Chapter 25

A troublesome green crayon





"Are we near, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, as they were running through the forest, Kagome on hanyou's back and Kirara flying behind them with Sango, Miroku and Shippo on her back.
"I smell the stench of Jaken, the dragon and the kid, but that bastard Sesshomaru has gone somewhere!" answered Inuyasha. Miroku and Sango prepared themselves for the fight. "We're almost there!"

A moment later the hanyou and his companions reached a clearing at the riverbank. Kagome got off, when Inuyasha stopped. They looked around. Sesshomaru's dragon was eying them warily, ready to attack any moment. Jaken narrowed his eyes and clutched Nintoujou. Rin, on the other hand, smiled happily and waved to them. Kagome waved back.
Being impatient as usual, Inuyasha leapt to Jaken and glared at him, lifting the clenched fist.

"Hey, Jaken, where's Sesshomaru?" he yelled at the imp. Jaken waved with the staff threateningly.

"It's not your business, Inuyasha!" he shouted back. "Anyway, what are you people doing here?"
"You…" Inuyasha growled, ready to punch Jaken. He moved his arm, but…

"OSUWARI!" cried Kagome, making her way to Jaken, Rin and Inuyasha, who was now laying face-flat on the ground, cursing. The girl sighed. "Inuyasha, don't hit him without a reason!"

"Jaken," Kagome addressed the imp. "We are looking for my friend. Her name is Mai. Is she somewhere around?"

The green demon and Rin quickly exchanged glances.

"Who's Mai?" asked the little girl with innocent look on her face. Jaken couldn't believe that Inuyasha and the miko instantly fell for the lie.

The hanyou's group stayed on the clearing for a while, discussing, what to do next. Rin and Shippo were drawing together and the girl was in awe, when the fox demon showed her the crayons, he got from Kagome.

"What now?" asked Inuyasha, angry, that all the effort was for nothing.

"I have no ideas." Admitted Miroku, sighing. "I was sure, that it was Sesshomaru, but now…"
Sango clasped her hands, as her eyed brightened.

"She said, that the one, she was working for was chasing Naraku. That is our only clue, so if we head towards Hanemasa, we'll meet eventually."
Kagome sighed.

"I guess, that's the only option. I hoped, that we'll find her today, though… At least I know, that she is alive."

"Ekhem!" The whole group looked down, noticing Jaken, who glared at them, eager to get rid of the hanyou and the troublesome humans, before Sesshomaru-sama and Mai arrive. "Now, when you saw, that your friend is not here, can you all get out?"

"Ha!" Inuyasha exclaimed, as he managed to punch Jaken.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome said, glaring at the half-demon. Inuyasha yelped, expecting Kagome to say "the word" again, but she didn't do it.

"We should go." Sango said. "It would be best not to engage in the fight with Sesshomaru today."
Inuyasha muttered something under his nose, but after seeing Kagome's scary face, he agreed with the demon-slayer.

"Hey, Shippo! Come here!" he called the little fox demon and they left soon.



Jaken waited till the stupid hanyou Inuyasha and his human friends vanished at last. He sighed heavily, leaning on the Nintoujou. The green imp was grateful, that Rin came up with the lie so quickly.

"Jaken-sama?" asked the girl, tugging his sleeve. "Why was Inuyasha sama looking for Mai?"

Jaken stayed silent and shrugged his shoulders. It was strange indeed. It seemed, that the weird miko, who was travelling with the hanyou, knew the woman – she referred to her as a friend. The imp had a feeling, that Mai was hiding something – and Sesshomaru sama won't like it. Jaken sighed again and was about to go and make a meal, when he heard Rin calling him.

"Jaken-sama, look!" the girl explained, pointing the sky. The imp looked up. A huge white dog was gliding towards them. Sesshomaru-sama in his true form! Jaken squinted his eyes and noticed, that the human woman was sitting on the dog's back, snuggling into the soft fur. The green demon muttered a curse under his nose, as he got jealous.

Sesshomaru let the human girl slide of his back and transformed back. Rin ran towards the pair to greet her protector and Mai. The silver-haired youkai stiffened, as he picked up his half-brothers scent, that was all over the place.

