Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with the Inuyasha manga/anime, nor do I claim to own or in any way be associated with the creation of the Inuyasha manga/anime. :-) Please enjoy the story!!!

Chapter 3: Separate Ways

Night seemed to have fallen almost as quickly as they had disappeared. Rin was sitting in front of Kyerie, facing the fire they'd made in their new camp and Kyerie was running a comb through the young girl's hair. Rin chattered on about this and that and asked Kyerie questions about her friends and family. Jaken was several feet away, looking very much as if he were caught between interest of Kyerie's answers and wanting to tell Rin to shut up. Sesshomaru was away sitting some way away from the group just as he had the previous night.

"…and my friends Yin and Yu are the odd ones," Kyerie was saying. "They always have something to say about something and are always joking about everything." Kyerie smiled reminiscently. "They're very immature at times, but very lovable and loyal to their friends."

Rin smiled too and said dreamily. "They all sound so wonderful, especially your sister Rikku. Do you think we'll ever meet her?"

"I'm sure you will, someday," said Kyerie. "She's a very caring person. In a lot of ways she's like my mother. She even looks like her."

"Your mother's probably a wonderful person too," said Rin softly.

"She was, but she died many years ago. I was only seven when it happened. She became very ill." Kyerie paused, remembering her mother. "My father died too, five years ago. He was killed by the demon, Naraku."

"I'm sorry," said Rin, her voice small and apologetic. "My family died too," she added, and then said brightly, her eyes on Sesshomaru, "but Lord Sesshomaru and Master Jaken are my family now."

Kyerie glanced over at Sesshomaru and thought she saw a flicker of a smile, but if it had been there it was gone a second later. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Jaken's eyes looked tearful and he turned his head away from them to hide it. Jaken does care for her, no matter how much he chastises her and pretends she's just a silly human girl.

Rin stood up and took the comb from Kyerie. "What is it like in your village?" she asked as she moved behind Kyerie and began to comb the half-demon's hair.

"It's very hard to find and most can't actually enter it because of the protection and barriers surrounding it. It's beautiful there, though. There are flowers and trees and any other beautiful thing you can imagine there. A forest surrounds the village and it's just as beautiful as the village itself, though much more dangerous to those who do not belong within it. There are rivers and streams and even a waterfall within the forest. It's so gorgeous."

Sesshomaru listened to Kyerie speaking of her home as he looked out into the night. Her voice was mesmerizing and he found himself hanging onto her every word. When she finally fell silent, he found himself wishing she would speak again, just so he could listen to her voice.

There were several minutes of silence as Rin combed through Kyerie's hair. Finally, Kyerie's eyes moved to Sesshomaru and she spoke. "Sesshomaru, why did you let me stay with you?"

Sesshomaru's gaze moved over to her as Jaken said in a stern voice, "You should not question Lord Sesshomaru. He does not have to reveal his reasoning to you!"

Kyerie looked over at the little green demon and said in a calm voice, "Just because a person is questioned, it does not mean they will give an answer, though an answer would be very much appreciated." Her eyes darted back to Sesshomaru at this last part, as if telling him that he'd better answer her whether he wanted to or not.

Sesshomaru surveyed the expression on Kyerie's face and the look in her eye that clearly said 'If you don't tell me, you'll regret it.' After a few seconds, he spoke, "There is no reason, really."

Kyerie narrowed her eyes and said incredulously, "No reason? So you've let me stay just simply because?" She looked at his expressionless face, trying to find some hidden answer and his voice held no clue when he next spoke.

"The best reason that I can give would be that Rin enjoyed your company, and so I let you stay."

Kyerie's eyebrows rose slightly. "I can respect that your reasoning is Rin, but I do hope you realize that I'd have stayed with or without your permission."

"You shouldn't speak to Lord Sesshomaru in such a way!" Jaken piped up in an almost pleading way. His eyes flickered nervously between Kyerie and Sesshomaru, both of which had ignored him and were now staring at one another. If she keeps this up she's going to be killed! Lord Sesshomaru will not stand for such disrespectfulness! Even Rin had stopped combing Kyerie's hair to gaze over the half-demon's shoulder at her lord.

