"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it."

~Charles R. Swindoll

Kohaku groaned as she sat up from the side of the two-headed, who had decided to curl around her. Some hours must have passed because the once blue sky was now dark, filled with twinkling stars and the bright glow of the full moon.

In front of her, a fire crackled, embers floating up and flying around like fireflies. Across the fire pit, the mysterious handsome man sat against a tree. He wasn't looking at her, his eyes were closed, and it honestly looked like he was sleeping. But she knew he wasn't. The faint rise and fall of his chest proved so.

"Are you going to continue to stare at me?" he suddenly asked, which startled the girl a little. His eyes slowly opened, looking straight at her. Golden pools coldly stared into her dark amber eyes, searching for something, she didn't know what.

"I don't speak Japanese well. But I can write and translate words well," she replied in her broken Japanese. As if awaiting the man's approval, which he nodded slightly upon noticing her reluctance, she sat up more to get her sketchbook and pens. They just so happen to be on top of her bag that was beside her.

Grabbing her book, she opened to the first page. Quickly grabbing and opening a black brush pen, she swiftly wrote down Japanese characters to convey a message for the man to read. As she wrote, the man took his time to analyze her.

This girl was a mystery. He had seen when she fell from the sky and upon his dragon. At first, he thought she was a witch, from the way she dressed and how she appeared out of nowhere. But he later retracted that thought, she wasn't like any witch he has come across, and she definitely doesn't have the aura of one.

It was after five minutes of endless scribbling of words did Kohaku stop before hesitantly crawling on her hands and knees to pass over what she wrote. Tentatively, with slightly trembling hands she passed over the sketchbook before quickly retracting over to the two-headed dragon.

With calm but calculating eyes the man read over her writing, all in clear and readable kanji.

"Hello, my name is Ao Kohaku, age fifteen. I don't know how I got here or where I'm at. I'm not native from Japan so I'm not good at speaking with others. I do know how to write and read very well in Japanese because I have studied extensively. Can you point me to the nearest bus stop so I can leave here?"

It was clear to see that this girl well beyond educated than other females he has come across. This could either mean she is a runaway princess or a scholar. But she claimed to not be native, that she isn't from here. And what was a 'bus stop'? Did she mean village? But if she meant village, she would have written that instead. Something was amiss with her and he will find out what it is.

Holding out his hand the man gestured for her to hand over the writing utensil so he could give her a written response. He will believe her claims for now until proven otherwise. With slight vigor, she grabbed her brush pen before quickly crawling over to the man. If he could answer her questions, that means she might be able to leave this crazy place. She's still even debating whether this is a dream or a very good acid trip. And she doesn't do acid or any other type of drug.

With quick precision, the man wrote. After two minutes he was done. Calmly he handed her to book. His response was what she both dreaded and hoped for.

"I am Lord Sesshomaru of the West. You have trespassed onto my land, but fear not, I will not end your life. Yet. If what you speak is the truth about not being from this land then I grant you this one time a pardon for your disrespect. I do not know where this 'bus stop' is, or what it is, but I can take you to the nearest human village."

Well, she learned his name for one. She also learned that, yes she's still in Japan, but where was still a mystery. Also, he didn't know what a bus stop was. Either he's dumb or, and she really hoped not, she traveled back in time. It would explain his clothing, the way he addressed his self as a lord, the two-headed dragon, and why the environment feels dangerous but not polluted with trash and exhaust fumes.

Shakily but still filled with some excitement she wrote again. This time with more questions and less introduction about herself. So far four pages have been used from her sketchbook and it seems more will be used frequently if what she suspects is true.

Feeling quite bold, Kohaku shuffled over to sit next to Sesshomaru which in turn caused the gremlin who had been quite quiet to squawk at her angrily. It took a cold glare from Sesshomaru to shut it up. Ignoring the thing she showed the man what she wrote this time.

"Thank you for the offer but I must decline. You see, I think I'm in a different time period. Hear me out, please! The reason I think that is because of the dragon and the green thing. Plus you don't look entirely human and the clothing you're wearing is considered to be out of date and historic from where I come from. I believe I somehow traveled back in time and ended up here. Or you're playing a really bad joke on me. But I want to ask, will you be willing to please teach me how to speak proper Japanese? Please!"

Reading what the girl wrote made him think she was crazy. Time travel? It seemed preposterous, but her style of clothing, the book he was writing in, and even the writing utensil was something he has never seen before. Plus something about this girl drew him in. Maybe it was her naivety. Maybe the way she was both scared of him but excited to learn something new. Or maybe it was the large amount of spiritual energy he feels coming off of her that piqued his interest.

But his reply was both shocking to her and a little to himself but it didn't matter. Either way, an adventure awaited for both of them.

"I will teach you."