Author's Note: Here's to #2! The romance still has yet to start, but we'll get there soon, ladies and gentleman. As is necessary with these types of stories, I own nothing; immitation is the best form of flattery!


Sesshomaru returned to find a strange sight. Jaken was fast asleep, laying on the ground and missing his top, which was blood-stained and covering the back of a hanyou. Rin slept next to this half-demon, curled up against her with a small bowl of food and water nearby.

Walking up to the little green demon, he nudged Jaken with his boot, causing him to startle awake. He jumped to his feet, bowing before the man.

"My lord, you have returned!"

Sesshomaru glanced at the half-demon, "What is the meaning of this?"

Jaken stumbled over his words before a cold glare from the youkai caused him to exclaim, "Rin was attacked and this hanyou saved her! The stupid girl wouldn't return alone and refuses to leave without it."

He waited for his lord to grow angry and tell him to kill the half-breed or toss it into the woods, but instead Sesshomaru glanced at Rin and turned his back to Jaken. "I do not care. So long as Rin has interest, you have another mouth to feed."

Jaken gaped, "What? But m'lord!"

Sesshomaru walked back into the woods, completely ignoring Jaken's protest. The hanyou slept through the night, tossed onto Ah-Un's back as she continued to sleep the next day as the group continued their journey. Upon waking, she fell off of the beast in a panic.

"Where am I?" she cried out, landing on her hands and knees.

Sesshomaru did not bother to stop walking, so neither did Jaken. Rin ran around to where the girl had fallen. She smiled, holding out a hand to help the hanyou up.

"Lord Sesshomaru is letting you stay with us," she said happily.

The half-demon stood and walked beside the girl as they caught up with the others. She seemed confused by the situation and Sesshomaru was annoyed to find that she asked too many questions.

"What is your name? Who is that green one? What is Sesshomaru-sama a lord of? Why am I here?"

"I am Rin, and that is Jaken. Sesshomaru-sama is the Lord of the West, and some day he's going to be in charge of everything!" She smiled brightly, and the hanyou found it contagious. "I helped fix your cuts because you saved me when Jaken-sama was too slow."

The green imp shouted back in protest, but one look from his lord and he snapped his mouth shut, bowing and apologizing as they walked.

"I am Minako," the hanyou introduced herself. "When shall you have me make my leave?"

Rin looked up in surprise, "Why would you want to leave? You just got here!"

Minako seemed confused, looking between the three. "You want me to stay?"

"Lord Sesshomaru-sama has allowed for you to follow so long as you entertain Rin," the imp said, waving around a staff with two heads in frustration, "Now I suggest you stop blathering before he changes his mind!"

This time the man leading the group did not look back. He seemed to ignore the shouting, continuing on undisturbed. Minako could sense that he was a powerful youkai, and it frightened her on some level. Her hanyou nature told her that he was dangerous and to flee, but she found herself wanting to stay. After all, she had been invited and she had no one else to go back to.

Against her better judgement, she did not run.

Minako was used to staying quiet. She had spent the past few years by herself, surviving out of instinct; instinct did not require very much noise. Rin was much more talkative, and it was her questioning that caused Minako to speak again.

"Where are you from?"

She looked down at the girl, pushing back her long dirty hair. "Somewhere deep in the forest, my parents had a cabin. I haven't been there for a while, though."

"You have parents? Won't they miss you?"

Guilt crept into the eyes of the child, worrying that she had pulled Minako away from a family just for her own selfish entertainment. She had forgotten that other people had real families sometimes, since she had lost hers at such a young age.

"No," Minako smiled sadly, "They died a few years ago. I have been traveling through the woods for quite some time now."

"That's alright, my parents died, too. Lord Sesshomaru and Jaken-sama are my family now." She smiled, her eyes lighting up as she added, "You can be a part of my family, too!"

