Jaken's Diary ~~ June 2nd 1502~~
It has been a long time since the last entry to my journal. The land is now bright and warm, and the long hours of daylight mean that Sesshomaru-sama and I can cover a vast distance every day. We have continuously walked North without stopping for nearly two months. Luckily, despite our status as murderous criminals on the run, Sesshomaru-sama and I have managed to never be caught or suspected. We now travel around human villages, not through them.

~~June 7th~~
Today, Sesshomaru-sama and I got our first glimpse of the capital of this big country we are in. I think the capital is called Jingcheng, or some of the people call it Beijing. It is a huge city, full of people. The city gates are colossal, although not the most sturdy I have seen. There are lots of soldiers guarding the entrance and there are continuous streams of merchants with all sorts of interesting cargo. Standing on a tall mountain, Sesshomaru-sama could see a great palace within the city. It's where that yellow-clothed emperor lives.

~~June 8th~~
Now we have to face the practical problem of getting through the city without being arrested. After all, we came here to travel and sightsee. Sesshomaru-sama is mad at me again, because I'm the cause of all this trouble. He won't talk to me.


Jaken quietly followed Sesshomaru as they walked past a wide river. The rushing river was an extravagant sight, as the water hit the hard clay on the riverbank, which had been dried by the hot sun.

A distance away, on the other side of the river, rose the tall walls of the great capital city. During the morning hours, the main entrance was continuously busy, as hundreds of people came and went.

"How are we going to get through there without being seen, Sesshomaru-sama?" Jaken asked, frowning. Sesshomaru did not answer.

At least there was nobody but them on this side of the river. Or so they thought. In the distance, walking towards them, was a very old peasant carrying a bundle of firewood. A gush of warm wind flew by, and took the old man's big straw hat. The elderly man ran after his hat with a look of desperation on his face. The hat silently fell into the rushing river, and quickly floated downstream.

The senior was dismayed and felt the beating sun upon his face. He was about to leave for shelter when he looked up and saw a hint of hope. There was someone standing beside the riverbank.

"Young man!" He cried out. The silver-haired young man turned to face him, but the old peasant seemed to not mind his hair colour, and continued, "Can you get my hat back?"

"How dare you!" Jaken screeched, approaching the wrinkled old man, "Don't order my lord around, you worthless old twit!"

"Silence, Jaken," Sesshomaru said with his usual deep, threatening voice. Then, to Jaken's surprise, Sesshomaru looked at the old man, before beautifully taking off into the air, and returning with a big straw hat.

Sesshomaru silently handed the hat back to its owner, who gave him a friendly, toothless grin.

"Thank you, young man," He croaked, "Oh, you're the one on the wanted list, eh?"

He had a chance to live, but now he's totally dead, thought Jaken.

Sesshomaru stared at the defenseless old man, surprised that the peasant wasn't afraid of him, even after knowing that he was the top wanted criminal.

"I don't know why someone like you would be wanted," The old man blabbered on, "But by your actions I see that you're not a bad person. Doing evil wasn't your intention, you just wanted to save your friend. And now you're troubled because you can't go into town without being arrested."

I guess it really is very obvious, Sesshomaru thought.

"Thanks for my hat, what can I do for you in return?" The friendly peasant asked.

"Hn..." Sesshomaru hissed at the old man, "I don't need anything from you."

With that, the powerful dog demon turned and started walking away, with Jaken running after him. The old man put his hat back on and sighed, crossing his arms.

"What a pity!" The cheeky old man said loudly, pretending to be talking to himself, "People can get exactly what they need easily if they would put their pride aside, if only for a moment!"

Sesshomaru stopped, infuriated. He was unfriendly and arrogant and aristocratic, but he was not stupid. He knew very well that the fearless old man was making fun of him. But even he was unable to deny that the man couldn't be more right. Sesshomaru turned around and approached the old man once again.

"So what do I have to do?" Sesshomaru questioned directly. For once his attitude made him sound more like his brother than himself.

