So I play this MMO called Onmyoji, right? Well they did a collaboration with Inuyasha awhile back, meaning if you worked your ass off, you could get ahold of Inuyasha, Kikyo, or Sesshomaru. I just finished collecting the pieces from that event and summoned myself Sesshomaru! I'm slightly pleased with myself, and am confident I have now succeeded at life. But. Anyway. Just wanna say there's a small time skip between this chapter and the last one. With that out of the way, let's get to it!

The buzzing of cicadas makes the air hum under the tangy glow of the sunset, the calls emanating from every direction, seemingly every tree. Forests are definitely my favorite places to travel through. The rustling of the trees, the shade they provide from the beating sun, the sheer amount of foliage that smell and taste wonderful… Of course the plains are beautiful too, with their waving seas of grass and endless expanses of sky, but with summer peaking, it's too hot to be able to endure traveling for long without respite, and with as persistent as the sun's been with hardly a day of clouds to speak of, my skin has burnt and darkened enough that I could pass for someone living in the tropics. Maybe a paler tropic's dweller, but one nonetheless.

I vaguely wonder if back in the modern era summer break has started yet. Other kids always complained about having homework over the break, and I always found that ridiculous. Other than homework, they were free! They could go to the pool, hang out in the park, walk around and shop: meanwhile I was trapped indoors with homework being my only thing to do outside of art. Even on the few days it was overcast enough for me to safely go outside, there was almost always the imminent threat of severe weather that kept me from venturing outdoors.

"I hear water!" I glance at Rin, who's turned to Sesshomaru in excitement. "Do you think it's a river?"

I strain my ear to hear the noise she's talking about, but Sesshomaru shifts his trajectory without delay, and I find the land sloping slightly down. It's hardly even a minute later when we step out onto a flat, rocky bank that borders what appears to be a shallow river. Rin immediately hikes up her dress and darts forward to the water, A-Un lumbering after her. It take Jaken a second to process this before he scuttles to follow, shouting, "You're being reckless, Rin! What if the water's dangerous?"

"So," I turn to Sesshomaru. "Are we making camp here for tonight?" One thing I quickly caught onto while traveling with him is that I need to ask about duration every time we stop. He never rests at a specific time, and has no qualms walking through the night. The others always seem ready to move at the drop of a pin, but unless I know beforehand, it takes me a moment to gather my bearings when Sesshomaru suddenly decides it's time to keep moving. I'm glad he takes that moment to wait for me, but it's also embarrassing. Thus, I've gotten into the habit of asking every time we stop.

He takes a seat on the rocks. "Yes."

I set my folded clothes beside him, then head over to the river myself. My reflection ripples, disturbed by Rin's antics just upstream, but I can still make out the dirt smudged on my face from days of sleeping on the ground. My hair's greasy, too, as I run my fingers through it. What I wouldn't give for some shampoo and…no, I shouldn't think that. I giggle lightly to myself at the thought. There's a lot I'm not willing to trade for shampoo and soap.

I'm dipping my hands into the water when a streak downstream catches my attention. The line raises to the surface and the water falls off to reveal a snake as thick as my waist winding towards me at an alarming rate. My hands fly from the water and I fall back with squeak.

"Give me your jewel sssshard!"

Then its head flies past me, severed. I breathe a sigh of relief. Sesshomaru frowns slightly at his shoes as he steps out of the water, then meets my eyes. Clear annoyance reflects in them

"Hey, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine," I wave to Rin. That's all the prompting she needs to return to her wading and splashing. Jaken, on the other hand, starts rambling about how his point is proven and they both need to get out of the water. A-Un watches from the shore. I return my own attention to Sesshomaru, and smile meekly. How many demons coming after my shard has he killed now? "I'm sorry, I should have been more careful. Thank you."

To my surprise, he doesn't scold me again, nor does he go back to where he was sitting earlier. Instead, he asks, "Why is it you have a shard of the sacred jewel?"

My cheeks flush a bit at the question, not having expected it. I'd been surprised he hadn't asked the first time a demon came after my shard, but then I realized he just didn't care enough to ask. So this means…he's grown curious about me, right? I'm not really such an amazing person as to deserve his curiosity, but that only makes it feel nicer.

"Well, I was given it. I'm not really sure why, though."

"Why do you keep it?"

I suppose that's fair to ask, considering how many times he's had to take care of pursuers. The red in my face leans more towards shame as I reluctantly admit, "I know it causes you a lot of trouble. I'm really sorry about that, and I really appreciate your help, but without the shard I'd cause you even more trouble. I couldn't travel with you. There'd be no reason for you to put up with so much. I'm sorry. If it's too much trouble, I can try to defend myself." I don't exactly have combat skills, but if I had something heavy to swing, I might be able to manage.

"Even with a shard of the sacred jewel, a weak human like you can hardly fight a demon."

I wince. "Yeah, I know."

Finished with what he had to say, he slips out of his wet shoes and delicately pushes them to the side. His nails shine slightly in the new moonlight, pointed like the claws of his fingers. I raise my face to the sky.

