It was my father's birthday and I had a rather busy day today. I also haven't eaten much these past few days due to being sick, so I'm sorry for any errors. Seriously I go back and reread these things over and over again and am never satisfied. I wasn't planning on updating until tomorrow but I was restless.

Again, I do not own Inuyasha. Although I think it could really use a reboot of some sort.

Over the course of the next few weeks Kin would sometimes appear and visit Rin. She tended to only come when Sesshomaru wasn't present, which meant Rin would tell him all about the stories she told or the songs she sang. It was beginning to annoy him. Up until now he was the center of Rin's world.

He didn't like that change one bit.

Jaken even stopped complaining about the demoness. Jaken. The demon that always had something to gripe about! Sesshomaru almost wished the green little bug-eyed creature would complain about her so he would have a better reason to dislike her. Yet Jaken seemed glad to have someone for Rin to talk to, and he began to see her visits as a time to relax and not worry about being killed for neglecting the child.

When she was going to visit she began to warn the group with a soothing sound from a distance. It was like a bird twittering at the morning sun. At first she appeared as she pleased, but one sudden appearance had nearly resulted in Sesshomaru impaling her with his sword. Neither had sensed the other's presence that day and it was rare for her to visit when he was around. He had been shocked when she had nimbly spun away from his blade, twirling on the balls of her feet almost like an exotic dancer.

Despite all of her visits they still didn't know very much about who Kin exactly was. Besides that she was from the southern islands she spoke little about her homeland and why she was on the mainland. At the same time she didn't pry into their personal lives so it was a mutual understanding.

Sesshomaru did not like how she seemed to completely avoid him, however.

Kin ran a hand through her black hair, carefully watching the group of monks as they left their temple for their morning rounds. Strangely enough one of the best ways to collect rumors about demon activity was to visit a temple. Humans tended to turn to higher powers when in need, and it was a place that she could talk to people about life's hardships and not gather too much attention.

She bowed to one of the monks as he walked by. The man didn't give her a second glance as he went on his way to spread the words of his gods. She only had to wait for a few minutes before people began to come and go, each sharing their stories as they prayed for health, fortune, or whatever else humans prayed for.

It was almost noon when a young woman approached the temple. Her clothes were dirty and she was pale and thin. Dirt caked on her skin and there was an offending odor coming from her direction. The other humans avoided her, making a point to keep a distance as she passed through the temple gates. One of the monks spotted her and came forward, his voice showing concern. Apparently she had traveled from the mountains two days journey from the temple. Her family and the few others that lived there struggled against a sudden appearance of snakes and other scaled creatures.

The monk gave her wards to fend off the demons, and promised to send a group of monks to help purify the mountain within the next few days. Instead of seeming relieved however the woman became distressed. They needed help now, or they would never make it in time. The monk said there was little more that they could do at the moment for they were just a small group of men.

The woman looked to be in near tears, but could see that arguing was futile. She turned away and began to walk back in the direction she had come. Kin followed after her, keeping a safe distance away until they were far from the human village and temple.

"How long are you going to follow me, Kin? I know the scent of those blasted flowers from a mile away…" The woman suddenly turned around, fangs grinning as her appearance changed. The sickly woman's skin turned to smooth black and yellow scales as her true form emerged. Her legs turned into a serpent's tail, coiling beneath her so that she was reared up like a cobra. Her eyes turned to black and yellow slits, and a forked tongue poked out behind thick black lips. The navy blue kimono barely covered her torso in a poor attempt to cover her scaled, busty chest.

"I could smell you too. The stench of rot and failure is difficult to mask, Mamushi." Kin stared calmly at the serpent woman glaring daggers at her.

Mamushi smiled though, hissing in delight as Kin gripped her biwa in warning. "Oh calm down, child. I'm not allowed to kill you. I don't see what Watatsumi sees in you. No matter how much I would love to serve him your head on a platter I know he'd never forgive me." She waved at Kin dismissively.

"First of all, I'm older than you." Kin warned, "Sorry I was blessed with a youthful face instead of an old crones like you." She grinned when Mamushi's teasing hiss turned to one of irritation. She swore if the woman had a rattle at the end of her tail it'd be buzzing. "Secondly, what the hell is Watatsumi doing on the side of a mountain? That bastard can't stand heights, let alone be away from water."

"Do not mock the great Watatsumi!" Mamushi's tail thwacked at the ground in barely controlled rage. "It is by his grace that you are even alive, wench."

Kin laughed, shaking her head. "You are misinformed. I am alive because Watatsumi knows his own limitations. The only reason you're alive is because I have these things called values…cousin." She added the last word as though it was a weapon, and it seemed to do the job as Mamushi's tail swung at her head.

