By now it was midday, the sun was shinng brightly on the lake, and Rin and gone off to find something to eat. Sesshoumaru had sent Jaken to make sure she didn't run into any trouble. Kanai was taking this apparent free time to take a pleasant swim in the cooler end of the lake, away from the springs. When she returned to the shore, she noticed Sesshoumaru staring at her intently.

"You know, its very impolite to stare," she stated dryly.

"I was noticing the markings on your face," the demon lord quickly responded,

"You say your father was a human, does that leave me to assume that your mother was a demon?" Inquired the demon lord.

"Yes?" came Kanai's answer, "why do you ask?"

"Those markings on your face and extremities, I think I have seen them before, on a demon who was quite close to my father. Tell me, what was your mother's name?" He asked.

"Kanatia," she answered.

Her voice was different now, it was softer, as if she were talking with an old fried.

"I thought as much. It seems my father wasn't the only noble among demon ranks who favored humans." Sesshoumaru retorted.

"No, I can think of three right off hand," Kanai said, glancing in the direction of Rin and Jaken who were returning from their search for food.

"Careful hanyou," said the demon lord, my tolerance for you is not that quite that strong."

"My name is Kanai," she reinformed him "and I am sorry, I didn't mean to strike a nerve."

"Am I also inclined to assume you are pursuing Naraku?" Sesshoumaru asked, changing the subject.

"Yes," Kanai dryly answered.

Rin and Jaken saw them conversing as they stepped into the clearing.

"I think we should go that way," said Rin to Jaken.

His reaction to this was initially in the negative, but Rin told him she wanted to know more about Lord Sesshoumaru's brother, and that she knew that he would be displeased to hear them speaking of him. In actuality, she had heard enough bits and pieces from the toadish's many attempts to tell that particular tale that she had a good idea what InuYasha was like, at least from Jaken's point of view.

"So tell me, what do you plan to do when you find him?" the demon lord continued his inquisition.

"I plan to kill him! Now can we drop t?" Kanai was becoming annoyed with the conversation.

"We might, but I am not finished. How long ago did your father fight this demon who apparently killed him?"

Sesshoumaru surprised her with his sudden assertiveness. She was not offended however, so she told him that it had been several months ago, almost a year.

"I see . . . " said the demon lord in response. He took a moment to think.

"That places the incident shortly before my brother was released from the tree. Interesting," He thought to himself

"I think it would interest you to know that my younger half brother, who is also a hanyou, has been searching for Naraku for about the same amount of time, perhaps a little less, with the same goal if I am not mistaken. In any case, he would be most disappointed if you were to kill naraku rather than him."

There was a certain calmness to his voice as he said this. It made the hanyou a bit unsure. Kanai took a moment to absorb this new information. It had suddenly become apparent to her why exactly the demon lord was so inquisitive about to her motives. She contemplated asking sesshoumaru about his brother but decided against it, noting the way his tone slightly fell negative as he spoke of him.