In the wee hours of the day I woke up and started my daily duties. I rekindled the fire and filled the cauldron with water to cook millet. I chopped a bit of cucumber and added some pickled radish and herbs to season it. Sometimes in the course of my work miko-sama got up as well and left for the morning prayer. The young miko slept soundly and woke up only when the sun was high and bright on the sky. She yawned, stretched and left the hut for a moment. Upon returning, she sat down next to the fire and, rubbing her eyes, she asked if she could help me. I politely refused; I was perfectly capable to do my chores on my own, I didn´t like the idea of this newcomer intruding in my daily routine. After a while I mustered up my courage and spoke to the other girl:

"Could I trouble you with a question, miko-sama?"

She perked up, obviously pleased by the diversion: "But of course, I am all yours!"

I suppose that meant yes.

"I suppose you know Lord Sesshoumaru. Would you...would you care to tell me something about him? I find it very curious for a youkai as powerful as him to have a little girl in his care."

She giggled and waved her hand."Well, I am afraid I am going to disappoint you here, Kiku-chan. I have no idea, where and how he picked up Rin or why he allows her to tag along. Or, as a matter of fact, I have no idea why she wants to follow him, with that grumpy fellow of his, Jaken."

I frowned. "Then, regarding Sesshoumaru-sama..."

"When I first met him, he tried to kill me." Kagome the priestess had now a vivid expression on her face, obviously glad to have such an attentive audience."Or, to be precise, he tried to melt me with his poison. I would be out cold, but for Tessaiga´s sheath of Inuyasha´s sword. True enough, since then he didn´t try to kill me again," she announced cheerfully at the end.

"Do you meet often?" My guess was they did, witnessing the directness she talked to him, and again I felt a jab of strange jealousy.

"Oh no, we don´t. Not that I´d mind, he is not a pleasant companion, he never smiles and always looks stiff, as if he had a stick up his..."

"He is very proud and noble," I interrupted her as I didn´t like the tone she spoke of him. She gave me a funny look, continued nevertheless.

"Anyway, he really dislikes people, or I should say he regards them as useless vermin."

"He had tried to kill me as well when we first met," I blurted out before I could bite my tongue.

The other girl´s eyes went wide. "Kiku-chan..."

"I don´t blame him. He thought I hurt Rin. He looked very...moved." I was not sure if it was a wise thing wise to tell the priestess, but once I started, I had to finish as well.

"The only thing that can move that youkai is when he fights with Inuyasha," she muttered almost inaudibly, as if for herself.

After a short silence, I picked up the thread.

"Perchance you know what happened to his arm? What powerful youkai had been able to injure him like that?"

The miko bit her lip. "Power or dumb luck, I wonder. It was Inuyasha."

"You mentioned him before. Is he your lover?"

She blushed heavily and blurted out: "No, he isn´t. Well, kind of. But he is ...he is a..."

She never finished her sentence, as we got interrupted by a thin sleepy voice from the depths of the hut. The priestess, obviously relieved by this interruption, jumped up and strolled towards the waking child. "Rin, you woke up!" she exclaimed overenthusiastically. "How are you feeling today?"

Too bad, we had no fish to go with the breakfast. I was petty enough wanting to impress the newcomers. Our village was wealthy enough to be able to eat rice* quite often. With rice instead of millet it would be perfect, but rice was saved for special occasions and festivals. I put the millet in a bowl and the vegetables to a separate one, and as an afterthought I added a raw egg I retrieved earlier to the millet. I put everything on wooden tablets, complete with a steaming mug of tea and chopsticks and put it in front of the young priestess and the child. I myself returned to the cauldron to prepare a portion for the green youkai crouching, cleary annoyed by now, in the corner. I added an extra portion of cucumber**. Although I was not sure if he ate human food, he accepted it without comment.

Rin looked still exhausted, the thin little thing she was, with purple shadows under her big eyes. But a few meals and enough rest would fix that soon, so I believed. She dug in her bowl hungrily. "It tastes so good!" she exclaimed with full mouth. "It is been a time since I had some cooked meal."

Poor thing! I didn´t think about it, but if she indeed followed the youkai lord, she surely had had a rough time looking after her food! While she ate, she slid to the edge of the platform and shifted to a more comfortable position. With her feet dangling over the edge, I remembered how rough and dirty her soles were. Her hair was in a mess of knots as well and she needed combing and some trimming. Of course, we washed her with wet cloth, but there was only as much as rubbing with damp rug could do. She would need a long soaking in hot water and some ointments to mend the broken skin. Her kosode was in a poor shape as well: it was worn on the knees and elbows, and her collar was dirty. We changed her when she rested and I thought I would mend her clothes later in the day.