She leapt over living whip easily, slashing her claws through the scales as it swung beneath her. Mamushi hissed in pain, curling her wounded tail beneath her again. "You and I are not family…" she cursed, spitting acid onto the ground. As it struck the dirt a thick miasma rose into the air. Kin squinted, readying to dodge another attack. An attack never came, and Kin let out a stream of curses as the thick fog slowly disappeared to reveal the snake woman was no longer there.

"Damn it, she was the closest thing I've had in months to figuring out where that jerk is hiding!" she punched at a tree in anger, earning a satisfying crack as the poor thing toppled over. She sighed, rubbing at her temples. She had spent weeks scouring the land trying to find Watatsumi. Every time she thought she was close she came out empty handed. He kept evading her while leaving just enough of a trail for her to pick up on. It was infuriating. He was mocking her and she knew it. Yet she had little choice but to follow the bits and pieces he put down for her.

One of these days she would get him. One of these days he was going to make the wrong move and she would strike him where it hurt.

Soon.

Sesshomaru was in a bad mood. Any encounter he had with his half-brother always left him agitated. Not only that, but the bastard Naraku had once again shown him disrespect in thinking he could manipulate him to kill Inuyasha. He had dispatched of the puppet instantly, sending the fool a clear message that he would strike the sorry mistake for a demon down the moment he had a chance. It also meant that the trail they had been following was a dead end, so they would have to continue their search from scratch.

For now, however, he was going to see his companions.

He studied the land beneath him as he floated on his mokomoko. Rin and Jaken had found a patch of fresh water springs at the base of a small mountain when he had last seen them. It had been an ideal location for them and he had ordered them to stay near there until he returned. Rin had seemed pleased for the water was cool in the summer heat and there was plenty of fish and vegetation for them to eat. Jaken however was displeased to babysit.

The moon was full above his head and he was formulating his next course of action when he spotted a familiar figure in a clearing not too far off. Normally he would have ignored Kin, but once again she seemed to be battle with demons. How she managed to continuously get into trouble he had no idea. She almost reminded him of Inuyasha in her rash and reckless behavior.

He changed his direction, but instead of joining in like last time simply watched with mild interest. He wasn't normally one for spectating but Kin was a gifted fighter and he would at least commend her for it. She was nowhere near his level but she been taught well.

Part of his interest in the fight was her naginata. He noticed that the length of the weapon changed as she maneuvered across the field. The demons that were fighting her had crude weapons and charged at her randomly. It did not matter what direction they came from though for her blade was unforgiving. Those that tried to sneak up behind her found their limbs gone. He almost laughed when she even kicked up dirt and sand into their eyes to blind them. She was smiling, giggling as she nimbly dodged and slapped away their weapons.

She continued to fight, taking out each of her opponents one by one. She was dragging it out and trying to make the battle last as long as possible before finally finishing off the last demon. She pulled her blade from his chest, twirling the naginata above her head before letting out a triumphant roar.

A roar like the battle cry of a gigantic beast. It was almost comedic coming from such a small demoness.

He landed on the ground next to her, silence as usual. Kin did not seem surprised to see him however and wiped sweat from her brow before inclining her head in greeting. "Evening, Sesshomaru-sama." Kin was strangely polite towards him. He noticed that he was the only one she added an honorific to. He swore she had a mischievous glint in her eye when she used it.

"You seem to get attacked by hordes of demons often…" he commented, looking around at the dozens of bodies strewn about the red slicked grass.

"Oh, I try to rally up a bunch of them every once in a while for practice. I call it population control." She stabbed the blade end of her naginata into the ground and leaned against the pole. "Did you need something?"

Need something? Now that he thought about it why exactly did he stop? He stared at her intensely, noticing that she held his gaze with patience. "I wanted to fight you." He finally decided.

She shook her head, "How about a spar? Something like practice?" He rose a brow at her in questioning. "I'm not going to agree to a fight because I rather enjoy being in one piece." She plucked her naginata out of the ground and took a few steps away from him before readying herself into a stance. "Fine. However you can only use one of your swords, and only with its blade. I can sense the power within those weapons you carry. "

Sesshomaru nodded, understanding her caution. He was an honorable man however and would abide by her rules. "No demon powers, and you cannot speak."

She paused, but agreed. "Ah, I guess you noticed one of my tricks. Don't worry, I don't think my music would work very well on you anyways. It works best of those whose minds easily wander. You're far too focused for it to weaken."

She waited as he withdrew his blade. He seemed to be waiting for her to strike first. 'Now he's a gentleman,' she mused as she darted forward. She did not aim for his torso however, and swept her blade low. Most sword fighters didn't know how to protect their legs, but then again Sesshomaru wasn't a typical swordsman. He easily dodged her attack and retaliated with a strike of his own. Kin used the pole of her naginata to block, the metal reverberating from the impact.

It was at that moment that he noticed the golden tint to her naginata. It was created from material just as strange as his own weapons, which made him wonder who forged them.

