Thank you so much for the reviews and answers to my random questions. For the rating, I'm so glad to find it rated so high. It give me a little confidence :D I know, I should feel a lot more confidence, but confidence is something so hard for me to gain :D Even so, it is an improvement no matter how little it is. As for the plot, just so you know, it will not change. I only want to revise it. :D

Love: does Sesshomaru like Katsumi? Yes he does. He even grew to respect her at this point of the story. But if you asked does he loves her? He doesn't believe in love because he never possesses such emotion. If she rejected his marriage offering would he be mad? "It was not like she had a choice once his decision was made. Her only two choices were to come with him willingly or to be forced to come with him." :D So either way, she would still end up marrying him. I hope that answer your question. Thanks for the reviews :D

Rin's chest rose and fell, breathing heavily, lying on her back. Her throat was burning, gasping for air. Her once beautiful fine silk garment was now torn and tattered; her long pair of soft legs was exposed for the whole world to see. Most of her body was covered in thick fresh blood. Her wrists were bruised from the tight grips from the demons while holding her down. There was a cut on her right upper arm, still bleeding. She was too exhausted to do anything other than breathe.

All she could hear inside the cave was her own heavy breathing, trying hard to fill her desperate longs with enough air to stay conscious. She was so beaten up.

However, the next moment she found Sesshomaru hovering over her. His eyes and mouth opened slightly on his normally expressionless face. He was more than shocked, she could tell. Too soon his shocking expression turned to anger. His golden orbs bled red, his jaw jagged, his fangs extended.

But as angry as he was, one of his knees gently kneeled next to the human girl. She found his white top garment covering her form, not wishing for anyone to see her in such state. His pale clawed hand gently touched her left bruised cheek. His bright red angry eyes were now softened, turning to their normal golden color.

"Lord Sesshomaru," she murmured, tired, but with a smile, not surprised to see him there. He had always come for her and she never doubted he would come this time too.

"You are hurt" he stated in a monotone voice of his, but she knew he was worried.

"I am fine my Lord," she smiled reassuringly. "Just need a little rest."

There and then, he decided he would kill the culprit that had hurt Rin.

Sesshomaru was informed by the two headed dragon that the girls were in trouble. Immediately, he chased after them. The constant ambush from the lesser demons in the past days that ruined his normal peaceful days had gotten to him. He was nearly at his limit.

The dog demon rushed toward the bathing area, his face was expressionless, his strides were forever graceful. No one would have guessed that he was not calm from his appearance. The tiger lord ran silently beside him.

He picked up the scents of pig demons, mixed with the two women, his companions, leading towards the east. He took no time to follow.

After seven minutes or so, Sesshomaru found a very irritated Katsumi scorning the pig demons. It looked like she had them wrapped around her thump the way the demons flinched at her raising temper.

.

"A cave, but which cave and how do I get there?!" Her lean beautiful hands were at her wide hips, intimidating the pig demons. The demons winced at the angry aura surrounding her gorgeous but clearly scary angry face. They stood beside the river, looking lost.

Katsumi wanted to kill these stupid demons more and more. They were totally useless!

She had been following Rin's scent, but it ended at the River. The kidnapper must have followed the stream; up or down was the question she still needed the answer to.

The mob of pig demons had run along after her, but they were too slow so she ditched them behind. She wasn't sure how these demons thought they could catch her when they were so slow. If she let them lead the way, they would never catch up to Rin.

But the scent ended at the river and she had no choice but to wait for the demons to give her the directions. It took them a good five minutes to reach where she took less than two minutes. Worst, the only thing they could give her was frustration.

They had absolutely no talent at giving directions. They had no idea which way was north or south, east or west. They knew nothing whatsoever! All they could tell her was that they lived in a cave and it took them half a day to reach Rin and Katsumi in the pond.

She asked them how to get to their den, but they couldn't agree on which way to go. Some said turn right where the other said turn left, but they changed their minds when their teammates disagreed; it made them feel uncertain all over. They gave her a big migraine, the kind that made her want to slice these demons clean. If she listened to them or let them lead her, she would get nowhere. She had no time to waste.

"Where do I go from here? Up or down?" she said sternly, drawing in a shaky breath, trying hard to not explode and kill them all. If they could not give her the direction she would have no choice but to follow the stream either up or down until she could pick up Rin's scent again. But that would take time and she had no time to waste.

"Down!" the pigs answered in unison, for once, they agreed. Just as she was about to follow the river, Sesshomaru and Daisuke appeared. Jaken was riding on Ah-Un, or in more accurate term, hanging to Ah-Un's tail for his dear life, screaming like there was no tomorrow.

