Sesshoumaru was standing in a clearing near the boarder of his lands, waiting for Jaken and Rin to catch up with him. He had run ahead of them when he had caught hold of Naraku's scent, but the moment he thought he had cornered him, the scent was gone. He was quickly tiring of playing cat and dog with this hanyou, and often contemplated returning to his land to find a mate and continue his quest to conquer the surrounding lands.
This was something he could not do, because Naraku was a threat and he had to be dealt with at any cost, even if that meant postponing his plans. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone running through the woods to his left. By the scent of it, this was a woman, with perfume in her hair that almost hid the fact that she had the scent of a demon on her.
As Sesshoumaru reached to his side to draw Toukijin, the woman he had been searing ran by him, but he was under the cover of the winter snow, and she did not see him. She had very bright red hair and a green with blue trim kimono on. Sesshoumaru wanted to follow her; he wanted to get a better look at her. He wondered to himself why he took so much notice of this woman. It certainly was not an interest of attraction; that would be weakness.
This was something he wanted, and hell, why shouldn't he get what he wanted? All he had to do was reach out and grab it. So he did. He followed her, unnoticed, for almost two hours before she stopped at a small stream for water. As she bent down into the streams shallow water, Sesshoumaru stepped behind her, letting himself be heard. She turned around slowly, her blue eyes flashing with surprise. She stood to run, and he didn't stop her. He followed her.
Her running was fast, but no match for Sesshoumaru, as he stopped ahead of her, causing her to fall after she ran right into his chest. She looked up in fear and neglected to speak or move. He took in her full appearance; her green kimono, which had a blue trim and lack of an obi; her deep blue eyes and full lips. What really intrigued him most was her dark red hair. After several moments, he said, "Who are you?" That was a simple enough question. He glared into her eyes when she didn't respond, and she said quietly, "My name is Mina." She had bright pink markings on her eyes, and faded red paint on her lips. 'This girl must be a geisha.' Sesshoumaru thought. "Why are you here? These lands are mine, and I know you're not from around here." He said. This time, she responded faster.
"I am a Kabuki Dancer. My village was pillaged and burned to the ground three days ago, just east of here, and I have been running from the demons that attacked." She said, with her eyes on Sesshoumaru's two swords. "That does not excuse your trespass. Why exactly were you in a human village? Demons are usually shunned from such society." He said. At this Mina lowered her head and was silent. "Come with me." He said. As he turned to leave, he heard her rise to follow. Sesshoumaru was sure that when Jaken didn't find, he would go back to the castle with Rin and Ah-Un.
He led Mina, who was quietly following, to his castle in the west. Mina kept up at Sesshoumaru's speed, but after about three hours she started to slow down. They still had about an hour of daylight, so he stopped near a riverbank to set camp. Mina stood quietly behind him, awaiting an order.
Without turning he said, "Wash the paint off your face." He looked at the water; most of the bank was frozen and there were chunks of ice floating down the currentWith a sigh he realized that this was no condition for a woman to bathe. As he turned to tell her that they would go to find a more suitable spring, he found that his efforts were in vain. She was already in the middle of the shallow river, dipping her hair into the frigid water. Sesshoumaru frowned and leaned against a nearby tree to await her return. She emerged from the water and he blinked as a snowflake fell into his left eye.
The snowflake melted almost instantly, and caused his eyes to water. He wiped it away with his sleeve and when he looked up, the girl Mina was looking at him with empathetic eyes. "I wasn't crying." He said as she quickly averted her gaze. "I know, Sir." She said, sitting at the trunk of a nearby tree. "Then why were you looking at me like I was a dying puppy?" Sesshoumaru said, with a voice as cold as the river. Mina looked at him intently as a moment past them by, like a leaf in the wind. "I wasn't, Sir." She said in a quiet tone, looking down. Sesshoumaru rushed her, and pinned her up against the tree. She winced, thinking that she would be killed at any moment. She opened her eyes, and found herself looking into his golden eyes. To her surprise, he was not angry. She averted her gaze to the ground and tried to calm her breathing, and he leaned in towards her cheek and said whispered, "Why do you insist on lying to me?" His breath on her cheek sent shivers up her spine. He let her go and she slid back to the ground. She was still too surprised to speak, so Sesshoumaru left it at that.
Early the next morning Sesshoumaru had to pinch the girl to make her wake up. He feared that she might die if she was left out in this cold much longer, her face was pale and she was slow to get up. She didn't say anything, but he knew she was sick. She arose and brushed some snow off of her and looked to Sesshoumaru, who had already begun the short journey to his home. As the wind pushed against them, blowing all other sounds away, she said, "I'm sorry." Her words were lost in even before they left her mouth. Sesshoumaru looked at her through the corner of his eye, but said nothing.
Within an hour, at a fast pace, they had arrived, and Mina was baffled at the sheer velocity of the castle and its surroundings. It must have covered four square miles of land, with the main building in the central area and the guardhouse at the left of the courtyard, and in the distance there was what looked like a small village, most likely for the servants to quarter in. Beyond that, there was a long beach. Mina figured that this was the westernmost land on this continent. The main building was shaped like an n and had a garden in the center. As they walked thru it, she noticed cherry trees and rosebushes that must be beautiful in spring. 'If I even live that long…' She thought. Nothing at her homeland looked like this. They walked up the drive, at a slow pace that she was very happy to have. The doors to the main estate were made of cherry wood and had large iron doorknockers.
