Chapter 74

The little troublemaker strikes again



"Sesshomaru-sama, you won't let this human boy stay with us, will you?" Jaken asked the silver-haired demon, running towards him and staring pleadingly into Sesshomaru's eyes. However, Rin counterattacked. She gripped the dog demon's hakama and made her best puppy eyes.

"Sesshomaru-sama, let him stay! Please!" she said, emitting the aura of cuteness. Mai sighed, having seen that before already. She approached Kohaku and whispered to his ear:

"Watch this." She said quietly.

"Sesshomaru-sama, we have two humans already! Three is too much!" Jaken was convincing his master. Rin cast him a sharp look and turned her attention back to Sesshomaru, glancing at him with pleading eyes.

"Rin will be so sad, if he doesn't stay with us. And Mai too." The child added. Mai furrowed her brows, hearing, that Rin dragged her into blackmailing Sesshomaru. Damn, the kid would be a master of manipulation in the future – it was becoming scary. Finally, the dog demon gave in to the child's demands.

"Kohaku stays." He commanded, not bothering to ask the boy himself, what he was thinking about it. Mai patted Kohaku's back.

"Welcome on board, kid." She said to him. "The dinner will be soon."

She turned away to make the vegetable stew, but Sesshomaru suddenly appeared in front of her, making use of his demonic speed. Mai gasped, clutching her chest, startled.

"Sesshomaru, do you want to give me a heart attack?" she muttered. The demon approached her and reached out, holding something. Mai felt a wave of disgust wash over her, as she noticed, that the particular something was furry, covered in blood and most certainly headless. The inu-youkai stared at her, clearly wanting her to take the two blood-stained corpses, that were two happy rabbits some time ago.

"Sesshomaru, why are you giving he beheaded rabbits?" she asked hesitantly, seeing a gleam of determination in the dog demon's eyes.

"You wanted meat." He said shortly.

Mai gawked at him confused. Then, she remembered. Earlier today she mentioned something like she hadn't eaten meat in ages. The girl tilted her head, finding it hard to believe, that Sesshomaru darted off to hunt the rabbits because of her craving for meat. But clearly he did. She smiled at him faintly.

"You're so considerate, but…" she said hesitantly, eying the dead animals. Poor things, the demon sliced their heads off. Sesshomaru was beginning to get impatient, but luckily Kohaku helped Mai out.

"I can skin them for you, Mai-sama." The boy said, taking the rabbits from the inu-youkai. The girl sighed with relief.

"Thanks, Kohaku." She said.

Mai managed to cook a delicious rabbit stew and they all ate it – all except Sesshomaru. The girl wondered, if he ate at all. She thought, that it was quite nice, that their group was bigger now.



Kohaku proved to be a useful asset to the team during the next week – the boy was eager to help Mai anytime and was occupying Rin most of the time. Plus, he was able to defend the girls, when Sesshomaru was away. He had some issues, but was a nice kid and Mai grew to like him. So did Jaken, but the imp kept complaining, mostly because the number of youkai and humans in their team was even now, counting Ah-Un in.

This day it was Jaken's turn to cook, but Mai offered to take his chores, as both the imp and Ah-Un caught some sort of demonic flu. She was doing her best making pancakes using the campfire. Everyone else was preparing to set off: Sesshomaru was checking Tenseiga for any cracks, Jaken was readjusting the dragon's saddle and Kohaku was cleaning his numerous demon slayer's items.
The boy laid his sickle on the ground, along with various poisons, salves and powders, often used by demon slayers. He took a cloth and was cleaning his weapon of dirt and dried blood. Rin, curious, came closer and crouched beside the boy, examining the items laying on the ground.
"Kohaku, what's this?" she asked, pointing a small jar with her finger.

"It's a powder, that intoxicates the youkai, who have a good sense of smell." He answered, eying Sesshomaru. Rin nodded.

"And that one?" she asked, pointing at a tiny green bottle.

"Hmm…" Kohaku furrowed his brows, thinking how to explain to Rin, that the bottle contained a strong aphrodisiac, that was used to arouse the demons and lure them into the trap. His father told the boy about those things already, but Rin could be too young. "You see… Rin, it's something that makes demons like a person, who you sprinkle with this liquid."

Rin's eyes widened. Something, that makes a demon like a person? She stole a glance at the inu-youkai. That was, what she needed! If she used the liquid, Sesshomaru-sama would fall in love with Mai for sure!

"Kohaku, behind you!" she screamed abruptly. The boy instinctively turned around and the little girl snatched a bottle, hiding it in her kimono. She laughed cheerfully. "You fell for it!"
The boy sighed, shaking his head and smiling at Rin.