"Jaken. Was Inuyasha here?" the tall demon demanded. Jaken gulped. Mai crouched to Rin.

"Who's Inuyasha?" she asked the little girl quietly, trying to remember why the name sounded familiar to her.

"He's Sesshomaru-sama's younger brother, but they don't really get along well." Rin explained.

"Jaken!" Sesshomaru nearly growled, growing impatient. The imp bowed deeply.

"He and the humans were here." Jaken admitted, eying the woman with suspicion. "They were looking for Mai."

"Mai?" the dog demon repeated slowly, turning his gaze to the surprised woman.

"Me?" she asked. She gasped, startled, as Sesshomaru glared at her furiously.

"Woman, what connection do you have to Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru demanded, as he stalked closer to her, anger in his voice. Mai was confused. How could possibly know his brother? And, more importantly, what an another demon would want with her?

"I've never met your brother! I've never even heard his name before!" Mai responded to the accusations. Her answer, however, only angered Sesshomaru more. The demon grabbed her shoulder and pulled the girl to him, bringing his face closer to his.

"Do not dare to lie to me, woman." He said quietly, warning in his voice. Mai flinched, as she felt, that he was gripping her so strongly, that there will be a bruise left. She looked him in the eye defiantly.

"I didn't lie to you. Now let me go!" she screamed at him. Sesshomaru wasn't moving for a while, studying her face and then he released her. Mai pulled herself away from the dog demon, touching her aching shoulder.

Jaken cleared the throat.

"Mai, the miko clearly said your name." the green imp stated.

"Tch! I have never seen any miko in my whole life." Pissed Mai retorted. Then something, that Jaken said caught her attention. Her name? Did he mean her actual name of this of the Asakura princess?

"What do you mean - name?" asked the girl. "Did she say 'Mai' or 'Amayami'? Which is it?"
Jaken frowned and looked at her with pity.

"You stupid human! You don't know your own name? Of course, she called you Mai."

Mai paled. Only Rin, Sesshomaru and Jaken knew her real name, Ah-Un couldn't be really counted in. Then how the hell a bunch of strangers found out about it? Should she worry? Was she in danger?
Mai was deep in thought, that he didn't sense an ominous presence right behind her, until she heard a low, growling sound. She slowly turned around. Sesshomaru was towering over her, piercing her with his icy-cold glare.

"What are you hiding from me?" he asked calmly. The girl knew, that it was silence before the storm.

She tried figuring out how to calm him, but she just couldn't think clearly at the moment. She noticed, that Sesshomaru's youki began to swirl around him, the stripes on the cheeks jagged. The girl yelped.

Fortunately, the help came just in time. Rin skipped to the silver-haired demon and tugged his sleeve, glancing at him with her puppy eyes.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" she called with her sweet voice.

The demon's wrath subsided immediately, everything about him returned to normal. Rin began showing him the stones, she found in the river, while chatting happily. Mai sighed, grateful, that the kid managed to avert the demon's attention from her.

Mai went to the packages, fished out a needle and a thread and started fixing old clothes, hoping, that Sesshomaru won't bother her, when she is busy. Rin continued occupying him and Jaken was napping. Mai hissed, as she pricked her finger with a needle again. She hated, how this day, that began unexpectedly pleasant, was now completely ruined.

The sun began setting, when Rin came to cheer her up. The child sat down, clutching one of her drawings in her hand. She observed Mai's work for a while.

"Mai, will you teach me how to sew?" the kid asked. The older girl made a break in her work and looked at Rin.

"Of course, kid. Once you'll know how to read and write." She said, ruffling the child's already messy hair. The kid sighed heavily.

"I wish you and Sesshomaru-sama would get along better…" the child said quietly, gazing at her with a childish seriousness in her eyes. Mai was at loss. What should she tell the kid? Should she lie? She couldn't possibly tell Rin, that the hell would freeze sooner, before her idolized protector would become a civilized… demon.

"Rin…" she began, but the kid interrupted her, shoving a piece of paper in her hands.

"Look, what I drew especially for you!" she smiled at the older girl happily.

