp the situation – she was totally naked before a grown man. The blush reddened her face and neck, reaching her breasts. Extremely embarrassed, but still in shock, she saw Sesshomaru averting his gaze from her face and his golden eyes wandering all over her naked body.

"Kya!" she finally shrieked, waving with her hands frantically, not being able to decide what to hide from his gaze – her breasts or down there.

Her shriek averted the demon's attention from sinfully lusty thoughts and he looked at the flushed face of panicking Mai. The woman was struggling in an attempt to shield her bare flesh from his eyes. Sesshomaru found this sight quite amusing and observed her actions with a smirk. She tried to glare at him, but failed miserably.

"What the hell is wrong with you! Turn around!" Mai shouted to him, angry that Sesshomaru was still standing there, gawking at her tits. The demon hesitated, but finally turned around, his back to her. The girl panted heavily, trying to regain the clarity of thinking. What has just happened was definitely the most embarrassing situation in her whole life. She doubted, if she would be able to ever look Sesshomaru straight in the face after this. All right, first things first.

"Sesshomaru?" she called the demon's name. He remained silent, but that was normal for him. Mai cleared her throat. "Undress."

The demon stiffened at those words. Did she just told him to undress? Not sure, how he should interpret it, he glanced at her over her shoulder.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Don't look!" Mai shrieked. "I mean give me your haori, so that I can cover myself with something."
She was staring at his back with anticipation, as the silence fell. Eventually the demon spoke.
"No." he said simply. Mai heard her anger welling.

"What?! Why not?!" she shrieked at him. Sesshomaru closed his eyes, annoyed by the high tones that hurt his ears.

"I do not wish for my clothes to smell of a human."

Mai didn't know if her face was red from the embarrassment or rather rage. That damn demonic asshole could stare at her tits, but wouldn't borrow her a haori! She gritted her teeth. Okay, if he didn't want to give her the clothes willingly, she would take them by herself!

Sesshomaru's eyes snapped open, as he felt the rustling of the fabric and someone tugging leather straps, that kept his armor in place. With a loud thud his armor and both swords fell on the ground, followed by the untied obi. The person responsible for this was just pressing her breasts against his back and trying to yank off his haori. What was the woman doing? Instantly, he whirled around, so that he was facing Mai. She shrieked again, covering herself. Sesshomaru summoned his all willpower to look into her eyes.

"Explain yourself." He said. The look of panic and embarrassment on Mai's face slowly was replaced by anger.

"Take off your haori and give it to me." She hissed, glaring daggers at him. Sesshomaru arched his eyebrow.

"I decline." He said, stubbornly. The woman gritted her teeth.

"Then I'll take it myself!" she shouted and, to the demon's surprise, she threw herself at Sesshomaru, gripping the hems of his haori and sliding it of his shoulders. The demon didn't react, till she was nearly done. He growled at her, as a warning, but she ignored him. The youkai put his hand on her back and pushed her on himself.

"Gah!" Mai yelped, as she collided with Sesshomaru's bare chest. Suddenly her face flushed at the realization, that her naked breasts were tightly pressed against his firm, bare chest. Her heart began pounding furiously. Hesitantly, she looked up at the demon, who was gazing at her strangely.
"Sesshomaru, maybe you could give me this haori." She said quietly, trying to control the fierce blush and the unbearable warmth, that was slowly spreading all over her body. The demon nodded, but didn't budge, still holding her in embrace and staring at her with his piercing golden eyes.

"Sesshomaru!" she urged him to do something, slamming her little fist against his chest. Apparently it worked, because the demon freed her and swiftly turned around. He took off his outer haori, leaving the plain white one on his back. He tossed the cloth to Mai. The girl snatched it and put it on. She picked up the obi from the ground and tied it around her waist with some difficulty, as the sleeves of Sesshomaru's haori were much too long for her.

She watched, as the demon stalked to his scattered belongings, his inner haori still disheveled, and picked up his armor. He began fastening it, struggling with one of the straps, apparently having some difficulties due to the lack of the left arm. Mai hesitantly approached him. The demon glared at her.

"Just let me help you." The girl said to him. Sesshomaru looked at her and then turned his head, standing still in place. Taking it as a permission, she came closer and, furrowing her brows, she fastened the troublesome strap and straightened his inner haori. She looked up and met his watchful gaze. Somehow, she felt unable to step back and was standing there, clutching the hems of his clothing in her hands and staring into his eyes. Neither of them made a move for a while, till Sesshomaru slowly began lowering his head.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" squealed Jaken's voice.

Instantly, Mai's and Sesshomaru's eyes widened. Mai let go of his haori and the demon pulled himself back from her. The imp reached them, panting, and Rin was running behind him, screaming at him to come back.

"Sesshomaru-sama, I was worried about you! You weren't coming back for so long, that I was beginning to…" Jaken stopped and he gawked at Sesshomaru, then at Mai and back at his master. The dog demon's swords laid still on the ground and the girl was dressed in his haori, blushing suspiciously fiercely. What has just happened?

Rin caught up with Jaken and also looked at Mai and the inu-youkai. Considering, that the girl was wearing Sesshomaru-sama's clothes, the plan must have worked and the two must have bathed together. However, Rin couldn't tell if they were closer now than before. Maybe she would have to devise another plan to get them closer.

Chapter 62

Just a girls' talk




Kagura was bored to death. Lately, there wasn't really any action and she was stuck with that horrible kid Hakudoshi in the damn hut. She looked over her shoulder. The white-haired child was sitting still, as though meditating – not much of a companion. Not that Kagura wanted to talk to him anyway, he creeped her out. Sometimes she was under the impression, that the kid was worse than Naraku himself.

"Kagura." The wind sorceress turned around at the sound of Hakudoshi's voice. "We have an order from Naraku."

"What order?" she asked, suddenly interested, eager to get out.
"I will distract Sesshomaru and you have to kidnap the human woman, that travels with him."
Kagura furrowed her brows, not liking the idea of acting against the dog demon.
"So I just snatch the human away?" she made sure. If she remembered well, the woman's name was Mai and she was quite a feisty one. Kagura hoped, that this Mai won't cause her too much trouble.
The wind sorceress stood up and plucked a white feather from her hair, that transformed into a bigger one. She got on it and flew away.



Mai was desperately trying not to think about what had happened last night. At the mere thought she felt like burning alive from the excessive blushing. The fact, that the demon saw her naked was nothing comparing to the moment when their almost naked bodies touched. So embarrassing! To make the things worse, the girl was kind of excited then and that made her worry about her own sanity. Perhaps it was only a biological reaction of her body on the closeness of a male, but still – it was Sesshomaru! And the idiot was gawking at her like a dog at a bone. Mai sighed. She didn't really blame him for that, he was a grown man after all. It would be weird if he ignored a naked woman, she would suspect him of being a gay or an impotent. Not that she was interested in his sexual life, not at all.

