Chapter 54

A Mother and a child
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When Sesshomaru and Mai finally landed, the girl jumped away from the demon. Rin ran to her and hugged her.
"You have your hairpin back." Rin noted. The older girl smiled triumphantly.
"Of course I do. I'd never let some youkai take my possessions from me." She said, casting a poisonous look at Sesshomaru. The demon rewarded her with glare.
"Neither would I." the inu-youkai said calmly. "Do remember your place."
Mai clenched her fists. That bastard! What the hell is with his attitude "I'm the alpha male"?! He just had to remind her constantly, that she was a lowly human and his slave! Ugh!
"Mai?" Rin asked. "Are you upset?"
Mai looked at the child and forced herself to smile. She didn't want to worry the kid by her and Sesshomaru's issues. Not that it was her fault – of course the demonic asshole was to blame.

"Of course not." She said. Rin sighed heavily.

"I really wish, that you and Sesshomaru-sama would get along better." The kid said with overly serious face, so serious, that it almost looked funny. Mai giggled.

"You don't need to worry. We do already."

"How?" Rin asked. Mai bit her lip, baffled by child's question.

"Hmm… he doesn't throttle me anymore." The girl said, unconvinced by her own answer. Rin furrowed her brows. Jaken sighed.

"I bet Sesshomaru-sama is only waiting for the right moment!" the imp called to the girls. Mai only hissed with compassion, as Jaken got punched by the dog demon.

"We are going." Sesshomaru said shortly and set off, leaving the imp with a huge bruise on his head.



Two days later, Sesshomaru and his companions reached the seashore.

"Sea!" Mai exclaimed, excited. The beach was so wonderful, much better than back in her own time. This one was oddly clean – no beer cans, no trash, just sand. And to make it better, it was empty too, without the swarming tourists. Earlier she was at the sea only twice with her father. She decided to seize the opportunity, not knowing when would be the next chance to bathe in the sea. Mai untied her obi quickly and got rid of heavy silk kimono, leaving only a thin under layer on and kicked off the sandals. Rin and Jaken were gawking at her, unsure what she was doing. Even Sesshomaru stopped to observe the girl. Mai darted and ran to the sea. She stood for a while, enjoying the feel of the sand between her toes, before jumping into the sea. The girl was splashing water around her, squealing happily like a child.

The group was staring at her strange behavior.

"What is she doing?" Jaken asked.

"I think she's happy to be at the sea." Rin answered.
"Hn."

"Hey, Mai, get yourself here! We won't be waiting for you!" Jaken called to the girl. Mai stopped splashing.

"Jaken, you're spoiling my fun!" she shouted back, laughing.

"Mai!" the green imp hurried her. The girl sighed and got out of the water. As she stepped on the shore, Jaken coughed, making a strange face and Sesshomaru turned away on his heel almost immediately.

"Jaken." he spoke to his servant. "Turn away."

When Mai reached the group soaking wet with the sea water she narrowed her eyes, baffled by the odd sight. Why the hell both Sesshomaru and Jaken were standing with their backs to her? She looked at Rin, who was handing her kimono.

"Thanks, Rin. Tell me, what's wrong with them?" she asked pointing at the two demons.

"Umm… I think it's because of your kimono." Rin said after a while. Mai was confused for a moment, but then she looked down and cursed. Hew kimono was so thin, that it became see-through when wet. Blushing, she changed quickly.




As the group went along the coast, they approached a human village.
Jaken looked up, worried by the dark clouds, that were gathering above their heads.

"It looks like it'll be raining heavily soon." He commented. Mai made a displeased face.

"Great, all we need is to be wet." She complained. They were walking in silence for a longer while, when Mai spotted a group of people nearby, most probably the villagers.
Several men were shouting at a woman and she was screaming back at them. Behind her was covering a small shape – Mai was certain, that it was her child. The girl gasped as one of the men struck the woman in her face. To beat up a woman? No way that Mai would let that happen, especially that she had reinforcements in the form of Sesshomaru with her.

"Sesshomaru!" she called running to the demon. "We must help that woman!"
The demon cast her an indifferent look, not slowing down.

"This is not of my concern." He said.
Mai clenched her fists. How can he say that?

"They might kill her! Please, help her out." She nearly begged him. What would hurt to scare them off? Sesshomaru averted his gaze from Mai.

"I will not repeat myself." He said in a tone that ended discussion. Mai felt her blood boiling. What a cold-hearted bastard! She couldn't believe his attitude. Well, if she goes there, he will surely come and watch over her safety. Either way, she will make him save that woman.

"Fine." She said, glaring at him. "I'll go there myself."
With those words she turned away and stalked towards the group of villagers. By now the situation already escalated. The woman was crouching on the sand, shielding her child with her own body and the men were punching her and kicking, although lightly, as though only to threaten her.