"Ah!" The elderly peasant chirped, grabbing Sesshomaru's sleeve with one dirty hand, "Come with me, and I'll show you."

The old man's house was a simple, straw-roofed wooden cottage a third of a mile from the river. It was fairly remote with no neighbours, even though it was a short walk away from the capital city.

"Well, this is it!" The old man proudly presented his humble home as if it was made of gold, "Now, young man, I realized that the poster portrait of you doesn't actually look a whole lot like you. So, all you need to do is remove all your interesting markings and get some new clothes, and nobody will ever recognize you!"

"You have a point," Sesshomaru replied, before reluctantly entering the messy house, "But these aren't tattoos, and this isn't a scarf."

Jaken sat on a log outside the little cottage, idiotically throwing stones at a beehive. That did not end well, and Jaken was heard screaming as he fled from the army of bees chasing after him.

"Hey, little green thing! Hold onto this!" The old man's voice called out. A wrapped bundle flew out of the window, and landed precisely in Jaken's arms.

"My name is Jaken, not little green thing!" Jaken angrily yelled at the house, "And what is this?"

Jaken untied the knot on the sack and was surprised to see Sesshomaru's clothes, folded neatly and stacked in a pile. He then tossed the bundle aside and madly threw fire at the wretched bees that were stinging his head.

Not a sound came out of the house for a long, long time. Jaken was so bored that he soon fell asleep on the big log, using Sesshomaru's clothes as a pillow.

"Jaken, wake up..."

Jaken looked out, and gazed at the afternoon light, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His vision focused on the figure standing before him. Then he rolled right off the big log and fell flat on his face. He could barely recognize the person who he had been following for many centuries.

Technically, Sesshomaru did not look very different from how he usually looked. His facial features didn't change at all, and nor did his emotionless expression. But there was one huge exception. His hair...was jet black. And on top of that, the four stripes on his cheeks and the iconic blue moon upon his forehead - and even his furry mokomoko - were gone. He wore a dark blue top with buttons, which looked ever so weird on him. Not counting his claws and his unusual eye colour, he looked exactly like a human.

"Sesshomaru...sama?" Jaken forced the words out of his mouth, staring.

For the first time in all his life, Jaken realized that Sesshomaru and Inuyasha actually looked very similar for half-brothers. Before, it was not very obvious because of Sesshomaru's unique markings, and the fact that the brothers had such different personalities.

"This is...I mean..." Jaken stammered, "How...how did you do it?"

"Ah!" The old peasant cried as he burst out of his house, "Look! I did such a good job, didn't I? I told you that you'd be amazed at what a little bit of ink and chalk can do!"

Jaken was more in shock than impressed. But then he suddenly realized a flaw in the disguise.

"Hey, old man!" Jaken piped up, "What about his ears? That's a problem!"

The old man scratched his head and stared at Sesshomaru for a moment. Jaken was right. Not a whole lot of people have pointy ears. Then, the eccentric old man had a sudden epiphany. He took off his own straw hat, and handed it to Sesshomaru.

"Now, my disguise is perfect!" The old man boasted, "Just tie up your hair, and you'll be done!"

"Don't push it..."

"Huh?" The man questioned, before he changed the topic once again, "Your little green servant. What'll I do about him?"

"My name is Jaken! Or Xiejian, whichever one you prefer," Jaken lectured the forgetful old peasant.

"Ah, I know!" The man exclaimed, utterly ignoring Jaken. He ran inside the house and produced a big backpack made of straw.

"We'll put you in here, but it's straw so you'll be able to breathe," Then, turning to Sesshomaru, the old man croaked, "Good luck, we'll meet again."

Sesshomaru was more than a little displeased about the chalk all over his face, and had already left in a huff. Jaken scrambled after his lord, holding the oversized straw backpack.

As they approached the rushing river once again, Sesshomaru stopped briefly and looked down at his own reflection. He himself could also see that he looked a lot like Inuyasha during the night of the new moon. Listening to the old man's advice, Sesshomaru tied up his hair before angrily leaving the river and walking towards the great gate of the capital city.