She cast a quick glance at the dog demon, who was leading their group. Since the embarrassing incident he was avoiding her, once more pretending, that she didn't exist. This time Mai was really grateful for that, because she had no idea how could she possibly look him into eye now. Thinking of his eyes, the girl remembered the awkward moment, when they were standing, looking into each others' eyes and Sesshomaru leaned down, as if to…

"Jaken!" Mai snapped back to the reality, as she heard Sesshomaru's voice. She could instantly tell, that something was wrong. Quickly, she grabbed Rin and put her on Ah-Un and climbed after the child. Jaken also hopped in front of the both girls and took the reins, motioning the dragon to take off.
Sesshomaru drew Tokijin and waited for his opponent. As Ah-Un was flying away, Mai managed to see, that it was a white-haired boy, only a child. However, she knew, that in the demon world looks could be deceiving. She clutched the saddle, doing her best to control her troublesome phobia.
The dragon was gliding right beneath the clouds and Mai shut her eyes tightly, not to see the ground below. For a couple of minutes she heard the howling of the wind and managed to calm herself somehow. Happy to get rid of the panic, she smiled, but didn't open her eyes.

Suddenly, she heard Jaken squeaking and the screams of Rin. Mai's eyes snapped open, right in time to see Kagura, flying on her feather right at them. The youkai woman circled Ah-Un and abruptly lowered her flight. Mai felt a firm tug on her sleeve. Not having the time to react, the girl slid of the saddle and started falling, screaming. Then she landed on Kagura's feather, right beside the wind sorceress.

"Got you." Kagura muttered. Mai looked at her sharply and turned her head to see Ah-Un chasing after them. The youkai woman also noticed that and swung with her fan at the dragon. The wind blades flew at Ah-Un, who barely managed to avoid them, staying behind. Seeing, that Rin and Jaken were in danger, Mai decided to act, even if it seemed to be suicidal. She threw herself at Kagura, knocking her fan out of the hand.

"What are you doing?!" the demon woman shrieked, pulling Mai's hair.
"Land, now." The girl hissed, yanking Kagura's hair as well.

"Stupid bitch!" the wind sorceress spat and tried to reach her fan, that was lying on the feather. Mai noticed it and kicked the fan off, so that it fell somewhere on the distant ground. Seeing this, Kagura tried to punch her, but the human girl dodged and hit the other woman square in the face. The demoness hissed, mad at her opponent and clutching her nose, and somehow managed to deliver a kick right in Mai's stomach. The girl screamed from the pain and fell backwards. In the fervent of the fight she forgot that they were in air and there was nothing solid behind her. She felt herself lose footing and fall of the feather. In the last moment her wrist was grabbed. Mai looked up. It was Kagura, who was clutching her arm with her both hands, the teeth clenched, as she tried to pull the human up.

"Hold on!" Kagura told her. "Naraku will kill me if you die now."
Mai tried to reach with her other hand to hold to Kagura better, but then it happened. She glanced down and saw the ground beneath them. It wasn't really that high, but it horrified her anyway. She fought not to give in to the uncontrollable panic, but failed.

"Kya!" she shrieked and started struggling. Kagura had a hard time trying to pull her up.

"Idiot! What are you…" The demoness was shouting at her. "Shit!"
Kagura yelped, as she lost balance and the Mai's weight dragged her down along with the human girl. Together they fell, both not stopping screaming, until there was a loud splash as they landed in a large lake. Mai swam to the surface, barely believing that she had the same luck twice. Next to her Kagura was splashing the water fervently.

"Help me!" the youkai woman shrieked, waving her hands frantically. "I can't swim!"
Mai cursed under her nose. The wind bitch was drowning right before her eyes. If Mai does nothing, the problem will be at the bottom of the lake, but she would probably have nightmares for the rest of her life.

"Stop moving!" Mai called to Kagura and swam to her. She flipped on her back, grabbed the youkai woman and swam to the boulder, that was nearby. When she finally reached it, she managed to crawl on the top of it, coughing water and Kagura did the same. Mai looked around. Around them was a large lake – there was no way, that she would be able to swim to the shore and not drown. The both women were sitting on a tiny island, very tiny indeed as it had only about two square meters.

"Thanks." Naraku's minion muttered, standing up. "I got to get going."
She reached to her hair to pluck another feather, but discovered that her ponytail was undone and the feather was gone. Kagura moaned, feeling depressed.

"Shit, now I'm stuck here with you."
Mai glared at her.

"The same here." She muttered, not happy about the perspective on spending her day with one of Naraku's minions, sitting on a rock. She narrowed her eyes at the demoness, who eventually sat down. "What does Naraku want from me anyway?"

"How should I know? He doesn't trust me." Kagura muttered, shrugging her shoulders.

"What do you mean?" Mai asked. Considering that there was nothing else to do, she could talk to Kagura a bit. The demoness looked at her, surprised.

"You travel with Sesshomaru and you don't know?" she replied with a question and sighed. "Well, I could tell you, I guess. Not that Sesshomaru doesn't know that already anyway. Let's say, that I'm not very happy about working for Naraku."

Mai straightened her back, suddenly interested. Was Kagura betraying Naraku? That's news.
"So why do you work for him?" the human girl asked. The demoness snorted.

"That asshole has my heart. He can kill me when he pleases!" she exclaimed, anger in her eyes. Mai looked at her, suddenly feeling the sympathy for the youkai woman. The girl knew something about not being able to escape the horrible boss. However, her situation was slightly better, now that Sesshomaru gave up on strangling her and trying to break her arm, when she was disobeying the arrogant jerk.

"You're screwed." Mai commented. "I guess that you have to wait till Inuyasha and Sesshomaru kill your boss."

Kagura sighed, nodding her head.

"Speaking of Sesshomaru, I hope he'll get here soon and will get us the hell out of here." The demoness said, examining her soaked kimono.

"Can't you do something?" Mai asked. Kagura glared at her.

"Maybe I could, but I lost my feathers and my fan. Maybe if only somebody didn't struggle like an idiot when I was trying to pull her up, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place!"
Mai clenched her fists, mad at the weather whore.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for having the fear of heights. Maybe I should have leave somebody, who can't swim, to drown?"

The both women were glaring at each other in the fierce stare contest. After a while they sighed, coming to the conclusion, that it's pointless to argue with somebody, who you're stuck with on a rock.

"Let's change topic." Mai said and Kagura nodded in agreement.

"Fine by me. Hmm… I was always wondering about one thing. You must know something about it."

"About what?" Mai asked, wondering what was the thing the demoness was so interested in. Especially after seeing the mischievous glint in Kagura's eye.

