Chapter 1

Chikatsu sat on the top of a hill staring at the sky, allowing his long silver hair blow in the wind. His appearance was simple, one purple mark on each cheek and his pants were a deep scarlet color along with his top. Vines with thorns were stitched into the shoulders of his shirt, with the occasional red flower. His eyes were a soft amber with a tint of green. He listened to the soft whisper of the wind as he watched the sun rise. Then he sighed. It was morning which meant more torment from the villages he passed through. He braided his hair and tied it off with a black silk ribbon and picked up his sword. Finally, he stood up and made his way down the hill to the river below. Once there, he splashed his face with water and looked over to his right. There, a little girl and apparently her younger brother stood staring at him. He smiled at them and then went back to washing his face. The children ran off, apparently afraid of him. He sighed again. He looked down the river and something caught his eye. A girl was floating face down in the water. Chikatsu practically jumped up and fished her out of the water. He checked her vital signs. She wasn't breathing. He started to do CPR on her until she started to cough out the access water in her lungs.

She opened her golden-ember eyes and looked at him wearily. Her long midnight black hair was matted to her face, her black velvet doggy-ears twitching continuously at the top of her head. She looked about fifteen in human years, her white kimono was soaked with blood and clinging to her skin as was her sky-blue under robe and crimson red obi. Like most demons, she was barefoot and a sword hung at her waist.

Chikatsu gently slid his arm under the girl's shoulders, making her sit up. "Are you alright?" he asked in a worried tone. She nodded, too weary from blood loss and being dragged along the river's current to actually give her savior a spoken answer. Chikatsu removed his shirt and wrapped it around her to help stop the shivering. He then gently lifted her into the air and took her into a nearby forest where he had set up his camp the night before. He placed her down near the fire pit and restarted the fire that had gone out during the night. Afterwards, he found some bandages and knelt next to her, seeing if she will allow him to treat her wound. Though she was fairly weak, she wasn't weak enough not to be able to glare at him. He sighed and walked into the forest to find some herbs that could help him deal with her a little easier.

The girl was free to look around, now that the guy was gone. It really wasn't much to look at though. There was a fire and a small shelter type structure filled with all the necessities of life. Chikatsu came back and started to mash some herbs in a bowl while putting a kettle over the fire.

"So, what's your name?" he asked, trying to make light conversation when he could. He knew that after he is done actually helping her, she's not going to want to talk to him.

"Nicada-Yamie," the girl answered quietly. He nodded and poured some of the water into the bowl and handed it to her.

"Drink that, you'll feel better." He sat back and waited for her to drink the concoction.

Nicada lightly sniffed the contents in the bowl and looked up at him, "How do I know you aren't trying to kill me?"

"If I wanted you dead I wouldn't have taken you out of the river and let you barrow my shirt, which by the way is all wet now," he replied.

"Gomen..." she whispered apologetically before drinking the concoction that he had made.

"You won't mean that after a few moments," he muttered under his breath so she couldn't hear him. The girl heard him mutter something, but couldn't understand it. Chikatsu stood up and took the bowl back from her when she was finished, not wanting her to drop it. She looked at him confused at first and then put her hand on the ground behind her, trying to remain sitting up. She used her other hand to hold her head, now officially confused. "Don't fight it Nicada, I told you, it'll make you feel better."

"What the hell did you do to me?" she asked, her words slightly slurred. Chikatsu sat behind her and pulled her into his lap.

"Stop talking," he whispered to her. She gave him a final glare before passing out. Carefully, he pulled down the kimono around her shoulders and pushed up her under shirt revealing the wound in her stomach. He grabbed some different herbs and rubbed them on the wound before wrapping it up with the bandages and resetting her clothes. He was about to lay her back down but she wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him. He was startled for a moment, but didn't overreact. He sighed once again. This has been a very long day.

&...&...&

Nicada woke up and looked around slightly puzzled. It was dark out now, the only lights came from a few scattered fireflies and the burning ashes of the fire. She looked up at the demon male who was holding her and thought for a spilt second that it was her eldest half-brother Sesshoumaru, but no, it was the male demon who had drugged her earlier. Still feeling slightly woozy from the after effects of the herb tea, she rolled out of his lap and struggled into a sitting position. She sniffed the air a little, knowing she smelt blood in the air and it was coming from him. Nicada looked down realizing she was still wearing his shirt and that his back must be all scarred up from having to sleep against the tree shirtless.

Chikatsu opened his eyes, realizing that she had gotten off of his lap. He stood up and winced as the cuts on his back started to burn, probably because sap from the tree entered the wounds. He sighed and sat back down, reaching back and touching his back before looking at the blood that had coated his fingertips. "Well that sucks," he mumbled to himself.

"You drugged me!" Nicada growled feeling smoke starting to sizzle from her fingertips as Claws of Flame began to form.

"I did? Oh, yeah I did," he said grinning despite the fierce pain in his back. "You probably would've died if I didn't though, you're the one that wouldn't let me treat your wound, which I did without seeing anything thank you very much."

The young dog-demon female looked down, ashamed of herself, as Claws of Flame dissipated before it even full blown started. She struggled to her feet still a little dazed and walked over by Chikatsu, pressing her flattened palms against his back as her sky-blue spiritual energy began to heal the cuts on his back. He hissed in pain as she healed his wounds, but dealt with it.

"You're full of surprises aren't you Nicada?" he asked.

"I guess," she shrugged. Chikatsu nodded as she finished with his back.

"Well, it's the middle of the night and I'm exhausted. You're welcome to have some of the food next to the fire, it was meant for you anyway," he said. Nicada nodded and pulled Chikatsu's shirt off of herself and handed it back to him, before going over to the food to find something she could stomach. Chikatsu put his shirt back on and sprawled out on the ground closing his eyes.

She turned back to look at him, a piece of grilled fish in her hand, "You never did tell me your name." She plopped down on the ground nibbling away at her dinner.

"It's Chikatsu," he said before eventually falling asleep once again.

A/N: Hurra! One more story to add to, well, the other one. R&R please!

-VDG & MOTH