A full moon. Is this the second one I've seen since I've come to the Feudal Era? The moon was hardly a sliver when I first arrived. It was so dark I couldn't see anything more than basic silhouettes. I glance Sesshomaru's way. In the light of the night's sun, his face is traced softly with moonbeams, his amber eyes shimmering. I've always thought he had a somewhat feminine beauty to him, that balance between masculine and feminine elegance always being one of the hardest elements to get right in his portraits, but illuminated by the moonlight it's especially true. I don't understand how a man could be so gorgeous! I wonder if I could get it right, painting him, if I use him as a direct model.

I pause, a strange scent reaching my nose. It's faint, but...is something burning?

Sesshomaru suddenly turns, seemingly drawn to something, and I twist to see what it could be. I see nothing obvious, but Sesshomaru shifts to stand slightly in front of me. My eyes flit back to the darkness, then over to Rin and the others who still play ignorantly in the moon-reflecting water. I slowly get to my feet, ready to run.

A faint glow gradually becomes visible within the trees, somewhere between yellow and orange in nature. A small gust of warmth rustles hair into my eyes. Even before anyone appears, an uneasy certainty settles over me.

Despite the vivid crimson of her dress, it's her luminescent skin that is first perceptible, followed by the flowing red silk of her kimono. Every slight movement sheds what seems to be gold flecks from the sparkling, bursting designs splayed across the silk, her draping hair glimmering with the shed gold. Her eyes, just as richly dark as I remember them, rest intently on us.

"What business do you have here?" As he questions her, Sesshomaru wraps his hand around the hilt of one of his swords. He doesn't draw it very often, and the fact that he feels it necessary sends a nervous shiver through me despite the warming air.

Her gaze shifts to focus entirely on me, and I freeze. Her eyes hold mine mercilessly, and an intense sense of danger crashes into me so hard I've curled up against Sesshomaru's back before I even realize I've moved, quaking. I stare blankly at his back, eyes wide with shock. What is she? What is this god awful feeling she gives off?

What does she want with me?

Shakily, I peek around his shoulder and find her gaze averted...to Rin. My heartbeat thrums in my ears like a clanging drum, and before I can process anything else, Sesshomaru has leapt forward with his blade drawn. I don't even realize he's swung it until I see it collided with the woman's hand. Lighting streaks from where the blade and her palm connect. The only change in her countenance is the vague tightening of anger in her face. Sesshomaru leaps back, sword held at the ready as he assesses his opponent.

"Leave this alone, demon," her voice ripples through the air like heat, so potent it seems to echo, "and I will allow you to live."

"You are not the one who gets to decide which one of lives and dies."

She waves her hand, gentle, as if offering help to a friend, and a spout of rushing fire bursts from her hand. Sesshomaru leaps out of the way, and I barely manage to scramble aside before the pillar sears past me. The trees on the other side of the river erupt into flames briefly before she clenches her first and they extinguish. As Sesshomaru engages the spirit, I dash over to Rin and help her atop A-Un, also going ahead and tossing a screeching Jaken up there as well. I twirl back to face the fight unsure of what to do. Do we leave? Will we be able to find him again if we do? But he won't be happy if we're in harms way, right? It's inconvenient! He might be holding back because we're here! So we should go! But…ugh, it just feels so wrong to leave him in the middle of a fight!

I lay a hand on Un's neck. "The second it looks like she might be paying attention to us, take off."

Un shakes his head to assure me he heard. I keep my hand against him, still internally debating whether or not to hop on myself. The thing is, despite how vigorously Sesshomaru is taking the offense, she keeps stalling his attacks with a mere swing of her hand, and the way she throws fire around so confidently has me worried. He may not be human, but I'm sure he would be burned just the same if he were hit.

I gasp when Sesshomaru doesn't quite move in time, and his empty sleeve ignites. He pauses his offense to rip the flaming part off. With that brief second of an opening, the woman suddenly flings out her hand our way, and a rush of fire surges towards us.

A-Un vanish from beneath my hand and I only have time to fling up my hands in terror.

A freeze suddenly seizes my hands. Just as I'm about to be consumed, a streak of white zips through the center of the fiery pillar and dissolves from it every bit of heat, the flames evaporating into the darkness just in time for me to see the streak of white pierce the spirit's chest.

All except her stills as she falls back a step, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly ajar. The dart of light looks as if it melts into her, spreading a paleness in her yellow skin, and changing her golden glow to a moon-like white. Her chest begins to shudder as if she can't breathe, her still yellow hands clutching tensely at her chest.

This time when she meets my eyes, her expression radiates unfiltered rage.

"I will kill you. Both of you."

Then, she herself folds into a strip of white and gold light and bolts into the sky, vanishing.

The crickets chirp in the renewed quiet, only the charred stench of firewood left from her visit.

dun, Dun, DUUUUNNNN! The strange spirit has returned! And Ren has some kind of power! And the spirit also declared that she'll kill her! Things are getting heated folks! Whatever will happen next? Stay tuned for the upcoming chapters to find out! See ya then!