"Is Sesshomaru big down there?" the demoness asked.

"What?" Mai stared at her. Kagura came closer and looked the human girl down in the eye.

"You know… how big is his manhood? Come on, tell me." The demoness was urging Mai.
The girl's face was getting hotter and becoming bright red, as she finally grasped what Kagura was talking about. Sesshomaru's… Considering, that he was a man he must have something between his legs, but the girl never thought about the sexual life of her boss – granted that he even had any. The mentioning of his manly part made her feel fierce embarrassment welling in her.

"How would I know." Mai mumbled. Kagura folded her arms and eyed her suspiciously.

"Ugh! It wouldn't hurt to tell me. I mean, you must have seen the thing hundreds of times already… I'm so jealous." she said. Mai almost felt steam gushing from her ears.

"What?!" she shrieked, mortified by the idea. "You're wrong!"
Kagura narrowed her eyes.

"You two are lovers, right?" she asked with a confused look on her face. Mai was opening and closing her mouth, unable to utter a word. Kagura tilted her head. "You really haven't slept with Sesshomaru yet?"

"And never will! Not ever!" Mai managed to scream at last. The wind sorceress laughed at the outburst.

"What a waste. Sesshomaru is such a handsome man. I really thought, that you two are together. Why else would he defend you like he does?" Kagura asked, examining her nails with a sly smirk.

"He's my boss. That's it – I work for him and nothing more." Mai stated, glaring daggers at the demoness. Luckily she managed to control her blush. Kagura arched her eyebrow.

"Don't tell me, that you never wondered, how he would be in bed?" the demon woman asked, grinning widely as she saw Mai blushing fiercely again.

"I didn't!" she hissed, speaking the truth. She admitted, that he was attractive, but he was an asshole too. Who would think of… Mai cursed as her heart began beating faster as she remembered what happened the last night.

"I hardly believe that." Kagura sorted. "I would seize the opportunity, if I were you. Speaking of devil… Here he is!"

The wind sorceress pointed her finger at the sky and Mai saw Sesshomaru flying towards them, the rest of the group following him.

"Shit." Mai cursed. The dog demon chose the worst possible moment to come to rescue her – her face was still flushed from Kagura's idiotic and perverted questions. The dog demon stopped in midair above the women and scanned Mai up and down, not paying any attention to the wind sorceress.
Mai yelped and instinctively wrapped her hands around Kagura, as suddenly the white fur twisted around her waist and she was pulled in the air.

"Sesshomaru, get me to the shore!" Kagura called, gripping Mai tightly. The demon didn't answer, but he flew towards the shore and landed there. The demoness muttered "thanks" and let go of Mai.
The human girl yelped as her back was slammed against Sesshomaru's armor. She had an idea what was coming and she didn't like it.

Kagura found her feather and got on it.

"Remember, what we were talking about!" she called to Mai, flying away.

Chapter 63

A misfortunate encounter



"Remember, what we were talking about!" Kagura called to Mai, flying away.
Mai blushed fiercely again. If it keeps up, her face color would change to red permanently. To make the matters worse, Sesshomaru's hand was still wrapped around her waist and the demon would form that damn could again.

"Woman." The inu-youkai spoke. Mai didn't feel up to any conversation with him right now. What does he want from her? Mai stared at her feet and mumbled something, hoping that it wouldn't be something important or troublesome. However, she was wrong.

"About what were you talking with Kagura?" he asked. Mai kept her gaze set on her toes.

"Nothing important, just some girl's talk." She said quickly, hoping that he would drop the topic. Sadly, she wasn't right this time either.

"That woman is one of Naraku's minions. What did you tell her?" he inquired, annoyance and a hint of another anger display discernible in his voice. Mai gulped, still not looking at him. How could she possibly do that? Her face was the same shade of red as Inuyasha's fire rat robe right now.

"Nothing. It doesn't concern you." She mumbled. Technically it was a lie, but she couldn't just tell the demon straight into his face, that Kagura kept asking her about his… um, no way she would tell him that.

The demon suddenly released her from his grip and whirled around, so that she was facing him now.
"You will tell me, now." He demanded calmly, but Mai already knew that it was the calm before the storm. She shook her head.

"No way." She said and got interested in her sandals and Sesshomaru's boots. She flinched as she heard him growling above her head. Then he grabbed her chin and lifted her face, forcing her look at him. She felt her blush changing the color to scarlet. The demon kept glaring at her and showed no intention to let her go anytime soon. Stubborn asshole! When she tried to free herself, he gripped her more firmly, his clawed hand almost around her neck. Luckily he didn't squeeze, he was just holding her head in place. Sesshomaru arched his eyebrow.

"All right, you won!" Mai exclaimed as the shitty bastard Sesshomaru made her yield once more. The demon released her from his grip and was awaiting her answer. The girl wriggled her fingers, gathering the courage and fighting the embarrassment. She looked down again. "Kagura was asking about your… about the size…"

Unwillingly her eyes wandered from her feet to the place she was talking about. Luckily it was covered with Sesshomaru's armor. She sighed and started over again.

"She asked how… how big…" she kept stuttering. At this rate she would die of embarrassment!
"Say it already!" Sesshomaru hissed impatiently and lifted her chin again, boring his eyes into her own. Mai couldn't stand the stare and shut her eyes tightly.

"She asked me how big your manhood is!" she recited it as fast as she could, so that the statement was barely understandable. She sighed with relief as Sesshomaru let go of her chin and she opened her eyes to peek at the demon. The inu-youkai's face was stoic at first, but them amusement began to show. Mai narrowed her eyes. The asshole had fun of her! She hissed, as he wrapped his arm around her and formed the cursed cloud beneath their feet.

"The women were always very pleased with the size of it." He stated calmly before taking off. Mai moaned.

"I didn't want to know that!" She whimpered.



Elsewhere…

"You failed to bring an ordinary human woman to me, Kagura?" the man with long tangled black hair asked in a quiet voice.

Kagura shivered before her master, not being able to look him in the eye.

"Yes, Naraku." She answered. Naraku studied her face and dismissed her with a flip of his hand. Kagura fled the room, not looking back.

Naraku looked at the mountains.

"My, my, what a nuisance." He said to himself, deciding it was the time for more drastic measures. "Kohaku, come here."

The boy of the age of about eleven stepped closer to Naraku, waiting for his masters order. Naraku smirked, playing with a strand of his hair.

"Kill the woman named Mai, who travels with Sesshomaru." He said coldly. Kohaku bowed stiffly, like a puppet.

"Yes, Naraku." The boy said in a hollow, emotionless tone.