After the breakfast I tidied up the hut, while Kagome insisted on washing the dishes. Rin volunteered to accompany her, although she more or less only provided an audience to the non-stop chatting of the strange girl. Her mouth never stopped! She spoke on and on, of things I didn´t understand and she did so with a strange language. Strangely, Rin didn´t seem to be disturbed by this nonsense chatter, she looked at the older girl rather fascinated and with a happy smile on her face. Although I didn´t find any sympathy regarding the priestess, I found sympathy in Rin´s behaviour. She must have missed a female spouse after being such a long time in a company of two males, which, on the top of it, weren´t even human.

However, I noticed another thing as well when we were treating her: she had nasty scars on the small of her back and shoulder blades and some on her hands. It looked like torn flesh, but the scars were old and healed up. Maybe I could ask her later.

In the early afternoon I got to mend her clothes. After that, I was going to suggest a little walk on fresh air for Kagome and Rin, while I would prepare some herbs for later use. Before I managed to voice my proposal we got interrupted by a ruckus coming from outside. I heard shouting voices and something like "Be gone, demon," and "Evil spirit, " . I recognised the voices of the village folk and in addition there was one strange arrogant voice shouting "Out of the way, old fart!"

Kagome perked up and murmured: "Oh no, the idiot...!"

Before I got outside to learn what was going on, the door mat moved and a red clad figure burst into the hut with a gust of wind. Just for an eyewink I thought of Sesshoumaru-sama. The young man had the same white, billowing hair and shining amber eyes. But the likeness ended there - he lacked the preserved and dignified air of the youkai lord and on his head there were- well, ears. Dog ears. He stopped and shouted "Kagome! I will kill that jerk of my broth….."

He didn´t finish the sentence as the girl Kagome, red from embarrassment, cried loudly "SIT!" and the boy- for he looked young- was pulled down with a tremendous force and slammed in the wooden floor face first with an ear deafening thud. Kagome stood up.

"Inuyasha, what the heck are you doing here? Didn´t Shippo explain where I went?"

After hearing that name I froze with terror and anger flashed inside me. So this was Inuyasha? The one who dared to defile Sesshoumaru-sama by cutting off his arm..?

He stood up, looking somewhat tamed but still angry. "Yeah, he said that asshole took you and that he would return you as well. What were you thinking going with that arrogant jerk?" he growled. The priestess walked toward him staring him down with a furious glance. "You are sometimes really stupid, Inuyasha. Shippo knew I was going to treat Rin and I am sure he told you. But maybe YOU didn´t listen after you heard him mentioning Sesshoumaru."

He looked aside, ears lying flat on his head, now somewhat embarrassed. "Erm, well, maybe." Then he returned her look, trying to look menacing and beamed over her, faces almost touching their noses. "Still, you shouldn´t have gone with him just like that. He is just an arrogant bastard." "Well, you sure are the right person to talk about arrogance, aren´t you?" she retorted back angrily.

I watched them while they bickered for a while like this and couldn´t wonder. What was going on here? Who was this youkai? How could the miko stop him just like that, when he hit the floor earlier? All the while little Rin, sitting quietly in the back of the room, observed at them with wide eyes.

Crowd started to gather in front of the hut but no one got the courage to enter, until the old miko who returned from her morning chores pushed her way through the cluster. She stopped for a moment by the door and then determinedly walked in front of the feuding pair. She eyed the crimson clad figure for a while and then said: "A hanyou, huh?"

He turned on her "Now, listen, baaba…" "Inuyasha! Shut up, or I will sit you again!" the young miko said. He crouched, his ears laid flat on his head and shot her an angry glance, remained silent nevertheless.

"What are you doing here, hanyou? You caused a pretty chaos outside, do you know it?" Ere he could answer, the young priestess rushed in front of him and bowed deeply.

"I am sorry, miko-sama. It is my fault. He is here to retrieve me. Don´t worry, he won´t hurt the villagers. He may be a little hot-headed, but he is not evil." The mentioned hothead snorted and turned away with his arms crossed ostentatiously on his chest. While Kagome explained further details to the old miko, I noticed that the kappa was awake and regarded everything with a haughty detachment. I went over to him. "Okappa-sama, could you kindly explain to me what is a hanyou?" I inquired discreetly. He snorted disgustedly.

"A youkai bastard. Crossbreed of youkai and a human."

I gasped upon his words. A youkai and a human…a filthy crossover, indeed! How could be someone capable of such an impudity? Weren´t youkai beats, savage and dangerous? His next words shocked me even further.

"To think that his lordship´s father had such a disgusting misalliance with a mere human…as much as I respect Sesshoumaru-sama, I really don´t understand his father´s actions."

I am afraid I gaped at him. "Sessoumaru-sama´s father? Then this hanyou is…?"