Mai smiled and thanked the cute child and took a look at the picture. Rin's drawings were only a little more than stickmen, but she could recognize the kid in the middle, who was holding Sesshomaru's hand with her left hand – Mai smiled to herself, as she saw, that the demon in the drawing was smiling widely, something he never did. The kid's other hand was supposedly gripping Mai's. Jaken and Ah-Un were also in the picture, rather in the background. The girl saw, that Jaken's skin and her kimono were green, while the rest was black and white.

"Rin, where did the green color come from?" she asked. The child grinned and reached to the pocket in her kimono's sleeve. The girl placed a small item in Mai's hand. The young woman looked at the object and froze, her eyes wide open.

On her palm laid a green crayon, the most normal green crayon labeled with a logo of producer and a tiny inscription "made in China". How did it get here? Then, Mai's thought began racing wildly. It was definitely from her era, so did it manage to go back in time? How? The girl lifted her head and gripped Rin's shoulder.

"Rin, where did you get this?" she questioned the child.

"A friend gave me." Answered Rin hesitantly. Mai narrowed her eyes and gripped the kid stronger, not even realizing, that he was behaving like Sesshomaru did a while ago.

"What friend?" she kept asking. Rin stared at her, a little scared by a sudden change in her friend.

"Shippo." Said the child quietly. Mai released her. Shippo? She knew that name… Then it clicked – Shippo was the little fox youkai, travelling with the perverted monk.

"Is this Shippo a fox demon?" she asked Rin, who nodded.

Mai didn't know, what to think of it. The demon kid had a crayon from her time. Did he find it somewhere? There were facts, that needed to be linked. The girl took a deep breath and tried to think logically for a while. She met Shippo and the monk… what was his name… in the town, a couple of days ago. She was a stranger to them and they didn't know her name. Now this Shippo appeared, when she and Sesshomaru was gone. Then the dog demon made a fuss about his brother Inuyasha, who was also here. So Shippo and the monk were with this Inuyasha. And probably some miko, who Jaken mentioned earlier. The whole group must have known who she was and something about the time-travelling. Maybe they discovered how it's done?

Mai looked at the crayon in her hand. It was a proof, that returning home was possible. She had hope again. Till now, she was convinced, that she will die as Sesshomaru's servant, but the fate just presented her with a chance to change it. She decided, that she will find this Inuyasha and make him help her go home. To do it, she will have to escape Sesshomaru first. She shivered, when she remembered, that he promised to kill her, when she would try to run away from him. Her life was at stake, so she will have only one chance.

This time she won't be so reckless – she will prepare. First, she will ask Jaken about Sesshomaru's brother. Then, she will have to locate Inuyasha and wait for the convenient time.



Mai left Rin and went to find Jaken. Luckily, the imp was picking mushrooms in the forest, quite far from Sesshomaru. Mai offered to help the green demon and started conversation.

"Jaken, can you tell me about that Inuyasha? He's Sesshomaru's brother, right?" she asked. Jaken suddenly got angry.

"Yes, the blood of Sesshomaru-sama's great father flows in the veins of this despicable hanyou, but you can't compare that filthy half-breed to the impeccable youkai like Sesshomaru-sama!" he snapped. Mai almost forgot, how loyal to his master Jaken was.

"Hanyou? Half-demon, half-human?" she asked. If he and Sesshomaru shared the same father, then they had different mothers. And was Inuyasha's mother a human?

"Yes, a total disgrace of the entire clan." Jaken complained.

Mai wondered, what made Sesshomaru hate his brother. Was it the fact, that his father had a child with another woman or was it just the hatred for humans in general.

"Jaken, what wrong did Inuyasha to Sesshomaru?" she asked.

"His existence is a disgrace already. Sesshomaru-sama's father died because of Inuyasha and his pathetic human mother! And he cut his left arm off and got Tessaiga, which should have belonged to our master!" Jaken cried.

Mai gasped, surprised, that it was Sesshomaru's own brother, who cut his arm. It was an understatement, that they didn't get along. But if Inuyasha managed to wound Sesshomaru so, he would be able to protect Mai from her boss. The only problem would be to get to him safely. First she had to know, where he was. That could prove itself quite troublesome.