Meanwhile…
 
"I'm going alone." Mai stated, looking at the silver-haired demon and trying to figure out how to stop him from following her to the human town. She wanted to buy a few items and the last thing she needed, was Sesshomaru tagging along and causing panic.

"You need to be protected." The inu-youkai told her. Mai sighed heavily, thinking how stubborn her demonic boss was. She would have to use some kind of trick to get him to let her go alone. She had one in mind – he had this human-demon issue and was very prideful, so why not use it against him?

"You know, if you insist on going with me everywhere people might get some strange ideas and spread rumors, you wouldn't like." She said folding her arms. The demon glared at her.

"Hn. What rumors?" he asked. Mai grinned inwardly. Good, that she had his attention.

"It's suspicious, than a man walks with a woman, even in a company of a child." She added, not wanting to be mistaken for a happy family either. "People may start thinking, that you're in love with me, a pathetic human. Do you imagine, how terrible for your reputation would it be? The idea of you, a powerful demon with a human is disgusting!" after she finished her tirade she looked at Sesshomaru. She nearly jumped from joy seeing the uneasiness on his face – he must really fear for his reputation!

Finally the demon nodded, giving his permission. Mai extorted the money from him and happily skipped to the town, eager to get away from the group for a while, especially from Sesshomaru. She would really use a moment apart from her boss.



Sesshomaru was looking at the woman, who set off to the human town. The demon should not have let her go alone, but her words convinced him. It was apparent, that linking him with the human woman would have terrible effects on his reputation, not to mention that it was the sign of weakness. Sesshomaru despised the inferior humans from all his cold demonic heart, as he always did. The demon felt anger at the thought, that a human had to remind him of that. What was happening to him lately?

He clenched his fist. Everything was her fault. That cursed woman, Mai. It was she who made him feel like losing his mind. The last night he was about to succumb to his desire and claim her as his woman, her – a weak pathetic human. How could Sesshomaru let this come that far? Instead of gaining the control over the situation, he was losing it.

"Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin tugged his sleeve. The demon averted his thoughts from his problem and glanced at the child. The little girl sighed and looked back at him with pity. "It looks like Mai tricked you again."



Mai felt blissfully relaxed, being in the lively town among the normal people. She was visiting all the malls along her way and in the effect bought much more than she needed. The girl cursed under her nose, finding it difficult to cope with the all heavy packages. Maybe it was a mistake not to let Sesshomaru tag along – she could at least make him be her mule right now.

She made her way to the vegetable stall, wanting to buy some carrots. The packages swayed and Mai tried to move with them to prevent them from falling to the ground, but utterly failed and they scattered all over the street.

"Crap!" she cursed, as she began picking them up, one by one.

"Let me help you, lady!" a childish voice called. Mai looked up and saw a boy helping her collect her things.

"Thanks. Oh, by the way, I'm Mai. What's your name?" she asked her helper. The boy smiled at her shyly.

"Kohaku."

Chapter 64

Looks can be deceiving



What a nice boy. – Mai thought as Kohaku helped her pick up the scattered packages and offered to carry them for her. The girl agreed happily and split her things among herself and the kid.
Kohaku was a boy of about eleven or twelve years old. He had his dark brown hair gathered in a ponytail and freckles on his face. He wore simple peasant clothes and had a sickle tucked behind his obi, so probably he was a son of farmers. The boy seemed to be a polite and kind young man.

"You live here with your parents, Kohaku?" Mai asked the boy, who shook his head.

"No, Mai-sama." he answered shyly. The girl furrowed her brows.

"I'm just Mai!" she laughed. The kid insisted on using the damn honorifics, even though she scolded him every time he did. "So you came to this town to visit?"

"Not really. I just don't remember." He said, looking ashamed. Mai glanced at the boy, interested.

"What do you mean: you don't remember?" she inquired. The kid didn't look so dumb, that he could forget what he came here for. Kohaku set his gaze on his feet and stayed silent for a while. Then he peeked at Mai, as though considering whether to trust her or not. Finally he spoke.

"I don't remember anything but my name. I just woke up this morning and I was near the town…" the kid was talking incoherently. Mai gasped. Kohaku had amnesia? For real?

"You don't remember a thing before today?" she inquired. The kid shook his head. "Even one?"
Kohaku stopped abruptly, deep in thought. He furrowed his brows, focus on his face.

"I think I remember something…" he began hesitantly.

"Great! What is it?" Mai encouraged the boy.

"A face, woman's face and strange feelings. I think that she is close to me." He uttered. Mai sighed, disappointed.

"Just the face?" she asked. Kohaku nodded. The girl thought, that it was no good then, he was probably only remembering his mother or sister. If only he could remember some characteristic place, it would help find his home. The kid was so nice and Mai pitied him. She really wanted help him find his home – his parents must die of worry. She scanned Kohaku up and down. Everything indicated, that he was a peasant: simple kimono, a farming tool. However, Mai didn't ever see a sickle with a chain attached to it. Well, probably it was some two in one. She and the boy were walking around the market for some time now and no one recognized the kid, what must have meant that he's not from vicinity. Poor Kohaku. Mai doubted, that he would be ever able to return to his family.
Kohaku must have seen the worry on her face, because suddenly he got depressed. The girl smiled at him.

"Don't worry, sometimes people start remembering things after some time." She tried to cheer him up, but with little effect. She sighed and turned her head. Then, she noticed the dango shop. "Kohaku, come on! We have to eat some dango. I'm paying."

"I don't know…" Kohaku began, but Mai cast him a poisonous glare, making him stop talking and nod his head instantly.

"Yes, Mai-sama!" he answered like a soldier to his commanding officer.

"Good boy." Mai praised him and led the kid to the food shop. They put the packages down and the girl ordered a whole plate of dango. She convinced Kohaku not to be shy and eat as much as he liked. Hesitantly he took the noodles on the stick and began stuffing himself. Mai thought, that he had quite an appetite, as expected from a growing boy of his age.

The girl took advantage of the fact that Kohaku was busy eating and grabbed his head, starting pressing the skull in different places.

"Does it hurt anywhere?" she asked.

"No. What are you doing, Mai-sama?" Kohaku answered, baffled by her weird actions. Mai furrowed her brows.

"I thought that your memory loss was caused by an injury. You know, like hitting on the head or something like that, but everything looks fine. Maybe it was not physical injury, but some kind of a mental shock." Mai told the kid, wondering what could cause a sudden memory loss. If it was from some shocking experience, what would that be? It was the era of the Warring Provinces – a lot of horrible things were happening: constant wars, attacks of bandits and youkai. Maybe the kid lost his family in some attack, escaping himself, but lost all his memories in the process.

"Mai, sama, what do you think happened to me?" the kid asked, looking at her seriously. Mai considered if she should tell him what she thought despite that it might hurt. Well, he was a big kid, so he should be able to cope with nasty things. She was only two or three years older than him, when her dad died in the car accident and she had to start living on her own.