Sesshomaru took only one glance at the situation to understand what was going on. Rin's scent ended here and Katsumi was asking for the directions, which didn't go well from Katsumi's frustrating appearance.

"We go down the stream. I will explain as we go," Katsumi said calmly to the new arrivals, knowing they wanted answers. Sesshomaru eyed the pig demons that seemed to be at a loss, not knowing what to do next. He dismissed them and followed after the demon who had Rin.

Katsumi briefly explained to them that Rin had been kidnapped, for what reason she knew not. But the demon was stronger and faster than the rest and seemed to act on his own account because their goal was to kidnap Katsumi. The pig demons were too stupid to give her directions and too slow to lead them, so they would have to watch out for Rin's scent and follow it when they found it.

Sesshomaru said nothing, and his face was as blank as always, but she noticed how fast he ran. His mind was on one set, and that was to find Rin.

It took them a good five minutes to reach a field of flowers. Sesshomaru jumped into the field without a word and kept on running until he reached the forest. Katsumi was having a hard time keeping up with Sesshomaru because he was running at full speed and didn't care if anyone could follow him. Daisuke had an easier time catching up, but just barely. The tiger lord was now in the dilemma of running after Rin or watching over his friend. He knew Katsumi was capable of taking care of herself, but he did not want to risk Katsumi being taken too.

After it felt like eternity, but only merely twenty minutes had passed, they encountered another group of demons, eleven of them, demanding on taking Katsumi again. At another time, Katusmi would've rolled her eyes. They were all huge, starting at eleven feet to twenty feet tall.

Without a word, Sesshomaru struck at the biggest demon in front of him, leaving no time for him to comprehend what hit him. The demon's head slid down before he realized it had been cut loose. Daisuke did the same with his sword, cutting a demon in half, spilling guts all over the ground. Katsumi's sharp claws cut another demon from the shoulder to waist and she changed her target before the dead demon even hit the ground. But the rest of the demons were not as easy to kill.

Well, they were not hard to deal with. Sesshomaru's group cut the demons down with no difficulty, but due to their enemy's speed, despite their large size, it took them much longer than they would have liked. Sesshomaru was clearly irritated because of that.

After the battle was over, Sesshomaru headed on ahead without turning back, or waiting for the other demons. His speed seemed to increase, if that was even possible. He wanted to catch up to Rin, making sure that she was safe.

If not for the fact that he needed to follow her scent to find the way, he would have flown instead. His movement was a blur even to a demon's eyes.

And after three minutes or so, he finally reached the cave.

He rushed inside without a second thought, ignoring everything in his path. It did not take him long to find her.

His nose picked up her scent, but that was not all he picked up.

Blood.

Her blood!

The sight of her made him want to kill something.

She was lying on the cold stone floor, facing the cave's ceiling. Her attire was in no decent state. Her long legs, her skin were exposed for him or anyone to view. He could hear her lungs working hard to draw in air. Yet, she smiled when she saw him, calling his name so trustingly.

She always smiled at him

His heart clenched at the sight. He had failed to protect her again. How many times had he vowed to himself to protect her and yet allowed her to get hurt? With him always by her side, he never thought it was possible for anyone to harm her so badly after Naraku had died.

Masaru!

It was all because of Masaru.

He swore he would kill that fox demon.

But before that, he needed to make sure Rin was safe and protected. He kneeled down beside her, covered her with his shirt. His hand reached out for the nasty bruise on her cheek, the reminder that he had failed to protect her.

"You are hurt" he stated. His heart clenched at the thought. She assured him she was fine and only needed rest, but he didn't believe her for a second. Her beautiful skin was now all cut and bruised.

All because of Masaru.

That fox would not get away.

In only one week time, Sesshomaru's mental state had been shaken more often than in ten years' time combined. Even when Naraku was around, he didn't constantly put Rin's life in danger. But now, Rin had faced danger over and over again, forcing him to feel the fear he rarely had in only one week.

He, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Land feared nothing, not even death. His only weakness was to lose his ward's life, and the coward demon did just that.

Masaru!

Sesshomaru would not allow Rin to get hurt anymore. To do that, he had to kill that fox demon. As long as Masaru was alive, more demons would be sent their way. He would kill Masaru and make him an example for the whole world to see what would happen when anyone dared to come after Sesshomaru and those who he protected..

Anyone who dared to harm her, answered to him.

I just realized that it had been a little over a year since I first published this chapter :D

Published June 13, 2013

Updated Friday, June 27, 2014