... ...

"-san? Haruka-san-! Wake up!" Akatsuki's voice was the first that I heard, something poking me in the side annoyingly. I started, jerking as I woke up and looked around. The demon was smiling widely before me, his sword sheath in his hand, while Jaken stood impatiently nearby. The fire was already out, and the sun hadn't even risen yet, the air crisp and cool. I sat up, twisting my hair up into a bun and setting it in place with my comb, feeling my bangs fall back into my face and a few stray strands fall from the comb.

Akatsuki grinned. "Honestly, I was expecting you to poison us and take off again. I'm glad we didn't have to hunt you down." He smiled, tilting his head to the side in a way that almost seemed to say that hunting me would have been the most reasonable thing in the world, and I shrugged.

"You've peaked my interest." I rose to my feet, hurriedly gathering my bag and weapon. Turning, I frowned when I saw the demon standing in the same pose as yesterday, hands outstretched behind him and waiting for me to climb on. I sighed, holding onto his shoulders as he took off running, the imp yelling angrily as he 'accidently' hit a tree.

We made amazing time, reaching the estate a few hours after sunrise, and I gasped. It wasn't as large as I'd expected, but was still big, spanning several miles and glittering in the sunrise. High walls defended against attacks, the forest cleared away several miles away from the estate forbidding an unseen attack. Turrets rose high in the air, an arched gate the only visible entrance outside the wall. Two youkai guarded the gate alertly, tensing the moment Akatsuki appeared, relaxing only when they recognized him. They nodded, quickly opening the gate, and the orange haired demon shot through the doorway, giving me only a quick glimpse of the inside of the estate as he navigated his way through the halls, finally stopping before an open archway.

It was here, finally, that he let me stand. "I'm sorry Hani, but you're going to have to leave your weapon here. Someone will take them to the armory." Back to using titles, hm? I nodded, handing him my bow and quiver with only a little hesitation.

"Be careful not to let anyone handle them. Poisoned." He raised his eyebrows but didn't comment, and I jumped slightly as a youkai dressed in servants' clothes appeared, taking my bow from Akatsuki and leaving as silently as they appeared. I frowned slightly before Jaken gestured for me to enter the room, the other two following behind closely.

A girl, maybe nine years old, was propped up in a bed, looking pale, her black hair sticking to her face and eyes closed. Several thick blankets were wrapped around her, and she looked up dully as we walked in. A youkai seemed to appear, looking curious, but I ignored him, heading directly for my patient. I let my herb bag drop to the ground, feeling the girl's forehead and checking her heartbeat. I glanced back.

"Do you have any information?" The other youkai stepped forward calmly, his light colored eyes not even fazed.

"Rin-san has a high fever, painful headaches, exhaustion, dizziness, and stomach pains, all of which only worsen as time progresses. Would you like the records of what remedies she's been given?" I nodded, and he handed me a stack of papers. I scanned through the different records, nodding to myself. She'd mainly gotten popular youkai medicines, even before this illness, and would probably react badly to too much pure ningen medicines, even though she no doubt recieved human received in the past and not had it recorded.

She stirred slightly, eyes opening tiredly. "Hello, Rin-san." I said, smiling slightly. "How do you feel?" She looked up with a glazed expression, blinking for a moment before answering.

"My head..." she coughed slightly.

"Okay, well I'm Haruka. Your lord had me come here to make you feel better." I smiled reassuringly. "It's ever so boring her with those guys, though. Would you mind talking with me while I work?" She smiled slightly, still looking miserable.

"Sesshomaru-sama had you come?"

"Yep. I haven't met anyone aside from this lot, though." I nodded toward the three demons, still standing there watching me. I rolled my eyes. "If you aren't going to help, at least stand in the doorway." They did so, still making sure they could see me from the hallway. I turned back to the girl, smiling as I knelt down next to her bed. "Rin-san, can you tell me where you feel bad? Jaken said that you felt dizzy, tired, and that you don't feel hungry. You also said that your head hurt, is there anything else?"