Before he could open the doors, three men emerged in red and white Yukatas, talking amongst themselves about an upcoming battle in the east. They stopped talking as soon as they saw Sesshoumaru and bowed deeply. As they slowly arose, the on to the left said, "Welcome home, Sessoumaru-sama." The men bowed again and left, leaving Mina to wonder about the battle to which they where speaking.
Sesshoumaru took Mina's wrist and led her inside. Mina was awed by what she saw within. The walls were white as clouds and the floor was made of a red stone that seemed almost liquid in the sunlight. The windows were made of crystal and made the entire room feel like spring, despite the harsh winter outside. Sesshoumaru looked down at her and enjoyed her obvious pleasure.
The entrance hall was long and well lit, there were so many doors and walkways that all looked the same, it made Mina uneasy. He led her through the maze with sure steps, and after what seemed like forever, he stopped in front of a room with a mahogany door. "This is where you will stay… for now. There is a bath down the hall and there should be clothes in your room. When you are finished someone will fetch you for dinner." He said as he walked back through the door they had come from. Mina turned and entered the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
The floor was cold beneath her bare feet. The walls where the same as the hall and there was a narrow bed in the corner. She looked at the kimono on the bed, which was made of a black silk cloth embroidered with flowers and a white Obi.
She put her palm to her forehead in frustration; she still didn't know how to put these outfits together… She figured she would have to guess at that. She gathered the robes and walked back out of the room. She was unsure of which door led to the bath. There were eight doors in the hallway, four on each side and another at the very end of the hall. She knew the door opposite her room was the one that led to the other hall, which Sesshoumaru had used, So that one couldn't be the bath. She silently crept from one door to door and found only other bedrooms. At the final door, she heard running water and smiled; she had finally found the bath.
When she opened the door, however, there was a surprise awaiting her on the other side.
Six other people where in the room! The bath itself was large, and covered most of the room. Mina went to leave, but a small-framed girl with brown hair and eyes grabbed her wrist and said, "Who are you? Why are you leaving? Are you new?" Mina looked at her face and tried not to look at the rest of them. "My name is Mina, and I was leaving because you're all naked and yes, I am new. I'm very, very new indeed." Mina said in one breath. Another girl with long blonde pigtails put her hand on the first girls shoulder and smiled, "Hello Mina. I am Kasumi, but everyone calls me Tori. If you need any help, feel free to ask me." She said, then two more girls approached her, and the girl called Tori took Mina's robes and set them on a nearby bench. Mina followed, clutching her towel around her. "What is all this?" She asked. "We are Sesshoumaru-sama's collection. Perhaps now is not the best time to explain. However, it looks like you could use a bath. Get in." Tori said. Mina looked at her with hesitation, and then slowly she removed her towel and stepped into the soothing hot water. Her muscles ached and she felt dizzy, almost sick. The two girls that she had seen in the doorway reentered the bath as well. Mina noticed that a rather happy girl with a high-placed pony tail still had her robes on. Mina turned again to Tori, who had been dipping her golden hair into the bath and asked why the blue-haired girl didn't join them. Tori looked where she was pointing and laughed, saying, "That's no girl! That's Kira, and he's not going to be joining us." Mina opened her eyes wide, sinking into the water and covering herself. "Oh, don't worry; he's just here to watch out for us. Uh, you know what? I think it's time for introductions!" She said, and the same brown-haired girl as before came to her and held out her hand. "I am Akitsu! It's great to have a new person around." Mina took the girls hand and another girl with black hair and dark red eyes approached her and said, "I'm Pyre, and it's a pleasure to meet you. If you want, I can Show you around after dinner." She said. Then herself and Akitsu got out of the bath, and grabbed towels before leaving. Mina finished bathing and got out of the water herself. She looked back at her Kimono and sighed. She turned, red cheeked, to Tori and asked politely how to assemble one of these. Tori smiled at her and helped her put on the robes. "You know, I make all the Kimonos and Yukatas in this place. Of course, Sesshoumaru's seamstress does all of his. I suppose I am not good enough…" Tori said, with a slightly sad face. "So does that mean you made this?" Mina asked, hoping to cheer her up. "It's very beautiful." Tori nodded and accompanied Mina to her room and helped her situate her hair. Tori explained that everyone in this hall was a part of Sesshoumaru's collective. All of them with the exception of Kira and his sister were from different regions of the western lands. Mina was confused at how she ended up here; wasn't she supposed to be prosecuted as a criminal? She didn't ask any questions, and when a servant of the house came to call them for dinner, she was awed at two girls she hadn't noticed before. One was extremely beautiful, and elegant, with ornaments in her hair. Her white hair was braided and almost went past the backs of her knees.
The other was a dark skinned girl with dark blue hair. This was, as Tori said, Kira's twin sister, Kiara. She walked with less grace than the first girl, and she stayed behind the group, keeping quiet and to herself.
Mina counted that there was a total of six other people in this group, besides herself and the servant. One for each of the rooms, she thought. She entered the dining room and had to blink, as the light was so bright in contrast to the dark hall ways. When Mina could finally see again, The sheer sight blew her away!