Minako could not believe her luck. Literally, she could not believe it. A sudden acceptance and offer to join a family all so soon? Surely there was more to this than there seemed. She quietly wondered if it was a trap set up by the silent youkai leading the group. Her father had warned her about demons like him. The kind whose power would make her skin crawl. A demon himself, he had always raised her to run away from full-blooded demons; stick with the hanyous and humans, he would tell her.

But this human girl seemed to trust the man.

Rin was quite talkative, putting Minako at ease until nightfall, when Lord Sesshomaru disappeared into the forest and Jaken cooked dinner. Rin fell asleep shortly after eating, and Minako decided to wander around to see if she could identify where they had traveled to. There were few places that she recognized, but she was trying to get better about her habit of getting lost.

She hadn't wandered very far when a shadow fell over her and that raw power sent her skin crawling. She slowly turned around to find the Lord of the West standing over her, golden eyes shining through the darkness.

"Yes, sir?" she asked quietly. This was the first time any youkai other than her father had given her any attention that did not involve an attack. She was frightened and wondered if perhaps he had followed her in an attempt to kill her without the little girl finding out. Perhaps her instincts had been correct and this was all a trap.

"Why did you rescue Rin?" he asked simply, his expression showing nothing.

Minako was very much the opposite, her face flooding with emotion as she stared up at him with wide eyes. "She is a little human girl. She has a future with so many opportunities, a life to live and people who care for her. To take her from this world so soon would be unjust."

"And you?" he asked curiously. "Why would you give your life for hers?"

"I have nothing." She averted her gaze, unable to keep eye contact when his stare seemed to pierce right through her. "I am nothing."

"A hanyou who knows its place," he approved.

He turned and suddenly disappeared, leaving Minako alone in the forest. She felt tears collecting in her eyes and sat down at the base of the tree behind her. She found the man absolutely terrifying. He carried himself in such a way as to allow him intimidation without saying a word.

She reached her hands up to each side of her head, finding the pointed ears beneath her matted hair. She almost looked human, if not for the pointed ears and strange eyes. If she filed down her claws and didn't show her sharp canines, she could pass for a human teenager. Her mother had suggested it; humans couldn't smell her hanyou stench.

And yet she found herself wandering the forest, stealing from farmers and sleeping in trees. How could she ever stay in a small human village when her heart belonged to the wild? She craved adventure, but hardly had the strength for it. Perhaps this group would be good for her, even if it did lead to a shortened life. Then again, when did a weak hanyou ever survive for very long?

Minako finally stood back up and found her way to the little camp they had created. She laid down against the beast Ah-Un and managed to fall into a light sleep. Movement caused her to wake up. The sun had risen and Rin was up, stretching and singing a morning song. Jaken prepared breakfast and Sesshomaru led them off.

That was how every day seemed to go for about a week before anything happened to change their routine. Minako had grown so used to the pattern and lack of attacks that she was startled by the sudden arrival of a demon crashing through the forest in the middle of the night.

Sesshomaru did not seem bothered by this and stood his ground. Rin grabbed Minako's hand and pulled her away from the fight. They hid behind a large rock, peeking around the corner to watch. Jaken stood a few feet beside Sesshomaru, who seemed to stare down the demon for a moment before glancing at his left arm.

Minako watched in amazement as the Lord of the West fought, his movements graceful. He seemed to create a whip of light from nowhere, and poison dripped from his claws. She gasped as he gripped the left arm of the demon, ripping it clear off and attaching it to his own shoulder. She had not even realized that he was missing a limb until he lifted up the sleeve.

"How did that happen?" she whispered.

"Jaken says that his mean brother cut it off when they were fighting," Rin whispered back, "So now Lord Sesshomaru-sama has to borrow an arm sometimes."

They watched Sesshomaru fight the demon, cutting it to pieces with ease and using his new arm against it. Minako stared in amazement as Rin looked away, not wanting to see so much blood.

He was far more powerful than any other demon she had encountered since the passing of her father. She had been too frightened to take her parents' advice and reside in a human village; it wouldn't have done her much good, anyway. But this man—this Lord of the West—he could protect her far better than any human village could.