A/N: This is, first and foremost, a Kag/Sess story but you may have noticed the Miroku/Sango "B" plot going on, as well. So the question is: are you guys interested in seeing the M/S relationship furthered?

Special thanks to all of you for reading this! I have been getting such a kick out of the reviews. In short, I'm so relieved that you (or, at least, most of you?) don't think this is just a bunch of BS. :D Thanks a lot and I hope you like this chapter!






Chapter 5



"Sesshou-…" the child whispered, her voice slow and deliberate as she finished the second character. Had her teacher saw fit to show her the character for "maru", she would have continued without a word, but the youkai had insisted that the girl master the first two characters first.

Actually, the word ancient Jaken had used was "perfect" but it hadn't taken an entire minute before the girl's mind had transformed the need for perfection into the desire for it to be just "really really REALLY good". Lifting the bamboo brush from the parchment, Rin examined the work with an expert eye.

Her eyebrows knit together seriously as she contemplated the writing, her small teeth biting down on her lower lip. Well, the first one wasn't so bad, Rin decided as she ignored the way the first character's many intricate lines had been smeared. And the second… well, if the parchment was turned upside down, you could pretend the stroke (or "hat" as she thought of it) was going the right way. In fact, if you thought of it like that, the writing really was …

"Perfect! Jaken-sama! Look! I did it!" Rin giggled triumphantly as she waved her hands wildly at the toad. "Look! Look!"

"Not now, human," Jaken grumbled, his own hand busy from writing. "Practice. Make it perfect again.

"But…" the girl huffed a breath of impatient air, automatically rolling her eyes as she realized the youkai wasn't listening.

"But it's already perfect," Rin protested softly, her mouth twisted askance. Pressing an ink-stained hand to her chin, the girl dangled her legs as she waited for the youkai to look up.

"Stop nagging, girl. I'll show you in a few minutes," Jaken waved a small hand dismissively as he concentrated on his own work.

Oblivious to the black liquid that marred her face, the child waited patiently (for all 2.1 seconds) before she looked down at the discolored parchment. A particularly large droplet of ink caught her eye, causing a slight frown to usurp the expression on her lips.

Well, that didn't look very perfect, she decided as she picked up the brush and dipped it. With the concentration of a nun desperately trying not to lose a game of strip poker, Rin carefully drew a flower above the stain.

There! Voila!

"Jaken-sama! Look! Now it's perfecter!" Rin chirped as her eyes seemed glued to the small flower. Truth to say, she wasn't so disappointed when the youkai completely ignored her. With a Cheshire grin, happily she drew on and painted another flower upon the parchment. It just looked so perfect, the girl decided, that she couldn't help but add a couple more flowers after that. And then, inspiration struck.

Sesshoumaru-sama! She needed to draw a picture of Sesshoumaru-sama since, after all, it was his name! And since she was drawing her hero, it only made sense to draw herself, too. And if Sesshoumaru-sama and Rin were on the paper, then Jaken-sama should be there! It wasn't right if Jaken-sama wasn't there!

Humming, Rin happily continued and would have kept adding more "perfections" to the parchment had Jaken finally not become just a little suspicious with the way the child had turned silent so quickly.

"Gods… child, what have you been…?" the youkai suddenly gasped, his eyes focused on her pretty picture. Wow. It must have been even better than what she thought for Jaken to gasp.

"See, Jaken-sama!" Rin beamed, a chubby finger pointing at the parchment in sheer pride. "See, there's Sesshoumaru-sama and Rin and…"

"All that ink… Human, do you …"

"…look! It's Jaken-sama, too," the girl bragged, looking at the toad youkai with sincere brown eyes. "See! I didn't forget the Staff of Heads, either. See. I did good, huh?"

A funny sort of color touched Jaken's green face as he backed away, his eyes looking towards the ground. Without another word to the girl, the youkai left.

Wow.

Her drawing was so perfect that the toad was speechless! It was precisely at that moment that Rin decided she needed to draw a LOT more.



~0~0~0~




She was positively abysmal.

Sesshoumaru winced as the Tetsusaiga's rusted blade buried itself deep within the straw gut of the dummy, only to cringe as the girl violently yanked it out. No style. No finesse.

No, the youkai decided as he folded his arms across his chest. This Kagome was significantly worse than abysmal. She was the worst swordsman that Sesshoumaru had ever seen in his long and quite active life. And considering the number of battles the youkai had seen, that was truly an accomplishment.

It hadn't taken long to track the woman down, although he had faced a quandary that morning when he discovered that she had separated from her normal companions. Would he follow the miko's trail or that of the houshi and the taijiya? Logic stated that the more powerful of the groups would be carrying the priceless sword…

However…

The Kagome woman had yet to impress him with her sense of logic. In fact, every one of his chance meetings with the female had done nothing but show exactly how irrational she was. No. The most foolish thing the woman could do was to take the sword, so needless to say, that's exactly what he expected would happen.

Humans. What a fool!

So he wasn't certain if he were more pleased by the discovery that he had been right or if he were disgusted by her gross incompetence when he finally came across the lone woman standing in the meadow. Playing soldier.

He cringed as she stabbed the priceless sword into the hard ground, the miko taking the opportunity to wipe sweat and what appeared to be chunks of vegetable from her face and neck. She would break the sword again if this continued.

"It's dead," Sesshoumaru murmured, taking a sadistic joy at the way the woman jumped at the sound of his voice. She turned slowly, such fear in her large eyes that the youkai's considerable ego inflated just a bit more.

Out of respect for his deceased brother, Sesshoumaru decided suddenly, he would allow the mate to live. After all, he would gain nothing by killing the girl. No. A great lord such as he could afford a little generosity.

"Leave the sword and my presence, human," the youkai commanded, his voice regal and strong even to his own ears. "And I might just spare your insignificant little life."

It was… intriguing, Sesshoumaru thought idly a moment later as the woman's face paled to a color that would rival even the moon on a clear night. But the next thing he knew, the miko's hand reached out and grabbed the hilt of the sword, only to jerk it out of the ground.

She cannot be serious, Sesshoumaru smirked as he could see the way the girl's knees trembled even from the distance. Arrogantly, he fell into a fighting stance as the blood pumped through his veins, every part of his body tensed and ready for what he knew was doomed to be a disappointing fight. Still, he had never been one to turn down an opportunity for battle. She cannot think she could possibly win…

But that thought was broken as the girl gave him one last terrified look.

And ran for her life.






A/N: Did you like? Huh? huh? I hope you did! Anyway, I'm trying to get a chapter out every day (which is why they are so small). So, with any luck, see you all tomorrow!