"I think, that you saw something bad, so bad that you preferred to forget it." She said slowly. Kohaku stared at her.

"Something bad?" he looked at her with scared expression on his face. "I wonder if it isn't a good thing, that I don't have any memories... If you experienced something horrible, would you like to forget it?"

Mai gazed at the ceiling. The kid asked a good question.

"No." she said. "I would like to find a courage to deal with it. But, you can't help that you lost your memories. I think, that you should put your past behind you, despite how bad it could be – if you ever remember it – and live strongly from now on."

She looked back at the boy. There was a single tear on Kohaku's cheek.

"Thanks." He said quietly. Mai nodded her head and took another dango.

"Cheer up, kid. Everything will be all right." The girl comforted the boy. He muttered something inaudible in response, still depressed. Damn, Mai was starting to like this nice kid and felt reluctant to leave him to beg on the streets. She knew that it was a bit stupid – she wasn't responsible for him in any way, but his sad story just made her heart melt. Well, that idiot Sesshomaru might as well wait a little longer. Determined, she looked at the kid.

"Kohaku, first you have to make a living somehow, what means that you'll need a job. Do you have some abilities?" she asked. The kid stared at her with wide-opened eyes.

"Abilities?" he repeated dumbly.

"Yes, abilities." Mai said, rolling her eyes. "Like making barrels, forging spoons. Anything will do."
Kohaku furrowed his brows, thinking intensely.

"I don't really remember, but I noticed in the morning, that I can do something, others don't." he said, smiling at last.

"Great!" Mai clapped her hands. "Show me."

A special talent? That was good. The girl wondered, what it could be. Maybe something artistic, like singing, dancing or painting. She couldn't wait to see. Kohaku stood up and told her to wait a minute. Mai nodded and the kid went to the bartender. He borrowed a couple of candles and set them on the tables, there were nineteen in total. He lit them, smiling happily. Mai was observing with curiosity, wondering what were the candles for. A magic trick perhaps.

"Watch carefully, Mai-sama!" Kohaku called to her and took out his sickle. He grabbed it by the chain and started swinging over his head. Then he released it and the sickle flew, the girl saw only a blurred shape and the tool was back in Kohaku's hand. With her mouth opened agape, she saw that none of the candles was lit anymore – all candlewicks were cut off. The other customers started clapping and praising the smiling boy. Kohaku grinned at her, happy with himself.

"How was that, Mai-sama?" he called her. Mai kept staring at the boy.

"Great." She said, still taken aback by the unusual display. It was an amazing trick, but there was something off. It wasn't normal for a kid in Kohaku's age to be that skilled with cutting anything. Shouldn't the peasant kids be more clumsy? Now that she thought about it, the boy's sickle looked to her more like a weapon than a farming tool. The way he swung with it didn't seem like making a trick – the face, Kohaku made while doing it, reminded her of Sesshomaru attacking his opponent. The same focus, assessing the weak and strong points of the opponent and striking him. Her observation unnerved her. Who the hell was that kid? It was nice talking to him before, but now he made a shiver go down her spine, as if her instincts told her to get out of here and run as fast as she could. This time she decided not to ignore it.

She stood up abruptly and went straight to the exit, trying not to draw unnecessary attention and leaving all the things she bought.

"Mai-sama!" she flinched as she heard Kohaku's voice calling her name. She looked over her shoulder, a fake plastered on her face.

"I'll just go outside for a while. I'll be right back." She said, barely controlling the nervousness in her voice. Not waiting for the answer, she left the shop and quickened her pace. She would just go straight to Sesshomaru and everything will be okay.

Mai felt something tugging her sleeve. She turned around and cursed inwardly.

"Mai-sama, you left your money and all your things!" Kohaku said, carrying her packages. Mai swiftly pulled her sleeve from the boy's hand and smiled faintly. She had to get the hell away from the creepy kid.

"Oh really? Silly me…" she muttered, estimating the distance from where he was to the place where Sesshomaru and the group were waiting. Kohaku smiled at her.

"You're lucky, that I was there. Your things could have been…" Kohaku stopped talking in midsentence and his body went strangely stiff. Mai took a step back as she saw the boys eyes becoming empty, like the lifeless eyes of a doll – or a puppet. Silently he lifted his sickle.

Mai didn't need more evidence, that the kid was dangerous. She turned on the heel and ran as fast as she could, pushing the people aside. The girl knocked over a cart with some vegetables along the way and looked over her shoulder. Kohaku was chasing her. As she was looking back, she didn't notice the stray dog, that found itself right before her feet. Mai shrieked when she tripped over the animal and fell to the dirt. Right in the same moment she heard terrified shouts of the people and the swish of Kohaku's sickle right above her head. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Scared and shocked, she sat down and cast a quick look around. Her eyes widened. Around her were dead bodies of innocent villagers laying. Tripping over the stray dog actually saved her life – the boy's weapon only scratched her arm instead of slicing her in half. She watched as Kohaku was coming closer, beginning to swing the sickle. Mai's legs were immobilized by a corpse of a man. She desperately tried to shove the body of her legs, but it was damn heavy and the boy was approaching.

"Kohaku, don't do this!" she shouted to him, but the boy behaved as though didn't even hear her. He was swinging the sickle over his head. Mai's eyes widened in horror when Kohaku released it and sent the weapon flying right at her. Instinctively she shut her eyes, awaiting pain and death. She was like that for a second or two, but the finishing blow never came. She opened her eyes.

Mai gasped from relief, seeing her savior. The silver haired demon was standing between her and the boy, his back to her. Kohaku's sickle was stuck in his left shoulder, piercing the remnants of the mutilated left hand. She watched as the boy pulled the chain, ripping the blade of Sesshomaru's flesh. When he retrieved his weapon, he turned on his heel and simply fled.

The girl let out a breath she was holding until now. She was glad, that the dog demon came once again to save her life. Sesshomaru turned around and looked at her. He reached down and grabbed the heavy corpse with his clawed hand, throwing it away, as though it weighed nothing. Then he turned his attention back to Mai, who was still sitting on the ground. He reached his hand to her. Hesitantly, Mai gripped it with her own, much smaller, palm and Sesshomaru yanked her upwards. When she was on her feet, she let go and looked upwards at him. She noticed, that his white haori was stained with blood.

"You're injured." She stated the obvious. The demon looked at her arm.

"So are you." He said. Mai looked at her shoulder and saw the red stain on her kimono getting bigger. She paled. When she was shocked, she didn't feel a thing, but now it began to hurt. Carefully, she touched it and winced from the pain.

"It hurts." She whimpered. Sesshomaru abruptly grabbed the collar of her kimono and slid it from her shoulder.