The mischievous girl skipped to Mai and threw herself at the young woman, wrapping her arms around Mai's neck. Rin uncorked the bottle with her finger and spilt its contents behind Mai's collar.
"Rin, everything all right?" Mai asked, surprised by the kid's sudden display of affection.
"Yes!" Rin chanted happily and pulled back, smiling brightly. Mai smiled back at the child and motioned her to eat a few pancakes. The kids and Jaken ate the breakfast and soon the group set off. Ah-Un was dragging behind with Jaken on his back, both of them sneezing and Rin was occupied by talking Kohaku into playing some game with her. Mai sighed, having no one to keep her company. Only one person was basically unoccupied. She hiked the hem of her kimono and rushed to the silver-haired demon.

"Hello, Sesshomaru." She said. The youkai nodded, acknowledging her presence, but not speaking. She marched beside him for a longer time and she noticed, that Sesshomaru seemed to be a little tense. She wondered, what was the cause of it, but decided, that asking him would be probably pointless. He would give her an answer, that would make two of them argue again and she wanted to avoid it at all costs. Lately, they had been getting along quite well and she didn't want to spoil it – she rather enjoyed how the things were now.



Sesshomaru glanced at the woman, who just joined him. Thankfully, she seemed to be contented with just walking in silence, what he found rather pleasant. Strangely, the demon did not dislike her company – quite the opposite. I felt somewhat soothing to have her around, especially when she was not shrieking at him and making foolish demands. They were marching side by side for longer while, when he noticed something strange – her scent was slightly different. Maybe it was just a new soap, that she used.

The demon was discreetly observing her with the corner of his eye. She looked today prettier than usual. His attention was drawn to her lips – he wondered how did they taste, surely delicious, like the rest of her. Then, his eyes wandered to her neck. He felt the sudden urge to graze it with his teeth, nipping and sucking on the female's delicate flesh. Sesshomaru regretted, that the summer ended already and the air was cold, as the woman had her kimonos tightly wrapped around her body, not showing any cleavage. He remembered how temping her naked breasts looked like, the breasts and her whole body. The youkai would like to touch her everywhere, tracing her curves with his hands and lips…

Suddenly Sesshomaru snapped back to reality, tensing. What made him have such lustful thoughts about the human woman? He did not deny feeling attraction towards her, but fantasies like that were not acceptable. The demon tried to focus on Naraku, but his thoughts kept wandering to Mai's neck. He wanted to lick it.

The silver-haired youkai clenched his fist, not being able to throw the image of the naked woman from his mind. Why could he not maintain control today? Sesshomaru discovered, that the urge to do shameful things to the female was increasing, even though he forced himself to focus on the memory of Jaken running around naked – the most non-erotic thought, he could remember.



"Woman, we are setting up a camp." He hissed out, deciding that the solid training would be the best to subside the barely controllable desire. In any other circumstances he would just leave for a day or two, but now the risk of Naraku attacking the female and the children doubled, forcing him to stay with his companions.

"Okay." Mai answered happily, glad, that she would be able to laze for a while. Anyway, Jaken and Ah-Un needed rest. The girl made a campfire with Kohaku's help. She saw Sesshomaru disappear in the nearby woods and wondered if the demon was still somewhere around.

"Jaken, Sesshomaru is still somewhere around, right?" she asked the imp out of curiosity. Jaken wrapped himself in the blanket and sneezed.

"How would I know? My nose is not working today." He whined. Mai looked at him with pity. He and Ah-Un were not in the best shape today. She glanced at the kids. Rin was babbling about something to Kohaku and the boy was listening to her with attention. She smiles at how good the two got along.

"I'll be back soon!" Mai said to her companions and made her way to the edge of the forest, the opposite side than Sesshomaru went to. Nature was calling her. As she went far enough and crouched, doing what had to be done, she noticed something shimmering between the trees. Once she was done with her business, she made her way further into the woods. She gasped, a wide grin plastered to her face, when she saw steaming water – natural hot springs. She bent down to check the water temperature – it was perfect! Mai decided to go back for soap and something like a towel. She would use a warm bath.

Mai returned to the camp and took the things she needed.

"Kids, I'm going to take a bath. I'll be back in an hour. Or two, maybe." She told them and happily skipped towards the hot springs.



Rin sighed heavily. Her second plan to get Sesshomaru-sama and Mai to fall in love with each other didn't work. And she was so sure about this one…

"Rin did you see a little green bottle?" Kohaku asked.

"No." she lied effortlessly. The boy shook his head.

"I must have lost it somewhere." He muttered.