She shook her head. "Alright, did you start feeling bad after you ate something? Maybe something you tried for the first time, or when you were eating with your lord."

She thought for a moment. "I don't remember." she said hesitantly, and I smiled slightly.

"That's okay, I can just ask someone else. Do you mind if I leave real quick and let you get some rest?" She looked disappointed, but shook her head, and I rose to my feet. "Who noticed that she was ill first?"

Jaken stepped forward. "Milord and I noticed originally. She lacked her usual energy."

"You said that was three or four days ago?" He nodded. "What time of the day?"

"Noon, shortly after our midday meal." I nodded, mentally narrowing my list of illnesses.

"You have people checking the food before it's eaten?"

"Yes. That day, I believe that it was checked extra thoroughly, because Sesshomaru-sama was eating with her." At my look, he explained. "Ordinarily, Sesshomaru-sama is far too busy to deal with her at the estate, but he allowed her to eat in his study with him and sit there while he worked." Hm. Several other ideas were tossed in the bin, and I looked up as the fair haired demon from earlier stepped towards me, looking annoyed.

"The ningen's condition can't have been caused by a poison. Sesshomaru-dono would have smelled it immediately if something poisonous was in the food." I shrugged.

"I'm sorry, and you are?"

He puffed up his chest importantly. "I am Akilah, master phamisist of the House of the West." I shrugged, unimpressed.

"May I see your stores of herbs?" The demon blinked in astonishment, While Akatsuki responded.

"Which one?"

I raised my eyebrows, and he explained. "One garden is purely for spices and non-lethal plants, that can be used for cooking. The other one is basically for any plant that can be lethal or used in an herbal remedy, both ningen and youkai. Of course, they're kept separate from each other."

"I want to visit the first garden." He led the way, the other youkai following while Jaken stayed behind. I looked around at the different plants and herbs, growing naturally in organized rows, none of the plants interfering with each other. Two other youkai were there, tending to the plants, and they looked up curiously when they saw me leading the party through the garden. I glanced over the plants, recognizing many of them as spices commonly in youkai dishes. As to be expected, considering.

"What, pray tell, do you think you can learn by looking over common spices?"

"Some spices can double as poisons, if they're mixed incorrectly. Also, the Lord of the Western Lands is fine with only having common spices?"

He snorted. "As if we would be so careless." He ignored my jibe, I noticed with amusement.

"Well, you have a human living with you and don't even no the basics on healing one. That's pretty careless, considering how attached your lord is to her."

He seemed to puff up angrily. "The ningen is merely a passing trend! How dare you insinuate that I'd be lax in my studies." I looked back.

"I'm a human, and have extensive knowledge on how to aid both humans and demons. You are lax in your studies. I take it that you hired him for the position you asked me to take?" Akatsuki nodded regretfully.

One of the herbs caught my attention, and I leaned closer to it with a frown. Something about the leaves..."So, what are the other employees' opinions on Rin?" I saw the warrior shrug slightly.

"It varies. Most just care that Sesshomaru-sama has taken her under his wing, and know better then to mess with her. Besides, you can't help but warm up to her after a while." I nodded vaguely, tilting my head at the bulbs sprinkling the plant. The leaves had a color that was slightly odd, but I couldn't tell what was wrong while the flowers still hadn't bloomed.

"Huh." I grabbed a spring of the flower, getting a few bulbs attached as well, making a mental note to look it over later.

... ...

"Tea?" I looked up, meeting the dark grey eyes of Akatsuki, who smiled as he held out a cup. I rubbed my temples, accepting the cup and inhaling the sweet fumes coming from it. The demon sat down on the floor next to me, glancing at the sheath of papers in my lap curiously. "Still going through Rin-chan's records?" I nodded, watching him drink his own tea in large gulps.

I still hadn't figured out the illness the girl had. It wasn't anything contagious, as it'd spread fairly quickly thorough her system, and I would have felt some of the affects by now. I couldn't think of any poisons that didn't exclude a scent that could have done this either, and I was stumped. If I didn't figure this out, no doubt the lord-I took a small sip, frowning at the sweet tang of the tea.