"What?!" Mai shrieked and held the cloth so that her breast was covered. The demon didn't pay any attention to her protests though – he was examining her wound.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes. The wound was not deep, rather a scratch, but was bleeding strongly. On a demon it would heal in a matter of minutes, but it could be dangerous for a human.

"You need to get it dressed." He said. She nodded, looking as though she was about to break in tears. Mai didn't handle well the sight of her own blood.

He grabbed her and took off, not paying attention to her screams.

Chapter 65

Mai's ideal man




Jaken got up as he saw Sesshomaru-sama returning with Mai thrown over his shoulder. As expected, the girl was screaming and struggling – not that it was something unusual. The dog demon landed and placed the woman on the ground. Jaken eyed Mai suspiciously when he noticed her disheveled kimono. What had happened again? Two days ago he spotted her wearing only his master's haori, blushing fiercely. Something strange was happening and Jaken was unsure, whether he really wanted to know what. On the top of all, Sesshomaru-sama was surprisingly lenient to the human girl, what was not like him. Jaken took a good look at Mai. The imp didn't really considered it earlier, but the girl could pass as attractive – Jaken preferred of course the imp women, especially his sweet Hotaru, but Sesshomaru sama was a healthy young demon and as such must feel some attraction towards the females. The human girl was the only woman in their group, not counting Rin – she was still just a little child. Was it possible that Mai was seducing Sesshomaru-sama? It wouldn't be strange given how dashing and powerful his master was, without doubt no woman could resist him.

The imp sighed heavily. It looked like Mai's evil intrigue was working – Sesshomaru-sama indeed acted not like his usual self around her. Didn't he remember that he despised humans? Perhaps it was a minor flaw inherited from his father, Inuyasha also tended to become involved with human women… Jaken made a decision. He will protect his master from being seduced by Mai with all his might, for his own good.

"Jaken-sama!" the imp snapped back to reality, as Rin tugged his nose. The child shook him by his shoulders. "Didn't you hear, that Sesshomaru-sama told you to dress Mai's wound?"
The imp obediently bandaged Mai's arm and soon the group was on their way. The girl felt awkwardly, feeling the stares of Rin and Jaken on herself.

I won't definitely let Sesshomaru-sama become infatuated with Mai. – thought Jaken.
I will help Sesshomaru-sama and Mai fall in love. – Rin decided in her mind.



Mai was walking between Rin and Jaken, admiring the beautiful landscape – in modern Japan such natural beauty had been destroyed by people long ago. It was really amazing to be able to see the forest, hills and mountains the way it were in the sengoku era. The girl couldn't help, but feel, that over the centuries humans lost quite a lot for the sake of the development.

"Mai!" she felt Rin tugging her sleeve and looked down to gaze at the kid.

"Yes, Rin?" she asked. The child made a serious face, what Mai found to be rather cute.

"Do you like someone?" the kid asked. Mai smiled.

"Of course I do. I like you, Jaken, Ah-Un, Kagome and others." She answered. The child furrowed her brows.

"I didn't mean that way! I mean love." Rin said. The child inwardly rolled her eyes. Why Mai must be so clueless? Rin wanted to know, if after her plan with bathing in the hot springs her friend loves Sesshomaru-sama already.

"Love?" Mai asked, surprised by the question.

"Yes." Rin nodded enthusiastically. "Like my mom loved my dad, like you love someone you want to marry."

The older girl gawked at the child. Since when Rin was so knowledgeable in the topic of love? She decided to inquire.

"Rin, from whom do you know such things?" Mai asked.

"From Shiori." The kid answered and stared at her, gripping her sleeve tight. "So do you want to marry someone? Well?"

Mai nearly chuckled as she realized who Rin was mimicking right now – she sounded just like Sesshomaru, who wanted to get some information out of her. She guessed, that it couldn't be helped since Rin travelled nearly two years with him. However, the questions about marrying were strange. Mai flinched when she remembered the time, when she was about to get herself a husband. It was when she fell into the trap of that monstrous madman Maeda Goemon.

"I don't even want to think about something like marrying!" Mai said loudly. Jaken cleared his throat.

"You should, especially when you're still young. You should find yourself a nice human husband." The imp said, emphasizing the word "human". Maybe he, Jaken, should be a matchmaker and help the woman find someone of her own kind, so that she won't bother Sesshomaru-sama anymore.

"What do you mean by 'still young'?" Mai asked, sending the imp a poisonous glare. However, after spending a hundred years with Sesshomaru, Jaken was quite immune on that sort of glares and didn't even flinch.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Seventeen. My eighteenth birthday is the next month." She replied.

"Almost eighteen?" Jaken shook his head. "If you don't hurry with marrying you will be an old maid!"

"What?!" Mai exclaimed, angered by the remark. "I'm not old!"
Jaken smirked and folded his arms.

"Most of women in your age have their first child already, some have even the second." The imp told her, observing as her face was turning red with anger. "Didn't you have any suitors?"

Mai was getting really mad at the imp's snappy remarks. Damn, she wasn't even eighteen yet and he was calling her an old maid already? What the hell? True, the things were different in this era than in modern Japan, but an old maid… She gritted her teeth.

"Suitors?" she repeated, clenching her fist. Jaken meant boyfriends by that, right? Well, she didn't even had a single one before – Mai was just not the kind of girl popular with boys, but as princess Amayami she had two fiancés. She winced. One of them was dead and the other tried to murder her, currently also dead. You can't call that having luck in love life. She muttered response to Jaken. "I had two fiancés… but Sesshomaru killed the both."

"Oh." Jaken answered, not knowing what to say.

Rin saw her chance. Silly Jaken-sama upset Mai and the child didn't like how the conversation turned out. She decided to cheer her friend up and inquire if Sesshomaru-sama has some chances of winning Mai's love.

"Mai, what kind of boys do you like?" the kid asked. Mai scratched her chin, thinking.
"Let's see… An ideal guy should be nice and kind…" she said.

Rin smiled, happy with the answer. Good. Sesshomaru-sama was both nice and kind to Mai. He was always kind enough to rescue her every time, she got in trouble and so nice, that he wasn't hitting her like he hit Jaken. The child eagerly waited for the rest.
Mai sighed, picturing an ideal man in her mind.

"He must be chivalrous." She decided.

"What's chivalrous?" Rin asked. Jaken cleared his throat.

"A man is chivalrous, when she saves a woman from danger and is well-mannered." Jaken explained.
The child's eyes brightened. Great! Sesshomaru-sama was always like that!

"Mai, must he be handsome?" Rin asked.

"Umm… I'm not really picky, I mean that he shouldn't be hideous, some flaws are okay." The girl said.