She has no fear toward me, Sesshomaru thought as he and Kyerie stared at one another, no fear at all. It's unusual to for someone to speak to me like that, and with such confidence…and stubbornness. I get the feeling she's always going to be like this. "Somehow, I can believe that," he finally responded in a low voice before looking away from Kyerie and into the night again.

Jaken's jaw dropped. No reprimand or warning? Why is Lord Sesshomaru being so calm to this girl when he would have killed nearly anyone else for such disrespect?

Kyerie kept herself from smiling, though her eyes were sparkling as she looked at the camp-fire. Rin resumed combing through Kyerie's hair and began to hum to herself, which made Ah-Un stretch out and fall asleep several feet away. A soft breeze moved steadily through the night, carrying with it Rin's melodic tune.

- - -

"I wish Kagome would come back soon," said Shippo, the tone in his voice clearly stating that he missed her.

"She said she'd be back this morning, Shippo, don't worry," said Rikku kindly.

Rikku's eyes were following Miroku and Sango as they walked together through the village. Several times since she'd first met the group two days before, Sango had smacked Miroku round the face and called him a lecher before stalking off. Rikku was a bit surprised Sango hadn't done so this morning, though Miroku hadn't seemed to have yet given her a reason. She was sure it was coming. As if to answer Rikku's thoughts, Miroku placed his hand on Sango's behind (something he very much liked to do). Sango then turned and smacked him hard across the face, yelled, "Damn Lecherous Monk!" and stalked off toward where Rikku and Shippo were sitting. She plopped down beside Rikku as Miroku made his way over, a bright red hand shaped mark on his face.

"…guess I deserved it…can't blame a man for trying…" Miroku was muttering to himself.

"What was that?" said Sango furiously, "You said you wanted me to smack you again?"

Miroku moved backwards a few steps, looking a bit fearful at the thought of being smacked again. "No, no, dearest Sango, I don't think that will be necessary."

Rikku and Shippo both giggled quietly.

"Where's Inuyasha?" Rikku asked cheerfully.

"He went through the Bone-Eaters Well," said Sango, "to try and hurry Kagome up. He usually gets impatient when Kagome's gone for too long."

Before Rikku could respond, Inuyasha and Kagome came into sight. Kagome waved at them good-naturedly, the pack she was wearing on her back bulging more than it had been when she'd left. Once they'd reached the group, she looked around.

"Where's Kyerie?"

"She went into the forest to train the night you left," Rikku explained. "She hasn't come back yet."

"Do you think she's all right?" asked Kagome, sounding worried.

Rikku nodded. "She usually comes back by now but I'm perfectly sure she's fine."
"I would go looking for her," Inuyasha sniffed at the air around him, "but her scent has faded too much since she left."

"There isn't any need for it anyway," Rikku said. "I was curious whether or not I could travel with all of you for a while, though. If you don't mind, that is."

"Of course we don't mind," said Sango kindly as she stroked Kirrara behind the ears.

"You're not going to wait for Kyerie?" Miroku asked, sounding a bit surprised.

"I don't see the point in it," said Rikku with a shrug. "I know Kyerie, and I know that she'll find me when she's ready. She always does. Besides," she added, "I'd like to try and help all of you."

Not much later the seven (including Kirrara) started off down a dirt road, leaving the village Kaede lived in behind. Rikku's thoughts turned to her sister. I wonder why she didn't come back. She's okay, I know she is but still. Rikku looked up in time to see Sango smack Miroku across the face again, and a smile swept across her face. This is going to be a very interesting journey…

- - -

Shuyin watched the seventeen year old cat demon that stood with crossed arms in front of him. Shuyin's blue hair was somewhat longer than it had been five years previous and it had a shaggy appearance to it. The cat demon that stood beside him now had longer hair that trailed down his back. Shuyin and Shin glanced at one another as Mia swung her shining dark red hair around her.

"If either of you come back with so much as a scratch on you, I'll kill you." said Mia sternly, her yellow eyes moving from Shin to Shuyin.

"So you're saying that if we come back hurt, you're going to put us through even more pain?" said Shin, eyebrows raised.

"I'm glad you've understood so quickly," said Mia.

"Sounds like we'll have to be extra careful, then," said Shuyin, smiling. "Or at least we'll have to be sure to not show you the scratches we do get."

Mia smiled too. "Just be careful."

"Yeah, yeah," said Shin, rolling his eyes.