"What is this?" I looked down, seeing that the tea was an odd deep blue color, and saw what looked like flower petals floating in it.

"Some new tea the kitchen's been making. Good, ne?" I took another sip, letting it hover on my tongue for a moment. There was another taste, underneath the sweetness. Almost like- I hit myself in the head, cursing myself as I rose to my feet.

"Of course! Honestly, how did I not notice it before?" I left the tea on the ground, pulling out the spring of the plant I'd taken before. Papers littered the room, but I ignored them, running out the door. The odd colored leaves, the symptoms, the blue tea...

I ducked into the garden, heading directly for the plant I'd seen earlier. Many of the flowers had already been taken, but some of them were just barely blooming, dark blue petals poking into view. I grabbed one of the petals, biting it slightly. A slightly bitter taste filled my mouth, the plant not yet edible, and I turned, meeting the confused face of Akatsuki, who'd, of course, followed me from the room.

"I didn't even consider... But even so, I should have realized!" I muttered. "Where's the other garden? Never mind, my bag's back in the room." I walked quickly for the sickroom, only to be blocked halfway there by him, raising his eyebrows.

"What's going on, Hani?"

"The petals! Not toxic, considered sweet to demons, but has quick effects on humans. No one even considered-" He just looked more and more confused, and I raised my hands in annoyance, shoving past him. I quickly made for my bag, digging through it and pulling out a bound book. I flipped through the pages, all written in my familiar handwriting, stopping at the section I was looking for. I shoved the notes at him, beginning to get together the herbs I needed. I dimly registered that he was gone when I turned around, but concentrated on making the correct remedy. I crushed the herbs quickly, grinding them nearly into a fine powder.

Akatsuki returned quickly with several other people, and I looked over my shoulder at them, recognizing the fair-haired youkai from earlier and Jaken amongst the crowd. "I need some hot water!" A servant left, returning with a steaming cup and handing it to me hesitantly. I gathered the herbs into a bag, dropping it carefully in the cup and waiting. After several minutes, the water was a deep green color, and I took a small sip. I shuddered as the slightly spicy tea filled my mouth. It was nearly ready.

When the tea finally finished, I poured it into a cup I'd found in my bag, walking over to the little girl quietly. Softly, I shook her awake, smiling as her eyes opened slowly. "Hello Rin-san. I'm Haruka, the healer. Remember?" She nodded slowly. "Well, I brought you some tea. Do you mind drinking it for me? It should make you feel better." She blinked, accepting the cup and drinking it. I snapped, digging through my bag and pulling out the meat I'd saved last night. "Here, try chewing on this. It's a little dry, but it should fill you up." I smiled, and she obligingly began chewing on the meat while Akilah stepped forward.

"Ningen, what did you just give the girl?"

"Well, youkai, I gave her an herbal remedy of mine. Trade secret."

He looked frustrated. "Then what was wrong with her? I seriously doubt that a mere human could figure out what a skilled group of youkai healers couldn't." I rolled my eyes.

"Your kitchens' been putting a new flower in the tea to give it more flavor." I held out the spring of the plant I'd taken.

"Yes, I gave them permission to. It's an expensive plant that sweetens tea, and can be used as a spice on food."

"You're a fool." I said bluntly. "How often have they been putting it in the food and drinks?"

"A few days. It only just now arrived." He crossed his arms defensively. "What of it?"

"That flower, the Mumburumu. It's merely an interesting flavor to youkai, but can have devastating effects on humans. You didn't even check for any changes in her diet when trying to heal her?" I rolled my eyes as he sputtered out excuses, turning back to my patient. She'd fallen asleep while I was talking, the cup in her hand tipped precariously. I edged the cup out of her hand, lying it down on the floor next to the bed.

... ...

A/N Well, that's the first two chapters. Sesshomaru will make his first appearence in the next chapter. :3 Please review!

Translations:

Hani- healer

Youkai- demon(s)

Ningen- human

Mumburumu- Moon Bloom (also, completely made up)