Rin nearly jumped with joy. Sesshomaru-sama was very handsome, but she was a little worried what would Mai think of his missing left arm. He was fighting amazingly even without it, but she heard that in general women didn't like men with cut off limbs. However, Mai said, that she would be fine with it. Everything pointed to that, Sesshomaru-sama would be a perfect match for her friend. Only one issue was remaining.

"Mai, he must be a human or he can be a demon?" the child asked. Jaken tensed, sensing dangerous topic. However Mai didn't seem to be bothered by the question.

"I guess that it makes no difference as far as the guy is decent and there is love involved." She answered. "I know some youkai, who are like that, after all."
Rin laughed inwardly. Mai must mean Sesshomaru-sama!

"Who?" the child asked, anticipating the answer with excitement. Jaken, on the other hand, seemed to be somewhat depressed. Mai furrowed her brow, making a mental list of nice demons.

"Let's see… Jaken, Shippo, Ah-Un, Kirara, Myoga, Totosai… Inuyasha? No, rather not – he's got a horrible temper. Actually, I feel sorry for Kagome." She said slowly, thinking if she mentioned every decent demon she met. Myoga told her, that Sesshomaru's and Inuyasha's father was a kind demon, but she somehow doubted it, given how the both brothers behaved.

As she finished enumerating, Jaken let out a relieved sigh.

Rin gawked at Mai, confused. Didn't her friend forget about someone?

"And Sesshomaru-sama?" the child asked. "Isn't he a descent demon too?"

"Him?" Mai looked surprised. "I think he has the second place from the end of the list."
Rin hung her head, disappointed. She thought, that Mai noticed Sesshomaru-sama's good points, but she didn't. What should she do now? It seemed, that getting the two together would prove more difficult than expected.

"Mai, who has the first place from the end on your list?" Jaken asked, pleased, that he was worried for nothing. Obviously he was imagining things.

"Naraku."



Sesshomaru listened to the foolish conversation between Jaken, the woman and Rin. Not that he was interested in the human woman's personal affairs, but the information that she had two fiancés already disturbed him. The mere thought of some human males around her made his demonic blood boil and he felt the urge to rip them to shreds, but apparently he had done that already. Oddly satisfied, he listened as Rin was asking the childish questions, one of them if Mai knew a decent youkai. Sesshomaru smirked – it was obvious, that he would be mentioned. After all the woman was under his constant protection and had a debt of gratitude towards him. He furrowed his brows, not hearing his name and gritted his teeth, when she said that he was the least decent demon except Naraku. How dare she be such ungrateful?

However, mentioning Naraku's name reminded Sesshomaru of a pressing issue, making him forget the woman's insolence. Sesshomaru's mortal enemy seemed to take liking in targeting Mai, as though he noticed, that she was the dog demon's weak point. Sesshomaru hesitantly admitted, that indeed she was a one and he could not do anything about it, at least till he kills Naraku. Until then he would have to protect her and in order to do it properly, she would have to be with him at all times, without any exceptions. Sesshomaru thought, that the woman would not take his decision well.



The tree of them were walking for some time in silence, following Sesshomaru and Ah-Un. Mai wondered, why all of sudden her companions became much less talkative than a while ago. Jaken had now a pleased grin plastered across his face and Rin looked depressed. Strange, usually it was the other way round. She was about to ask the kid, what was wrong, but she heard a deep voice calling her.

"Mai!" Sesshomaru called her. Oh shit! – Mai flinched at the sound of her name. If the demon called her like that, it usually meant that she was in deep shit. Or she will be, very soon. She ran to him, wondering what did he want from her. Recently she barely exchanged a word with her youkai boss, mainly because of the awkward situation.

Quickly she joined the demon and looked at him, searching his face for any sign of anger eruption, but there was none – he looked stoic as usual. She waited for him to say something.

"Woman," he began. Mai sighed with relief and waited for him to continue. "From now on, you are forbidden to leave my side. Ever."

The girl gawked at the demon. What the hell did that mean?!

"What? Ever?" she repeated. Sesshomaru didn't even spare her a glance.

"Yes."

Mai was staring at him, dumbfounded. The inu-youkai looked at her with a corner of the eye and decided, that the further explanation was needed.

"You must be protected from Naraku. I cannot do it if you are not with me." He said calmly and slowly, making sure that the idiot woman finally grasped the sense of his words.

Mai slowly nodded, understanding what that meant for her. The demon was kind of right – some nasty things tended to happen to her, when he was away and Naraku tried to get her three times already. Tagging along Sesshomaru was logically thinking the best idea, but the girl wasn't too eager to accept her fate. Come on, sentenced to being in his company without a break?! That would kill her! Lately she couldn't even look at his face without getting embarrassed – him seeing her naked and Kagura's silly words took its toll. Plus, if they were longer too close to each other, the arguments began and ended usually with him emphasizing his dominant position in ways, Mai didn't really like. Being stuck with the demonic asshole till Naraku is killed was like a death sentence for her. Never before Mai wanted that evil bastard Naraku dead so badly, as right now.
"It's a nightmare." She whispered.

Chapter 66

Nameless graves



A week later Mai felt utterly miserable. Sesshomaru didn't show an intention to leave their group even once and always had his eye on her. The only brief moments of privacy were when she had to bath or pee, but even then she knew that she was still in the range of his nose and hearing. To make the matters worse, they still weren't talking with each other. The demon looked like he was pouting at something in his own distinctive way. At first Mai wondered what it could be, but then gave up and decided, that if the arrogant jerk has a problem, it should stay his.

Mai noticed some buildings in the vicinity. A village. Their supplies were almost gone, so maybe they could go and buy something from the peasants. The sight of Sesshomaru would scare the shit out of the poor people, but it was worth a try. The girl took a deep breath, gathering her courage, and approached the silver-haired demon.

"Sesshomaru, there's a village nearby. Maybe we could buy some things?" she asked.

"There is no scent of humans there." The youkai answered surprisingly fast for him. Mai furrowed her eyebrows. No humans? So the village was abandoned. She wondered what could be the cause. Maybe some bandits attacked it and killed all the peasants. Still… she needed to get a comb quickly, as she lost the last one. Robbing the village because of a comb was kind of creepy, but since there is no one alive…

"Sesshomaru, are there any other villages in the vicinity?" she asked. The demon still wasn't looking at her.

"No." he replied shortly. Mai sighed. She guessed she had no other choice. Her hair was already so tangled, it lived its own life. She decided to use Rin-like persuasion method, since the kid had always her way with the demon. Sesshomaru abruptly set his gaze on her, as Mai gripped his sleeve and copied Rin's puppy eyes.

"I need to get something from the village. Can we just go there for a short while. Please, please. Pretty please!"