"You and the others are in charge, obviously," Shuyin instructed. "If anyone in the Clan has anything to say about it, tell them they'll be dealt with when I get back."
"Aww," said Mia, grinning, "You have to have all the fun, don't you?"

Shuyin shrugged and said playfully, "It comes with being the leader, I guess."

Mia hugged them both quickly. "Try not to stay gone for too long. It's bad enough that Kyerie and Rikku haven't been back for nearly a year, but it'll be too much if the two of you wait such a long time to come back."

"We're hoping to meet up with them somewhere along the way," said Shin.

Shuyin nodded. "That's a big part of the reason we're going. We want to make sure they're okay because they've been gone for a really long time."

"They can take care of themselves," said Mia.

"I know," said Shuyin softly, "but they're my sisters. I'll always worry about them."

"And we'll worry about all of you while we're gone," said Shin.

"And we'll worry about you," said Mia, smiling. She hugged the two goodbye again.

The two friends started off and they could hear Mia shout laughingly after them, "So much as a scratch and you're dead!" As Shuyin and Shin reached the forest surrounding their large village and started through it, the five two-tailed demon cats and the two wolves moved with them, though they stayed out of sight. Unnie cawed from somewhere above. And Yumiko, they knew, was watching them go.

- - -

Sesshomaru was at the lead of the group, Jaken trailing along at his heal. They'd been walking for nearly two hours now, though Kyerie wasn't sure they had an actual destination. Rin would stop here and there to pick flowers and as she walked she would hum and sing. Ah-Un was lazily bringing up the rear of the group, watching those in front of him.

Kyerie was walking several feet behind Sesshomaru. As he walked, his long silver-white hair swung slightly and Kyerie couldn't help but to watch it, as if hypnotized. He has such gorgeous hair. It reminds me of Inuyasha's, except longer and shinier. I wonder if it's a dog demon thing? It would be annoying if every cat demon had similar hair, I'm glad there's a variety. But I suppose I wouldn't mind if everyone in the clan had hair this beautiful.

"Kyerie?" said Rin, breaking into Kyerie's thoughts. Kyerie looked around at the little girl, who was holding an entire bouquet of flowers out to her. Kyerie took the flowers gently and smiled.
"Thank you, Rin." Kyerie picked a flower from the midst of the others and placed it lovingly behind the little girl's ear. Rin smiled at her sweetly and began to pick more flowers.

"Oh, honestly, Rin," said Jaken, looking back at her. "You spend too much time picking flowers."

Rin shrugged. "Kyerie likes them, Master Jaken."

They walked further on in silence except for Rin's singing and humming. Kyerie's gaze fell yet again to Sesshomaru's swinging hair. I wonder where we're going. Sesshomaru doesn't seem to have any particular destination, but then again he doesn't talk much so maybe he is going somewhere in particular and he just hasn't told any of us. She sighed. Rikku's probably started off with the others by now. I wonder how long it'll be until I actually see her again? Most likely not too long, but you never can tell, can you? And what about all of the others waiting at home? How long will it be before we actually go home? It's been such a long time, I bet things have changed.

Kyerie tore her eyes away from the silvery-white hair that belonged to the dog demon in front of her and looked up at the sky. The sun was shining down on them from high above. When she looked away from the sky and in front of her again, she saw Rin move to Jaken's side.

Rin held out a flower to the small green demon. "For you, Master Jaken."

Jaken took the flower and looked at Rin incredulously. "What do I need a flower for, Rin?"

Rin shrugged and said good-naturedly, "It'll help you cheer up, Master Jaken. You're always so grumpy." And the little girl fell back to picking more flowers and singing and humming.

Kyerie watched Jaken a while longer. At first he'd looked at Rin and the flower in surprise, unsure of what to thin about what had just happened. But as they walked on, Kyerie smiled to herself. Though he had criticized the fact that Rin spent her time picking flowers, he never once let the flower Rin had given him fall to the ground, but instead he held it tight as if it were a precious gift.

He bickers with her all the time, criticizes her even, but loves her very much as if they were brother and sister. He tries to hide it though, that much is obvious. Maybe he's ashamed to love in such a way? Kyerie looked up at the sky again. There's much more to Jaken than meets the eye. There must be something more to Sesshomaru too, or else why would he allow Rin, and even myself, to follow him around?