"Youkai's whore!" shouted one of them.

"It's all your fault and that monstrous child's of yours!"

"Youkai's seed!"
Mai didn't understand, what was happening, but she knew one – to gang up on a defenseless woman and a kid was the worst. She counted about ten men. Boldly, she made her way towards them.

"Hey, leave her alone!" she shouted at them, trying to copy Sesshomaru's intimidating glare. Apparently she was good at it, because the men stopped harassing the woman and gawked at Mai, not moving. Finally one of the spit on the ground and cast a hostile look at the girl.

"Don't stick your nose into other people's business, lady." He said in a raspy voice.
Mai narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.

"And what business is it, that ten grown men have to attack a woman with a child?" she demanded. The men looked scornfully at the woman, who was still shielding her child from them.

"This whore gave birth to a spawn of mononoke!" hissed a fat man.

"Our village was destroyed because of her kind!" another villager shouted.

"Her child is a monster! It should have been killed after the birth!"

Mai saw a defiant look on the woman's face, as she listened to the accusations.

"It's not Shiori's fault, that she's a hanyou!" the woman shouted, defending the child. Hanyou? Mai looked closer at the child in its mother's arms. It was a girl, about in Rin's age. She had dark complexion, white hair and weird purple eyes – she wasn't definitely human, at least not entirely. But she was cute. Mai cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention.

"So you're bullying them, because the kid's father is a youkai? That's just pathetic. And racist." She scolded the villagers.

"Are you siding with mononoke too?" the fat one asked her, clenching his fists. Mai glared at him. What's wrong with those people? Why the hell everyone makes such a commotion about this human-youkai issue? During the last months Mai learned, that the demon's were not so different from normal people. Some were nice and kind, like Shippo, and some were arrogant bastards – just like humans were.

Mai rolled her eyes.

"I will say this only once, so listen well. Leave now and don't come back, unless you want something bad happen to you." She said calmly, mimicking Sesshomaru's cold voice, that always scared the shit out of her. Mai smiled inwardly, as she saw, that the men were covering in fear, giving out whimpers and backing away from the little hanyou and her mother.

She had no way of knowing, that right behind her stood Sesshomaru, his eyes glowing red and his powerful demonic aura swirling around his frame.

"Cowards." Mai said, pleased with herself at the sight of the villagers, who were running away. Suddenly, she gave out a small cry of surprise, as she felt a clawed hand gripping her shoulder. She was swiftly whirled around so, that she faced Sesshomaru. The demon narrowed his eyes, silently demanding explanation for her actions. She smiled at him sheepishly.

"Sesshomaru…" Mai began, but, fortunately, Rin distracted the demon when she ran to him and gripped his sleeve. Sesshomaru looked at the child who sent him the most cheerful smile. Making use of the opportunity, that he was no longer interested in her, she helped the woman up.

"Are you okay?" she asked her. The woman nodded and let Mai yank her on her feet. The hanyou child glued herself to her mother, looking at the Sesshomaru's group with slight distrust.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you." Mai told the kid, smiling. Hesitantly, the little girl smiled back.

"Thank you for your help, I am very grateful." The woman spoke, bowing politely.

"Oh, that's no big deal!" Mai ensured her. The hanyou's mother looked up at the dark heavy clouds covering the sky. Then, they heard a thunder.

"It looks like storm is coming." The woman said. "Please, take shelter in our house. I'll make a stew right away."

Mai's eyes brightened at the idea. It would be way better than soaking wet for god knows how many hours. Not to add, that the idea of eating a homemade stew seemed appealing. She only had to convince Sesshomaru. She turned to the demon and made puppy eyes.

"Sesshomaru, could we accept the invitation?" she asked politely, thinking that it would be the best to leave deciding to him instead of making demands – in this way she could boost his ego. The demon glanced at Mai and then glared at the little hanyou girl, making her tremble and hide behind her mother.

"No." he replied sharply. Mai set her stubborn gaze at him. What did he mean by: no? There was no way, that she would yield that time. She would spend this night under a roof and no arrogant youkai won't stop her just because he has some stupid family issues with his hanyou brother!

"Sesshomaru, you know, that if Rin soaks wet for hours, she could catch pneumonia and die from it?" she asked, placing her hands on the hips.

"Hn." Sesshomaru set his gaze on the sea. Mai poked Rin, urging her to do something. The kid was smart and tugged his hakama.

"I'm hungry." The child said staring at the demon with her big chocolate eyes. The demon looked at the child and Mai noticed, that his eyes softened. The girl grinned inwardly – she knew, that Rin was Sesshomaru's only weakness. The kid had always her way with him. As expected, the inu-youkai nodded, consenting to accept the invitation.