Their fight continued for nearly an hour, both dodging and blocking each other's attacks. Sesshomaru was glad he had seen her kick up sand earlier, for she tried to use a few underhanded tricks to gain an edge. He allowed the behavior but did not join her in the antics. Eventually they both began to tire and their attacks became sloppy. Kin managed to cut a few hairs off of his mokomoko, but Sesshomaru was pretty sure he had given her a slight hair adjustment in return.

It had been a while since someone had lasted so long against him in a battle like this. Inuyasha often struggled in the beginning, while Kin kept a steady balance of offense and defense. He was stronger however, and she never allowed him to get close enough to overpower her.

More minutes passed and Kin was beginning to visibly tire. He wasn't sure how long she had been fighting the demons earlier but it was apparent it had weakened her slightly. He suddenly saw an opening when she slashed at him in a diagonal strike, and couldn't help the instinct to strike.

He heard her gasp as his blade pierced her left shoulder, slicing through to the other side. He quickly withdrew his blade and stepped back as she bit her lip. Blood began to seep through her kimono, staining the fabric into an even deeper shade of red. "Well…" She finally spoke, grimacing as she slumped slightly. "That stings a bit."

"You faltered." He stated, as if to justify it. This caused her to look at him incredulously before laughing.

"I'm not blaming you, Sesshomaru." She said as she tried to calm herself. He noticed how she didn't use an honorific this time. "You win this round, I shall admit defeat." Honestly she had a feeling that this would have ended with her throwing in the towel long before him. She could sense he would sooner die than admit a loss.

Her naginata folded into itself and she used her good arm to put it back into her biwa. He had almost forgotten that she almost always had the instrument strapped to her back. He snapped back to attention however as she removed part of her kimono to inspect the wound. Sesshomaru could now see that her torso had many more scales than he had originally thought, yet he had somehow managed to strike her in one of the few less protected spots on her shoulder.

"This is going to take a day or two to heal…" she muttered as she applied pressure to it to stop the bleeding.

"Rin knows about healing." Sesshomaru suddenly stated, sheathing his sword. He hadn't realized how tired he was until just now. How long had they been sparring? Minutes, hours?

"Oh, really?" Kin faked surprise. She doubted he would want to know Rin had already told her about how she had met Sesshomaru. He seemed the prideful sort and wouldn't want her to know the human child had nursed him. "Well, if you insist I guess I don't really have a choice. I haven't seen Rin in a few days anyways I wouldn't mind seeing her."

He nodded, stepping forward hesitantly. "Can you keep up?"

"You stabbed my shoulder not my legs." She grumbled, waving him off before instantly regretting that motion. "I think I can keep up. You lead the way, and maybe I won't tell on you to Rin."

Sesshomaru ignored her last comment and took to the sky. It wasn't until a minute or two passed before he finally glanced back to see Kin following. She had sprouted a pair of dragon wings, but what surprised him most was a dusting of feathers where the thin skin of her wings met the thicker bone structure. There were only a few there, as if trying to grow out of spite. She caught his eyes, one brow raising in questioning as she seemed to realize he had been staring.

"What?"

"I didn't know you had wings."

"My biwa and kimono make them annoying to have out. I only use them when I plan on going long distances." She explained. He realized then that she was carrying her biwa in her good hand and not on her back. Her kimono pulled off her shoulders and pooled around her waist. Only her breasts were covered by simple wrappings. She didn't seem bothered by the exposed flesh however. She had mostly golden scales, and had little to show for in her bust. "Don't stare it's rude."

"…" he glared at her momentarily before turning his attention back to front. I was not staring.

Kin grinned as he turned away from her again. It was much easier to study him when he wasn't paying attention. Handsome fluff ball… she thought, but didn't dare say out loud.

That's the last of Chapter 4! I think one of the best ways to bond with Sesshomaru is to fight him. Seriously, most of his relationships tend to go back and forth with battles. Except for Rin and Jaken…for obvious reasons.

Just a little tidbit about myself. I have been trained in martial arts for a little over a decade. Although I specialized with a bo staff I learned how to use various weapons. I try to implement some of the tricks and techniques I learned into my writing. One of the tips I was taught when encountering someone who used a sword was to go for the legs.

Seriously, hardly any of them knew what the heck to do when I thwacked their legs with a giant stick.

Hilarious stuff.

Hope you all enjoyed this. Not gonna lie I'm a little off today…wasn't originally planning on having Kin have wings but I figured screw it she's a dragon. I was going to have her ride on her biwa like a surfboard but then I had to think of a reason why it was capable of doing that and my brain fizzled out. I am trying to keep her arsenal of abilities to a believable level.

I'm still a little sick, so hopefully I will be feeling well enough to update again soon.

Please review, follow, and wait patiently!