"Yes, unfortunately, he is his lordship´s bastard half-brother."

My brooding was interrupted by the hanyou´s irritated voice. "Hoy, Kagome. The lil´ one is ok, ain´t she now? Can we return? I came for ya all the way."

"I can see that, Inuyasha." She waved a hand at him. "I will return with you, but first you apologize to miko-sama for acting so indecently earlier." He sulked up and was about to respond something in denial, but she shot him a deadly glance. "I mean it." He got timid. Then he quickly bowed to the priestess and murmured something, which with some effort could be interpreted as an apology. The old miko nodded, satisfied, and caught Kagome by the elbow, pulling her to the shadowy part of the hut to attend the small girl. She didn't look afraid or even disturbed by the rampaging hanyou, on the contrary, she looked quite pleased to see him. She even waved at hima greeting, which he acknowledged with a solemn nod. He then threw himself down on the edge of the platform, propped on his elbow, ignoring ostentatiously his mate by turning his back to her. The old priestess beckoned to me and said: "Pray go outside and calm down the people, Kiku. Tell them the hanyou is no threat, that the young priestess can handle him well."

The white haired halfbreed looked around and his glance stopped for a moment on me. I held my breath, but he simply nodded shortly and turned into the corner. "Hey, Jaken, you were left here to guard Rin, huh? I can imagine how you hate being among all those humans, heh."

Jaken, dignifiedly turning up his nose, didn´t answer and even adverted his face.

"Well, you can just as well ignore me, ya ol´ toad", the hanyou growled.

I walked outside and did as I was told. It was not easy to convince the villagers, but at least they slowly went away to return to their daily duties.

I returned to the hut and sat on the platform, as far as I could from the lying hal-fyoukai. I was wary of the other´s presence, but after a few moments I got lost in my thoughts. What I learned just recently really shook me. The fact, that this one endangered Sesshoumaru-sama...what Kagome told me?..."Power or bad luck, I wonder..." And this other thing about his origin. Youkai were beasts. They were dreadful. How could someone love them? How could someone willingly conjoin with them, even bearing their child? How could someone…. My thoughts did an abrupt halt, as the image of Sesshoumaru-sama floated in front of me. Who as I trying to fool? I long knew the answers.

Cold sweat run down my spine because it was an answer I didn´t want to get. I was the same. I would willingly give myself to him, do whatever he wanted me to do. Even forsake everything I ever knew in my life. I stood up. I better took up my daily duties instead of harbouring such foolish thoughts. I was lesser than an insect, a small twig crushed under the feet. I better put myself to some use.

I went outside to bring fresh water, put it in the kettle and boiled it up. I prepared the refreshing herbs and poured them over with steaming water. After they steeped for a while, I divided the liquid into cups. I place three cups on a tablet and brought it to the old and young priestess and the girl. Then I carried one cup over to the kappa. Finally, after gathering my courage, I walked up with one more cup to the lying half-breed.

"Ohanyou-sama*, would you care for a tea?" I asked as I crouched on my knees next to him. His ears perked up and he sat upright. "Yeah, why not. But I ain´t fond of finery, lil' one. Just 'Inuyasha' will be fine."

I frowned and bowed quickly. He still made me nervous and angry. I retreated to the hearth and watched as the young priestess emerged from the shadows to accompany her mate. She talked quietly to him while he looked at her possessively, almost hungrily. Even if she didn´t admit it, they were mates, it was clear to me.

After he downed his tea, Inuyasha stood up. "All right, let´s go Kagome. You finished here, ain´t you?"

The young priestess dusted her skirt, picked up her bow and quiver and bowed to us. "I will be going then, miko-sama, Kiku-chan." Then she smiled at the girl. "Rin-chan, don´t exhaust yourself too much. Sesshoumaru-sama will pick you up in a few days. Jaken will stay with you until then. It was nice to meet you. See you later!"

With that they left, followed by stolen glances of the village people. She let herself be carried on his back, what a disgrace! I shook my head in disdain. Denying in words, but publicly showing off such an amount of intimacy. But finally she was gone! I couldn´t bring myself to like her, even if I couldn´t negate her credits in saving Rin. Still I couldn´t help but feel relieved.

My thoughts floated back to the youkai lord. I´ll surely be able to pry some information on the taiyoukai from the child later.

Notes:

* although it sounds weird nowadays, common people in feudal Japan seldom ate rice, above all the white rice we know today. They could call themselves lucky, if they got brown rice, more often they served millet and other kinds of crops.

** it is said among the folks, that kappa especially enjoy eating cucumber (therefore you should never bath in Japanese rivers and lakes immediately after you ate a cucumber, because kappa, lured by the aftertaste in your mouth, can come and pull you under water!)