The demon stared at her, startled by the strange behavior. His glance wandered down, to her palms gripping the sleeve of his haori and then back to her face. Sesshomaru noted to himself, that the both human females were learning the tricks from each other. At first he wanted to refuse the foolish plea, but then decided that the woman would be bothersome if she does not have, what she wanted so badly.

"Be silent, woman." He hissed through the clenched teeth and walked away. Mai smiled, seeing as he changed the direction and was now heading towards the abandoned village. Maybe he wasn't such an ass after all…



The empty village was creepy. Everything looked as from a horror movie. It didn't even help that it was the middle of the day and Sesshomaru was around – Mai was scared out of her wits nonetheless. Everything was lefts so, as though the villager were still here and about to begin the daily activities. Whatever happened, it must have struck swiftly and without warning. The girl noticed dark brown stains everywhere. She felt a shiver run down her spine, when she realized, what it was – dried blood, lots of it. She began regretting that she made Sesshomaru come here. In the center of the village were graves, a lot of it. It seemed, that someone or something slaughtered all the villagers and they were buried later.

Mai saw, that she was not the only one, who was freaking out. Rin was sitting on Ah-Un's back and trembling tremendously, as she was looking around at the signs of massacre. The older girl felt a stab of guilt, making the kid see all this blood. The poor child must be scared. Mai noticed that Jaken and even Sesshomaru were glancing at Rin from time to time, as though they knew something the girl didn't.

"Woman, find quickly, what you came here for." The dog demon spoke to her, hurrying the girl. She nodded and hesitantly she made her way to one of the houses. She had to go in there and find a damn comb, but she just stood, afraid to go in.

"Just hurry up!" Jaken shouted to her, getting impatient by her dawdling. "What are you looking for, anyway?"

"A comb." She said, eying the door suspiciously. What if a corpse was in there? Mai knew from various horror movies, that going alone into an abandoned house never ended well.
Mai felt a little hand tightening around her fingers and looked down to see Rin, smiling at her faintly.

"Come on." The child said and tugged her hand, leading her along the street. Mai went with the child, rest of their group following them. The girl studied Rin – the kid looked like she knew exactly where to go. Was she in this village before? Mai turned her head to look at Sesshomaru and Jaken, remembering how strangely were they looking at the kid just a while ago. The silver-haired demon's face showed odd emotion, like he was deep in thought over something. Then she tripped and had to turn her attention back to where she was going, not to fall down.

Rin led her to the miserable shack at the outskirts of the village. The house looked rather like some makeshift barn, than an actual human settlement. Mai began to be really curious about the situation. The kid let go off her hand and ran inside, looking for something. The girl waited outside with the rest of the group.

After a while Rin came back, holding a simple wooden comb and passed it to Mai.

"Here you go." The child smiled brightly. "It belonged to my mother. You can have it now."
Mai's eyes widened. Her mother? So this place… it is where…

"Rin, did you live here?" she asked the child. Rin nodded her head.

"Yes, with my father, mother and brothers. But then Rin lived here alone… till the wolves came and killed everyone. But Sesshomaru-sama saved me and let me stay with him." She said, smiling sadly.
The older girl felt pity for the child. The kid was still so young, but she suffered already so much. However, putting the sad past behind, Rin was a wonderful and cheerful girl now. She wouldn't have had this chance if Sesshomaru didn't decide to take her with him. Mai thought that the demon might actually hide a kinder side of himself.

"Rin," Mai turned her head, as she heard Sesshomaru speaking to the child. "Do you wish to visit your parents' graves?" he asked. Rin nodded and led them outside the village. Mai couldn't help but stare at the demon. Was he just now nice, like genuinely nice? She expected, that he would glare at them and growl to hurry up, but not making a detour. He really must be kinder than she thought. With his horrible attitude it was damn difficult to discern his more positive character traits, but it actually turned out, that there were ones.

The whole group went to the meadow, where four simple gravestones were, without any inscription carved, nothing. Just four stones. The grass grew on the ground covering the remains of Rin's whole family. The child kneeled in front of them, tears started flowing from her eyes. Mai knelt beside the child and took her into her arms, comforting silently.

"I used to visit them every day." Rin sobbed into Mai's shoulder. The older girl knew the kid's pain – she must have never visited the graves since the attack two years ago. Mai was the same as this little crying girl, she used to visit her parents on the graveyard every Sunday. She was telling them everything, as though they were still alive and could hear her. She realized, that she would never be able to leave flowers on her father's and mother's grave. It saddened her, but her dad always told her, that it was the life that mattered, not death, because you can still change things as a living person.

"Rin, it's okay." Mai smiled at the child. "It's not important where their graves are, because they're always in your heart, as long as you remember them."
The child looked at Mai and nodded. The girl wiped Rin's tears with the hem of her kimono.

"Maybe you should leave some flowers, what do you think?" Mai asked.

"Okay." Rin nodded and the both girls plucked some daisies, that grew nearby and the kid laid them as four small bouquets next to the simple stones.

"I wish they had better graves…" the child sighed, touching the biggest rock. Mai knew, what Rin meant. The nameless graves looked somehow sad…

"Stay back." The both girls turned around, hearing Sesshomaru's deep voice. Mai noticed that his fingertips were glowing with green light, as though he readied himself to the attack with his whip. She yanked Rin upwards and took a step aside.

"What…" she began, but the demon silenced her with a sharp look. Mai closed her mouth. Sesshomaru turned his attention to Rin.

"Tell me their names." The youkai said. Mai watched with wide-opened eyes, as Rin recited the names of her father, mother and brothers, pointing at the each of four stones. Sesshomaru listened to the child carefully and the whip of green light shot from the ends of his clawed fingers, as Rin finished reciting. He gracefully moved his wrist and the whip whirled, cutting the stones. When it dissolved, the girl saw that the names of the child's relatives were engraved on the stones. Rin saw it too and looked at the demon, the tears in her eyes, her face expressing gratitude.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama!" The child exclaimed. The demon simply nodded.

"Let us go." He commanded and turned away. Mai and the rest of their small group followed him.
The girl was taken aback by what she just saw – the unexpected display of kindness coming from the demon, the very one she saw as a heartless cruel bastard. Mai sighed. Apparently, she judged him wrong all along. She quickened her pace to join Sesshomaru. She looked at him, but he didn't show any sign, that he even noticed her.

"What you just did, it was very kind of you." Mai spoke to him, but got no reaction. She decided to continue. "I was wrong about you – you are quite a good person. I think, that you are a decent man, Sesshomaru." She said and smiled at him.

The demon looked back at her, baffled by what he just heard from Mai.
"You are a foolish woman." He replied.

Mai's smile dropped of her face and she cast him a sharp glare.

"And you are still an arrogant jerk." She said, folding her arms and pouting.